Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States - Lutheran Seminary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" for Thursday, 18 December 2014 - Scripture: Isaiah 43:1-7

Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States - Lutheran Seminary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" for Thursday, 18 December 2014 - Scripture: Isaiah 43: When You’re Between a Rock and a Hard Place
1-4 But now, God’s Message,
    the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,
    the One who got you started, Israel:
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
    I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
    When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
    it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
    The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
    all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That’s how much you mean to me!
    That’s how much I love you!
I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,
    trade the creation just for you.
5-7 “So don’t be afraid: I’m with you.
    I’ll round up all your scattered children,
    pull them in from east and west.
I’ll send orders north and south:
    ‘Send them back.
Return my sons from distant lands,
    my daughters from faraway places.
I want them back, every last one who bears my name,
    every man, woman, and child
Whom I created for my glory,
    yes, personally formed and made each one.’”(The Message)
There's tremendous power when we say the words, "I love you." God speaks powerful words of love over and over in Scripture, but perhaps never so powerfully—and tenderly—as in Isaiah 43: "You are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you." The exiles in Babylon are reminded that they belong to God. They desperately need this reminder. They've been waiting a long time for God to come and bring them home. 
The prophet goes further. In an allusion to the exodus, Isaiah proclaims that God will be with them as they pass through the waters, that their offspring will be gathered from east and west, from north and south. If they listen closely, they can hear the words: "I love you. I have called you by name. You are mine." There is power in these words—for Israel, and for us. As we hear them, we are reminded that we matter supremely to God. And we begin to imagine a future that we did not have before.
Loving God, give me ears to hear your powerful words of love for me. And give me eyes to see a future that is grounded in the new thing you are doing. Amen.
Shelley Cunningham
Pastor, Zumbro Lutheran Church
Rochester, Minn. 
Master of Divinity , 1998
Isaiah 43:1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
4 Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.
5 Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you;
6 I will say to the north, "Give them up," and to the south, "Do not withhold; bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth—
7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."(New Revised Standard Version)
____________________________