Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text for today’s meditation is Isaiah 60:9
For the coastlands shall hope for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your children from afar, their silver and gold with them, for the name of the LORD your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has made you beautiful.
There was a time when he was a young, handsome prince living in his stately castle. But that was before the curse. The enchantress, disguised as an old beggar woman, turned him into an ugly animal and changed all his servants into household items. Their names are now famous; Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, and my favorite, the little teacup named Chip. What did they call the prince? Simply, "The Beast." Why? Because he was repugnant and repulsive, hideous, homely, and very, very hairy. The Beast was so ashamed he hid in his castle, secluding himself from everyone and everything. But all that changed one day when a sweet young lady named Belle came strolling along into his life. Beauty loves the Beast and the Beast becomes beautiful.
Have you ever felt like the Beast? Rejected, alone, and living in the shadows? Sure you have. So have I. Frequently we run to our castle and hide so no one can see the ugly mess we make of our lives.
Zion knows the feeling all too well. In the book of Isaiah Yahweh names her "Abandoned," "Desolate," and he even calls her a prostitute. But for utter ugliness, Isaiah 59 is surely the most descriptive chapter of Zion’s beastly nature in the book. Words describing her moral decadence appear seventeen times in the first eight verses. The list includes iniquity, sin, defilement, deceit, wickedness, disorder, vanity, turmoil, violence, evil, destruction, devastation, and crooked. The next verses go on to say that justice, salvation, and righteousness are far, far, far away. Isaiah 59:16 then announces that Yahweh is appalled because there is no one to intervene.
That’s pretty ugly, that’s beastly, isn’t it? But it’s hard to find a page in the Bible where the beast doesn’t appear. Cain murders Abel; Saul hunts down David; Amnon rapes Tamar; Joab kills Absalom; Herod slays babies and the other Herod beheads John the Baptist. Even the sweet Psalmist Asaph readily admits in Psalm 73, "I was senseless and ignorant, I was a brute beast before you."
Though we have a million and one ways to deny the reality, a brute beast lives in all of us. We become rude, defiant, angry, and ugly. Losing our temper, we spew forth venomous words, making a mess of everything. Vowing to change, a week later we explode again in a savage frenzy. Think I’m overstating the case? Dare right now to look into your thoughts, ponder the pattern your life has been weaving. It can get ugly, can’t it? Really, really ugly, rather beastly.
Turning the page from Isaiah 59 and into chapter 60 the prophet announces to Zion, "Arise, shine, for your light has come!" The word "light" appears seven times in the chapter, meaning what? Meaning that perfect light brings perfect beauty! Isaiah 60 overflows with soaring, lyrical, beautiful language. We read about Ephah, Kedar, Midian, Nebaioth, Sheba, and Tarshish, all arriving in Zion, intent on making her gorgeous and graceful, glorious and stunningly grand. These Gentiles bring "the abundance of the sea," "the wealth of the nations," "the abundance of camels," and "the milk of the nations"; "gold, ""silver," "bronze," "iron," "juniper," "maple," "cypress," and "frankincense." They bring "young camels of Midian and Ephah," "the flocks of Kedar," and "the rams of Nebaioth."
