I will not keep silent

[okieinexile]

I will not keep silent
Isaiah 62:1-5
62:1 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.
62:2 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.
62:3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
62:4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married.
62:5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
+++
When I was a kid in school, I always wanted to get older so that I would know everything like the grownups did. I figured they knew everything. They ran the church, they ran the schools, and they ran the businesses.
I am still waiting to grow up, and I bet some of you are too. Maybe when we get to look the Lord in the face we might know enough to ask the right questions. For my own part, I learn something new every day. One of my big failings, and it’s something I am praying to get over, it waiting until it is too late to speak my mind.
My problem is that I want everybody to like me, and if you just keep your mouth shut and roll with the flow, then you don’t make anybody mad. I don’t know about you folks here, but when I was growing up this is what we were taught: Keep your mouth shut and keep your ears open. Don’t ask questions. Don’t volunteer too much information. This is not bad advice, and there are a lot of times when it works out well.
However, the fact the matter is that not everyone is going to like you. If it seems like everyone does, it is this you need to be worried because you are doing something wrong.
There are times when you have to stand up on your hind legs, let people know where you stand, and let the chips fall where they may.
This is what the first verse is talking about today: “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.”
The Lord is speaking through the prophet Isaiah. He is saying that he is not going to shut up until everything is taken care of.
There are those who have a gift—and I am sincere in calling it that—to forthrightly speak the truth when it needs to be spoken in spite of hurting someone’s feelings. Having said that, I need to clarify myself a little. Feelings are important. Don’t go out of your way to hurt someone’s feelings. That will happen by accident often enough, and it will happen by necessity often enough. What I am saying is there are things that are more important than feelings.
Jesus called some folks “whitewash tombs.” He said they were clean looking on the outside, but rotten on the inside. There is not a way in the world you can spin that to a complement. But however nasty it might sound, he did it with a purpose.
This is a subject I bring up because I need to hear it myself. I don’t want anybody to get the message I am telling you to go out and upbraid you fellow man. What I am saying is that there is a time for doing just that, and we need to be willing to do that if our God-given wisdom tells us it’s time for it.
I say this because, while in the first verse God says he has stood up for Israel and will stand up for Israel, in the rest of the passage He is building up Israel. This is where talent comes in.
And it is and thing. While on hand anyone can talk tough and be nasty, it is difficult to know when this needs to be done. It takes great wisdom to know when to be mean, when to be tough, when to tear down because it should be done so rarely. On the other hand, talking in a way so as to build up can be hard. Finding the right words to say in order to build up someone who needs affirmation can be hard, and this is ironic because it should be done so often.
So here it is, I’ve gotten toward the end of the sermon, and I’ve told you to talk tough and not to talk tough. I’ve told you to talk nice, and then I’ve told you it’s really hard to find the right words.
You might be about convinced to just go work for the devil because it would be easier.
Don’t do that.
Just remember this. Love God with all your heart, love your neighbor as yourself, and pray for wisdom because you say anything that might hurt someone’s feelings. Then, if you still think you have to, proceed only with love.

Father, give us wisdom, give us the words we need, and give us the strength to speak them. We ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.

[pattimax]

Sometimes I keep my mouth shut when I should say something, other times I mistakenly point out a white washed tomb, and so it goes.

Dear Sweet Merciful Father,
I pray that my heart will be filled with your steady peace and humble wisdom.
I enjoyed it,
Karen

[flowperson]

G-d go with you. May He comfort you when you hurt. May he guide you when when you make choices. And may G-d surprise you with His love for who you are, and what you do.

flow....

[okieinexile]

Nice to hear from you both. ()

[17th Angel]

Originally Posted by okieinexile

There are times when you have to stand up on your hind legs, let people know where you stand, and let the chips fall where they may.

Everytime is a time to stand up and tell people... I don't believe in white wash... In person when someone upsets me or I disagree.... You WILL know about it. There are clearly two sides to this coin, I unlike you couldn't care less how people see me, I am me, you have to deal with that. And if someone also disagrees with me or I have upset and they come out right with what it is... I have respect for that person. If they coward away... Or just simply agreed with me they are not worth my respect. If they stand up for what they believe and such then you get the wink and smile I think you should never "hush" because you are scared/hesitant/an ass kisser/whatever.... If you are wrong, and the silent person is right... But they are so filled with stupid fear, or wanting to impress.... And then you make a mistake... Who's fault is that? You should have said what you thought... Then the other person, be it bigger, smarter or whatever than you could think it over... If they still went with their way, and it failed... They'd be more willing to listen next time...

[Pathless]

Heh. I've traditionally been one of the meek sheep. Just lately I've realized that that does not work, and find myself gravitating more towards an attitude like what 17 just expressed.

Respect is an interesting thing. I may not agree with a person, but if they are willing to stand up for their beliefs and back them up with an intelligent argument, I will be more likely to respect them. This is kind of fascinating to me, though, because it's not just my personal thing--I think that a sense of respect like that is hardwired into each of us humans, although we may override it one way or another, I suppose. I mean, there are people who are just bastards and don't respect other people.

Anyhow, that's a bit of a digression.

()()()()()()()^()()()()()()(^()()()()^()()()()()() ()()()(^)()()()^()(^)

So one thing that I find interesting about the verses of Isaiah that start Okie's essay off is that they seem to me to speak about a spiritual process.

The spiritual process that I am thinking of has its quintessence in the last verse, "For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. " Is it just me or is this a huge metaphor for the process of "dying to self" and inviting the divine presence into your heart? I mean, we are "built" by divine wisdom and action, then turned loose in a chaotic world of free will, confusion, and crazy social interactions. In this freedom to do whatever we want, one option is to open ourselves up as vessels to the divine spirit that animates us, and as we do so, be more directly animated by it. Our actions take on the spirit of God (adopting now the Christian capitalization and everything! What is happening to meeeeeeee??? Ahhhhhh...!! ) and for this, God rejoices over us. Not only over us, but in us as well, and as we become more in tune with Her, all of our actions become imbued with the action and will of God (Yeah, that's right, I called God a Her. So there. ).

Anyhow, not to highjack Okie's essay or thoughts, but that's how I feel this verse.

Peace,
Pathless

[pattimax]

I feel as if I MUST say something. I would like many to realize that “mistakenly pointing out white washed tombs” means that the tombs were not white washed at all. In case there was a misunderstanding.

[17th Angel]

Pathless... Nice Nice..

[Operacast]

okieinexile, Thanks for a thoughtful post -- as always.

I was especially struck by one thing here in particular:

Originally Posted by okieinexile

Maybe when we get to look the Lord in the face we might know enough to ask the right questions.

I once heard an amusing story about a physicist's arrival at the pearly gates. He is allowed in by Peter and when he finally receives God's blessing at the throne, he asks Her --

"Now tell me, how did You manage to reconcile quantum mechanics for the micro world with relativity in the macro world? Einstein, down on my Planet Earth, figured out relativity, and Heisenberg, on the same planet, figured out quantum mechanics. But no one's figured out how the two work together. There still seem to be certain contradictions between the two. Please, could You tell me how they really work?."

"Child, can you even guess how old I am? Do you think I still remember?!"