Isaiah 45:1-7
1 Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
and to strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him—
and the gates shall not be closed:
2 I will go before you
and level the mountains;
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze
and cut through the bars of iron;
3 I will give you the treasures of darkness
and riches hidden in secret places,
so that you may know that it is I, the Lord,
the God of Israel, who call you by your name.
4 For the sake of my servant Jacob
and Israel my chosen,
I call you by your name;
I give you a title, though you do not know me.
5 I am the Lord, and there is no other;
besides me there is no god.
I arm you, though you do not know me,
6 so that they may know, from the rising of the sun
and from the west, that there is no one besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I form light and create darkness,
I make weal and create woe;
I the Lord do all these things.
There are many sections of the prophet Isaiah that remind us a lot of the Psalms, much like this one. Except in this instance, God is doing the talking as opposed to the Isaiah. And just like the Psalms have been put to song for centuries, so have prophetic words like this passage from Isaiah.
Within this divine song are many promises about the lengths the Lord has and will go in relationship with us. No doors or gates will be closed, the mountains will be leveled. Nothing will stand between us when God calls us by name in our baptism.
When I was a child, we’d often travel from Kalispell where we lived to Shelby to visit my paternal grandparents. It was a 160-mile one-way trip that took 3 or more hours with stops because we’d cross Marias Pass in the chain of Rocky Mountains that separated Western from Eastern Montana. With my lack of patience like every child experiences, the trip seemed to take an eternity. Especially on the way home after a good and exhausting visit.
And just when I thought I couldn’t take the trip anymore, I’d see the majestic Rocky Mountains looming in the distance, knowing that meant slower driving with a lot of twists and turns ahead. I remember wishing that we could either turn the car into a rocket ship and fly over them or praying that God would flatten those mountains so we could get home sooner. But those bitter feelings would soon fade on the beautiful drive over Marias Pass. And I would know, from the rising of the sun, and from the West, that there was no one besides the one true Lord.
– Pr. Kyle
God our creator, thank you for the ancient scriptures that have taught us so much about your unconditional for us. Grant us the patience to slow and sing along with you about the loving relationship you have for all creation. Amen.