Sermon on Isaiah 51:9-16, for the 24th Sunday after Trinity (1 Yr lectionary), "Waiting for the Lord's Arm"
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. In Isaiah 51:5, just before our reading, God tells His people that His righteousness and salvation are near. He says that His arm will judge the peoples, but that His people wait for God’s arm. God’s arm is His power and might to act, to save, to deliver. So they are waiting on God’s action, His deliverance, and where our reading begins in verse 9, they are crying out to God: “ Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord !” They are calling on God as if He is late, or asleep, or has forgotten them. In times of trial and difficulty, like the exile the Israelites endured, it’s a common feeling to wonder where is the “arm of the Lord?” In times of our distress, in times when we cry out to the Lord and seem to hear no answer, we too wait for the Lord’s arm. Anxious for His help, crying out for Him to act, our faith is tested. Faith is not tested or strengthened by ease and comfort, but by bearing the cross. I...