Rochester, MN UCC - "The Lord Has Chosen You" - Isaiah 49:1-7

"It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." ~ Isaiah 49:6

 In our reading from Isaiah this week, we encounter the people of Israel immediately after they have been told to go home from Babylon. They have been saved! Their greatest desire has been granted and they travel home singing songs of praise and thanksgiving for their freedom! Now they are home, and God is calling them into the transformation and redemption not only of Israel, but the entire creation.

 It would have been logical for Isaiah to think that God’s salvific work was done once his people had been free. This is what God had been promising was coming, but God is revealing herself as a God of all people whose plans are for all of the world.  God tells Isaiah that it’s not enough for you and those you love to be saved, everyone and everything will be saved. Having received God’s promises for yourself is never the end of the road, merely one stop on a lifelong journey of faith.

 Join us Sunday in person or on Facebook as we consider our lives considering the promise of universal salvation. How is God inviting us to stand for the freedom of others if we are unconcerned about eternal damnation? What does salvation mean if we can be confident that God’s unending love will have the last word? Let us wrestle with the Word again and allow it to change us.

 Peace, Pastor Shannon Smith