Scripture as Dialogue

Isaiah 35
1The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom; like the crocus 2it shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of theLord, the majesty of our God. 3Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 4Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.”
5Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; 6then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy. For waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert; 7the burning sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of water; the haunt of jackals shall become a swamp, the grass shall become reeds and rushes. 8A highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Holy Way; the unclean shall not travel on it, but it shall be for God’s people; no traveler, not even fools, shall go astray. 9No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there.10And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Scripture is meant for dialogue. When we engage a text, we should have a conversation with it, letting it seep over us, within us, and speak through us.

At Bible Study tonight, we read our week's worth of prayer cards aloud as usual. However, we interspersed the readings this week with segments of this scripture from Isaiah 35. The result was a dialogue that embodied the hopes and fears of the BSM community. Many of those present this evening were themselves homeless, in a wilderness. They were easily able to place themselves within this text as the prayers were read. They noticed the struggles AND the hope within this text.

Scripture should speak to us in every time and place. We can never relegate a text to being out of touch, out of date, or irrelevant. Isaiah was speaking to the Israelites in exile to give them promise and hope for better. Within this is the call to be attentive to prophecy, to seek the glory of the Lord and the good for all people. Thus, this text speaks to us with similar messages of hope and promise. It reminds us that God carries us through the times of difficulty, when we find ourselves in the wilderness, and sets us back on our feet. We should be joyful as we seek this out and help others seek this out.

As one of our friends said tonight:

There's a way back.