Clothed with the Garments of Salvation—Lectionary Reflection for Christmas 1B (Isaiah 61-62)
Isaiah 61:10-62:3 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
10 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
my whole being shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11 For as the earth brings forth its shoots
and as a garden causes what is sown in it to spring up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
to spring up before all the nations.62 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest,
until her vindication shines out like the dawn
and her salvation like a burning torch.
2 The nations shall see your vindication
and all the kings your glory,
and you shall be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will give.
3 You shall be a beautiful crown in the hand of the Lord
and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
*************
The Sunday after Christmas may seem
anti-climactic. The regular preacher may have taken that Sunday off. Like the
Sunday after Easter, it’s considered a “low Sunday,” which means it’s poorly
attended. After all, it has been a rather hectic several weeks as the church
moved through Advent toward the culminating event of Christmas Eve. When the
Fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve fall on the same day, the season is
even more compact than usual. So, preachers are due a well-deserved rest (by
word of confession, during my nearly twenty-five years serving as pastor I generally
took the Sunday after Christmas off). One of the ways to address this reality
is simply to read the Scriptures for the day and sing the rest of the carols
that hadn’t been sung to that point. It’s not a bad idea since people love
singing the carols, even if a few are repeated.
While facts on the ground may
preclude a sermon, the texts for the day still beckon for our attention. The
First Reading for Christmas 1B, as prescribed by the Revised Common Lectionary,
is Isaiah 61:10-6:2. We have already looked at the opening verses of Isaiah 61
on the Third Sunday of Advent (Year B), a passage that Jesus draws upon in his
sermon at Nazareth, where he tells the home synagogue that he is, in fact, the
one whom the Spirit has anointed to bring good news (Isaiah
61:1-2a; Luke
4:16-30). The opening verses of this week’s passage from Isaiah 61 overlap
with the reading for Advent 3B, so the rejoicing spoken of in verse 10 is
rooted in the anointing by the Spirit of the one (ones) who bring Good News.
This reading is, in its origins, spoken to a people who had experienced exile
and was now free. But the question they faced had to do with what was next. While,
for a moment it was a time to rejoice in God’s blessings, the question of what’s
next had to be on their minds. Nevertheless, for the people of Israel, now
freed from exile, have received word from the third prophet we call Isaiah,
that they have been clothed with the garment of salvation.
The words we hear in this passage may
sound joyous and even triumphant, but we need to remember that when the exiles
returned home from Babylon they discovered a city (Jerusalem) and a Temple
lying in ruins. They might have remembered what was, or at least had been told
stories of the grandeur of the city and Temple before the Babylonian conquest.
Nevertheless, for a moment they will rejoice in the God who has clothed them
with victory and wrapped them with a robe of righteousness. The remaining
elements of this description invite us to picture a bridegroom decked out with
garlands and a bride adorned with jewels. If you’ve been to a wedding lately,
perhaps you can imagine what this looks like. You might even want to think
about weddings outside the typical American cultural context. I have in mind
the wedding of a friend’s son. The families are Pakistani Muslims, and I attended
the third day of the celebration, the one that focuses on the groom, though the
bride was beautifully attired. Both bride and groom sat on a couch, under a
flowery archway. It was quite grand and that was day three (I learned that on
day three, the groom’s father is to feed the community). I am assuming Third
Isaiah’s audience knows what a proper wedding entails, so they would understand
what the prophet has in mind. The message here is that those who might be
feeling a bit of despair because of what they see going on around them, need to
lift their eyes a bit so they can see what God is doing in their midst. So don’t
be sad, celebrate the good work of God. Remember, the people are told, you’re
now free. This righteousness spoken of here, illustrated by the wedding garb of
the bride and groom, is understood to be a gift of God.
The message continues with a view
from an agricultural perspective. Consider then how the earth brings forth
shoots and a garden bursts forth with what is sown in it. As with the prior
illustration, it is understood here that the produce of the land is a result of
God’s action. Therefore, God will cause “righteousness and praise to spring up
before all the nations” (Is. 61:11). This last word serves as a reminder that
God has chosen Israel for a purpose, and this purpose involves being a witness
to God’s glory before the nations. This witness to the nations involves God’s
act of salvation of Israel through its restoration after the exile.
As our reading moves into chapter
62, the prophet, speaking for God, lets the people know that “for Zion’s sake I
will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her
vindication shines out like the dawn and her salvation like a burning torch” (Is.
62:1). Yes, God is going to vindicate Zion/Jerusalem. Be sure that the nations
will notice this vindication. Indeed, the monarchs will see Israel’s glory, thereby
seeing the glory of the God who has chosen to work with and through Israel.
Where once Israel existed as an
exiled people, now they were restored to the homeland. God is at work
vindicating the nation, bestowing blessings on the nation of Israel. The people
will receive a new name. Not only that but the prophet tells the people, “You
shall be a beautiful crown in the hand of the Lord and a royal diadem in
the hand of your God” (Is. 62:3). The lectionary reflection stops with this
message about being a crown in God’s hand, but we might want to read just a bit
further into chapter 62, for verse 4, which continues the wedding imagery,
letting the nation (bride) know that the people will no longer be known as
forsaken or desolate, for the land will be married to Yahweh.
We hear this word from Isaiah
during the Christmas season. It serves as a reminder that God is the source of
our salvation and our righteousness (justice). We do have a role to play in all
of this, but for a moment let’s stop and remember who the source of our joy is.
While there is a nationalist element here, there is also this larger vision
that embraces the larger world. Remember that despite what one sees, something
new is breaking forth. Since this word will be heard on the last day of the
year (in 2023), we can hear it as an invitation to embrace God’s gift of
salvation/righteousness as we enter a new year.
So, as
we ponder this word from the third prophet we call Isaiah, might we take this
word from Andrew Nagy-Benson to heart.
Like the carols that linger on this first Sunday of Christmas, this passage from Isaiah celebrates God’s desire to be with God’s people in a new way. The promise of reconciliation gives Israel hope. The promise of God’s steadfast love gives Israel a reason to sing again. From age to age, our congregations repeat the sounding joy: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God” (v.10). [Feasting on the Word, p. 150].
As we get ready to enter a new year, we know that here in
the United States, the year will bring with it an election that has important
implications for the continuance of democracy in our land. There is also the
ongoing war in Ukraine that has important implications for the world. There is
also the crisis in Gaza, as Israel continues its assault, with the death toll
rising by the day. Things may look rather desolate, but Isaiah invites us to
put our trust in God’s steadfast love. And so, clothed with the garments of salvation and the robe of righteousness we sing, exulting with our entire
being, to the glory of God.
Joy to the world, the Lord is
come!
Let earth receive her King;
let every heart prepare him room,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven and nature sing,
and heaven, and heaven and nature sing.
Image Attribution: Swanson, John August. Wedding Feast, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=58581 [retrieved December 21, 2023]. Original source: Estate of John August Swanson, https://www.johnaugustswanson.com/.
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