Get the big picture...

Today, a Facebook friend who was in town with her husband for the conference at the seminary picked me up to go to the Epiphany Lessons and Carols service.  It was a different sort of Evening Prayer service for me.  In it, I encountered the epitome of when less is not more.

I confess that I did not fully absorb the whole service because sitting in the pew became too painful.  I did not realize how long the service would be and did not plan to or eventually lie down in the pew.  They were rather narrow, to me, and I am not sure if I did ask my companions to shift down the pew so I could lie down I would actually remain in the pew.  By the time I really needed to lie down, I was no longer really capable of getting up and moving to the back where I could more likely do so in private.  So, I reached down into my purse for the crucifix that fits in my hand and held it as I endured the growing pain.  I also meditated more on the first reading than any of the others.  It was from Isaiah 64.

Now, for most my life, I have been a good little evangelical and carried my bible with me everywhere.  Slowly, mostly because I am weaker, I have finally given up the practice, since I also now carry my personal copies of the Lutheran Service Book and the Christian Book of Concord with me and since I have yet to be in a Lutheran service where the text was not printed out in full, along with bibles in the pews.  Today, there was neither at the seminary service!  The pews held only copies of the LSB and the service booklet had only the scripture references.  So, feeling a bit odd, I pulled out my iPod touch and opened up the Kindle app to the NASB 1977 bible I have in there.

My prior experience of Isaiah has been with the middle line of verse 8: "We are the clay, and Thou our potter."  Many a sermon I have heard about being good clay for God to shape and mold, rather than the clay that is discarded as too poor quality to be of good use, to be a good vessel for God.  Many, many a sermon.  And praise songs.  Lots of praise songs about God as our potter and we being clay.  The focus  of Isaiah 64 has always been about being on God's spinning wheel as He forms us to be proper vessels to carry His message out into the world to save people.  Some times the sermons are about how being shaped can be a long process or a violent process (being flattened part way through to begin again).  Sometimes they are about how God, being the potter, decides the shape we will be.  That when we try to shape ourselves, we can create flaws that eventually prevent us from being usable vessels.  They are sermons of God's sovereignty in preparing us to go out into the world to do His work of salvation.

Here is the whole of verse 8:  "But now, O Lord, Thou are our Father, We are the clay, and Thou our potter; and all of us are the work of Thy hand."

Well, in context, all that focus on ourselves that has filled the teaching about that verse seems a bit off.  I mean, most of the verse is about God, not me.

Here, I shall interrupt to interject a snippet of the conversation we had on the way to the chapel.  We (okay mostly I) were talking about the things I learned in driver's ed.  It started because my friend's husband was driving my Highlander since getting in and out of a sedan or coupe is very difficult for me.  When he started out, I told him that I always set the parking break since that is how I learned to drive.  Being closer to my age, it was no problem for him to immediately pop it off.  I then talked about two other life lessons I learned in driver's ed:  1) leave yourself an out and 2) get the big picture.  The former is about making sure that you position your vehicle in such a way that if traffic suddenly changed, you would have a space to swiftly move your car, right or left, or have enough room to stop suddenly.  The latter is about how it is dangerous to only look down the hood of your vehicle as you drive.  You need to look up and out, to get the big picture of the traffic around you so that you are ready to respond to changes as they occur.

So, getting the big was fresh on my mind when the reading started.  Only, I had no idea when it started that the verse about being clay was coming up.

Here is being clay in the big picture:

Oh, that Thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down,
That the mountains might quake at Thy presence--
As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil--
To make Thy name known to Thine adversaries,
That the nations may tremble at Thy presence!
When Thou didst awesome things which we did not expect,
Thou didst come down, the mountains quaked at Thy presence.
For from of old they have not heard nor perceived by ear,
Neither has the eye seen a God besides Thee,
Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.
Thou dost meet him who rejoices in doing righteousness,
Who remembers Thee in Thy ways.
Behold, Thou wast angry, for we sinned,
We continued in them a long time;
And shall we be saved?
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, 
And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;
And all of us with like a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
And there is no one who calls on Thy name, 
Who arouses himself to take hold of Thee;
For Thou hast hidden Thy face from us,
And hast delivered us into the power of our iniquities.
But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father, 
We are the clay, and Thous our potter;
And all of use are the work of Thy hand.
Do not be angry beyond measure, O Lord,
Neither remember iniquity forever
Behold, look now, all of us are Thy people.
~Isaiah 64:1-9 (NASB 1977)

Since not all I know love my beloved NASB 1977, here is the same in the English Standard Version:

Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down,
that the mountains might quake at your presence—
as when fire kindles brushwood
and the fire causes water to boil—
to make your name known to your adversaries,
and that the nations might tremble at your presence!
When you did awesome things that we did not look for,
you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.
From of old no one has heard
or perceived by the ear,
no eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him.
You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
There is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.
But now, O Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
Be not so terribly angry, O Lord,
and remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.

