+ Ash Wednesday – March 2nd 2022 +
Isaiah 41:14-16
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
If you could become any animal in the world, which one would you choose? Maybe, like Isaiah, you’d soar on wings like an eagle. Or, like Amos, the mighty king of the jungle, the lion.
Chances are, though, whatever animal comes to mind, I’m guessing none of you thought of a worm. Who would want to be a worm? Worms have no arms, no legs, and no eyes! They’re small and squishy and creepy crawly, not to mention dirty. The prophets Isaiah and Jonah even equate a worm with the being cursed by God. (e.g., Isaiah 66:24; Jonah 4:7)
It’s fair to say that most of us don’t go to the zoo to look at the cute little worms, or have a worm as your school mascot.
And yet, that’s exactly what happens in Isaiah 41:14. The prophet Isaiah calls God’s people a worm. “Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob.” Why does God call the people of Israel in exile in Babylon a worm? Sounds rather harsh to our ears.
But when you look at the Old Testament history, Isaiah’s name for Israel makes a lot of sense. Buried under the boot of Babylon, in Isaiah 40–55 the exiles are also called weak and weary, bruised reeds and smoldering wicks, deaf and blind, childless, widowed, divorced, and a stubborn rebel from birth. God has a word for that here in Isaiah 41: worm.
Isaiah also parallels the words “O worm Jacob” with “those who are dead.” In other words, Isaiah is using biblical, prophetic poetry to compare people dead in sin with a worm. Dead people are buried—so are worms. Dead people are stepped on—so are worms. Dead people are surrounded by dirt—so are worms. Dead people are ignored and soon forgotten—and so are the worms.
God’s people in exile saw terror on every side. God’s promises to the patriarchs and David appeared to be null and void. The captives were caught in a culture where their most treasured narratives and liturgies were mocked, trivialized, or dismissed as being simply irrelevant. Everything had been swallowed up by the beast of Babylon. Sounds an awful lot like our lives in exile in the fallen world.
Perhaps you’ve found yourself praying the lament of God’s people in exile, Psalm 22: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” And then in verse 6 David says, “I am a worm and not a man.”
Again, it sounds harsh at first. But Psalm 22 reveals the truth about our sinful nature. We are captive to sin. We have not “acted justly and love mercy and walk humbly with my God” (Micah 6:8). We daily bury ourselves deeper and deeper in the dirt and filth of our sin.
God has a word for that: worm.
And so we cry out with the prophet Isaiah, “I am a man of unclean lips”; and with Job, “Therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes”; and with Paul, “O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death!”
This is part of what Lent is all about. Acknowledging who we are in God’s sight—sinful and unclean in thought, word, and deed. In Lent, we confess our sins, grieve over them, and repent before God. You see, only people who are dead and buried and surrounded by dirt cry out for life and resurrection!
And yet, Lent is also about hearing and rejoicing in the life-giving Word of God, yes even for worms like you and me. “Do not be afraid, O worm Jacob, O dead ones of Israel, for I myself will help you, declares the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”
The Lord will not look down upon you, nor trample upon you, nor leave you buried in the soil of your iniquity. Christ is your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.”
Isaiah uses that word “redeemer” here in Isaiah 40–55 for the first time and will use it 18 more times in these chapters. A redeemer is your next-of-kin-relative who buys back your inheritance, frees you from slavery, and pays off your debt. Whatever has gone bad, your redeemer will make good (Job 19:25; 42:10).
Joined with Redeemer is the phrase “the Holy One of Israel.”. He is, as the seraphim cry out, “holy, holy, holy!” It means the Lord is completely set apart and different from everyone and everything else.
Isaiah reveals your Redeemer—the completely immanent One—with the Holy One of Israel—the completely transcendent One. In this way, he announces that the Lord alone is able to marshal every power in the universe for a single, loving, gracious, relentless goal—to bring us love and life, forgiveness and salvation!
How does He do it? In the fullness of time, God became your next-of-kin-relative. And then He took another step. He became dirty, despised, and dismissed. But then He took another, almost incomprehensible step.
Remember how Jesus cried out the words of Psalm 22 on the cross. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” And then verse 6, “I am a worm and not a man.” Here is Jesus, nailed to the tree, His body bent and twisted. Here is Jesus, a bloody horrific mess. Here is Jesus, mocked, ridiculed, and abandoned. God has a word for that: worm.
This is what Lent is about. Jesus transforms and reverses everything. He makes all things new by his cross and resurrection. “See, I am making you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth. You will thresh the mountains and crush them, and reduce the hills to chaff.”
In Isaiah’s way of thinking, worms are mountain movers, transformed from lowliness to glory all by God’s grace. For in Christ crucified and risen, the lowly and despised are loved and lifted up. Our Lenten sackcloth and ashes are not the last word. On Easter they will be exchanged for baptismal robes washed white in the blood of Jesus. “The blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the gospel is preached to the poor” (Matthew 11:5). God has a word for that too. Grace.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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