Our Strength by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Patti Lusher)

On Friday morning, in a courtroom in Charleston, South Carolina, a little bit of heaven stooped down to earth. As you know, on Wednesday night during a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, nine people were murdered. On Friday morning, family members faced the accused murderer, Dylann Storm Roof.

One of the family members, Nadine Collier, daughter of victim Ethel Lance, her voice choked with sobs, said: “I will never talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her again. But I forgive you. And have mercy on your soul. You hurt me. You hurt a lot of people, but God forgive you, and I forgive you” (The Blade, Toledo, Ohio, June 20, 2015, p. 1).  

Another family member, Bethane Middleton Brown said:  "I acknowledge that I am very angry." She said her slain sister, DePayne Middleton Doctor, would have urged love. "She taught me that we are the family that love built," Middleton Brown said. "We have no room for hating, so we have to forgive."  (http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/19/us-usa-shooting-south-carolina-idUSKBN0OY06A20150619). One after another, the family members offered forgiveness to Dylann Storm Roof. Heaven came down to earth as they bravely forgave the man who has confessed to killing their loved ones.

We don’t know what happened in his life to fill him with hate and racism. He is a broken child of God. He represents the racism that is rampant in our society. He is a symbol of our collective brokenness as a society. Deeply embedded in our culture is a racial hatred that we have not addressed. We cannot write off tragedy to mental illness of one individual. He was schooled in a society of hatred and bigotry. We must all do our part to put an end to racism in our country.

But on Friday morning, those most intimately affected by hate in this instance did a miraculous thing. They offered Dylann Roof forgiveness. They gave a powerful witness to the power of God in their lives. I want to be part of a church where people have faith that strong. I humbly pray that I would have the strength to forgive a killer. I honestly wonder if I would. These people inspire me.

I believe the people of Emanuel AME Church are Isaiah 40 people. You see, Isaiah 40 is a passage that calls us to be strong in our faith. Let me explain. You will recall that I have told you of the time when the people of God lost their homes and their temple. Jerusalem fell to Babylonian invaders and many of the people were taken to live in exile in Babylon. The prophet Isaiah worked during that time. He was preaching and prophesying to the people who were living as slaves in exile. These were desperate times for the people of God. They had lost their homes, their temple, their priests, and they wondered if they had lost their God. People worshipped multiple gods in Babylon and the people of God were tempted to worship these other gods rather than the one true God, Yahweh.

This is when Isaiah comes along with our scripture for today. He asks them hard questions:

Have you not known? Have you not heard?
    Has it not been told you from the beginning?
    Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? ²² It is God who sits above the circle of the earth,
    and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

He reminds them that God is the one and only Creator and they are like tiny grasshoppers compared to God. God is their Creator.

Then Isaiah promises them that the Babylonians will be defeated. This exile is only temporary. This is what he says: 

Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,
    scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when God blows upon them, and they wither,
    and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

He is promising that the Babylonian take over will not last. They will wither. Their strength has not taken root. This is comforting to the people of God who are living under control of the Babylonians. Isaiah is promising that they won’t be in exile forever. One day, they will be free. 

Then Isaiah asks them a question again:

²⁸ Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God,
    the Creator of the ends of the earth.

Sometimes we human beings have to be reminded of who God is. We fall under the illusion that we are in charge. But we are not. God created the earth. It all belongs to God. And so that means we need to trust God. We need to relax and realize that good days and bad days come and go, but God is always with us. Isaiah is reminding the people that even though they are in exile, there is a bigger picture and God sees the big picture. God will see them through. God will see us through too. Even though we have bad times, God will see us through.

Next comes the poetry of this passage. I imagine you have heard at least some of this before. Isaiah reminds the people of the strength of God. Close your eyes if you will and listen to these words: 

God does not faint or grow weary;
    God’s understanding is unsearchable. ²⁹ God gives power to the faint,
    and strengthens the powerless. ³⁰ Even youths will faint and be weary,
    and the young will fall exhausted; ³¹ but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary,
    they shall walk and not faint.

When we wait on the Lord we shall have strength. Isaiah told those people living in exile, to be patient. I am not a patient person. I don’t like to be told to be patient. But sometimes that is the message from God. Strength will come when we wait for God. There is a freedom that comes with this strength.

Isaiah promises us that God gives power to the powerless. Even youths will be weary but those who wait on God will have renewed strength. We will be strong like eagles. We shall run and not be weary and walk and not faint.

These words must have been powerful to people who were living in exile, wondering if they might ever return home.

I wonder how these words might be heard by those family members in Charleston, SC? Those faithful Christians whose loved ones were gunned down while attending Bible study. Isaiah says to them “You will run and not be weary; you will walk and not faint.” I think these words gave them strength to forgive Dylann Roof. They are Isaiah 40 people. Isaiah 40 is about putting our trust in God. It is about remembering that our strength comes from God. It is about remembering that God is in charge and God will restore justice in our world.

What about us? What makes you weary? What has you worn down? What is going on in your life that has you discouraged? We all have bad days. Sometimes we have bad seasons. We have worries. We face injustice. We have bills to pay. Children that concern us. Troubles at work. Health concerns. Relationship problems. The list goes on.

Isaiah has a word of grace for us. First of all: God is in charge. You don’t have to be God, that job is taken. Since the beginning of time, God has been watching over creation. When we take the long look at things, it makes our problems seem not quite so huge.

Second, God gives us strength. When we are weary, God gives us strength. God is the source of our strength. We are not alone. So, lean into God. Rest in God.

Finally, put your trust in God. You don’t have to go this journey alone. Pour out your heart to God in prayer. Let God know your concerns, and God will respond.

God did not abandon the people in exile in Babylon. God will not abandon the family members in Charleston, SC at Emanuel AME Church. Emanuel means “God with us”, by the way. God will never abandon us. God promises to give strength to the weary. Those who wait on God will renew our strength – so put your trust in God. God is our strength. God gives us freedom. Amen.