Huh?  That bigger picture does at all seem to be about God shaping us to be His messengers.   Actually, to me, it seems to be a humble begging of mercy from God.  In fact, not only does the passage speak of our state at sinners, where nothing we do for God is good and noting how we are not even able to lay hold of God by our own knowledge or strength, but the passage ends in a plea for God to remember that we are His creation, sinners though we be.  That reminder loops back directly to the pleas to be forgiven, to be saved, since we are His.

I was stunned.

For me, it was one of those moments where I really, really wanted to stand up and ask everyone to stop for a few minutes so I could take in the whole of a passage of scripture that had been previously ignored in favor of plucking out a verse to make a meaning fitting a sermon rather than a sermon fitting the text.  

Up until that moment, up until hearing verse 8, my heart was singing for joy.  Sometimes I wonder if I am just plain weird.  For the Living Word that speaks of my sin is a Word of joy for me.  It is a reminder that I cannot, by my strength or reason, get right with God. I cannot deepen my relationship with Christ.  I cannot achieve holiness or live a godly life.  I cannot.  I cannot there is no failure of faith in being unable to do so.

Then verse 8 came and my biblical foundation was rocked to its core.  What?  Wait!  That's the big picture?  Wow!  Oh, the mercy of God!

Verse 8 has far, far more in common with Psalm 139 than it does with pretty much any of the how-to-live-a-Christian life passages plucked from the New Testament and paired with it!  Verse 8 is not about actively being so we are better at doing.

Instead, to me, it was another moment of inner subjectivity, another moment where I realized that I am known. Isaiah spoke the truth of who we are.  We are not basically good inside.  We are not godly men and women.  We do not give all glory and honor to God.  No! We are deaf and blind to the truth, both because of our nature and because, without the Holy Spirit, we still wear the veil of Moses.  We struggle to believe in a loving and merciful God.  But we do know that our God is a mighty God, who does things that we do not expect.  We should expect wrath and damnation for who we are, but, even so, we dare ask for salvation because, sinners though we be, we are also His creation.

Remember we are Yours, Lord. 

Remember who we are.

Remember and save us.

That is the crux of Isaiah 64, not some preparation for being ambassadors for God. That is the big picture.

While waiting for the service to start, I began to struggle with nerves, thinking about the chapel filling with folk and worrying that someone might come to visit with my companions and then want to be introduced ... and want to shake my hand.  My worries began to overset my mind, so I opened the LSB to the section of psalms.  The page fell open at Psalm 136.  I happen to believe it was a fitting beginning to the service, because it is a reminder of who He is and what He does for His created.  

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
To Him who alone does great wonders,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
To Him who made the heavens with skill,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
To Him who spread out the earth above the waters,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
To Him who made the great lights,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
The sun to rule by day,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
The moon and the stars to rule by night,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 

To Him who smote the Egyptians in their first-born 

For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
And brought Israel out from their midst,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 

With a strong hand and an outstretched arm,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
And made Israel pass through the midst of it,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
To him who smote great kings,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
And slew mighty kings,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
Sihon, king of Amorites,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
And Og, king of Bashan, 

For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
And gave their land as a heritage,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
Even a heritage to Israel His servant,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 

Who remembered us in our low estate,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
And has rescued us from our adversaries,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
Who gives food to all flesh,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
Give thanks to God of heaven,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting. 
~Psalm 136 (NASB 1977) [emphasis mine]

I love praying this with another, with one of us speaking the "refrain" of every verse.  I love hearing the Living Word in context.  And I love, love, love being in a Church that understands and values the importance of getting the big picture.  By this I mean, I love being in a Church that offers the Service of the Word.

Oh, how the big picture is so very important!  

To me, this day, was the epitome of one of the fatal flaws of contemporary worship.  In it lies no real  place for multiple readings of the Living Word.  Over the decades, I watched the readings from the Holy Scriptures dwindle from a couple of passages to a single passage to a single verse to, sometimes, nothing at all.  Stories, jokes, readings from pop culture "Christian" books took the place of the Living Word as folk tried harder and harder to make the service "welcoming" and "relevant."  And so it is possible to arrive at a place where a verse is taken so utterly out of context and posited as representing something that it does not.

I am rather thankful, this day, that my Good Shepherd sent me a brother and sister in Christ willing to ferry me to a prayer service when I could learn the big picture of Isaiah 64 and be reminded of the big picture of the entire Bible:  

God.  

Not us.  

Our triune God, the crux of whose work is Jesus for us.  

I am Yours, Lord.  Save me!