You Mean You Didn't Know?
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (B)

Don't ask me how I didn't know, but a week ago Friday I asked my husband and sons when the Super Bowl was going to be -- Saturday or Sunday. They said Sunday. So I thought they meant last Sunday. I had seen headlines in the newspaper about the last Super Bowl in Michigan, which I did watch with Barry before we were ever married back in the early 80s. I guess I wasn't counting on as much hype in the paper that far ahead of time. Anyway, I came very close to mentioning something about the Super Bowl last Sunday. When I found out that in fact the Super Bowl is TODAY, and I told them I had almost mentioned something about it last week, they were incredulous. You mean you didn't KNOW? I guess that tells you how much of a sports fan I am.

"You mean you didn't know?" That's the same message we hear in our first lesson today. "Didn't you know?" "Haven't you been paying attention?" "Haven't you been listening?" "Don't you know anything?" That's the message from the prophet Isaiah to the Israelites exiled in Babylon. Jerusalem was razed and sacked by Babylonian soldiers in 587 BC. The Temple was destroyed, thousands of people were forced into exile in Babylon. Their homes were burned, the walls of their cities destroyed and their treasures pillaged. And so the exiles thought God had abandoned them. They said, "My way is hidden from the Lord." The exiles were flagging in their faith. The grass was starting to look greener on the other side of the fence, especially when they saw grand processions honoring Marduk, the Babylonians' chief god. If the might of a god could be measured by how well the god's people did in battle, then, they guessed, YHWH was not so powerful after all. So some Israelites deserted -- and adopted the religion and culture of their captors.

It happens often still, doesn't it? Exile may be one of the major themes of the Bible, AND it is still a major theme in life as we know it in 2006. Our world is full of refugees, hostages, and homeless poor -- those exiled from home against their will. Think of displaced tsunami and hurricane survivors. Think of the state of Florida packed with Cuban refugees. Think of those in far off lands serving in the military. Think of Jill Carroll, the Christian Science Monitor reporter from Ann Arbor taken hostage in Iraq. There are millions and millions of refugees in the world today. These displaced people are in unfamiliar territory with strange food, language, and customs. They have no vote and no voice in many of the decisions affecting their lives. I'm sure at least some of these folks have struggled with a flagging faith in light of what they've been through.

Geographic exile -- to be deported, displaced, transplanted, to end up in a strange setting, is not the only kind of exile. Exile can also be psychological, physical, and spiritual. The layoffs at Ford two weeks ago have thrown thousands into exile -- separation from a familiar job and a comfortable way of making a living. Those who have lost loved ones recently are in exile -- separated from a familiar relationship. Those who are ill or who struggle with eating disorders or injuries are in exile -- separated from their bodies. Simon's mother-in-law in our Gospel, was exiled from good health. Ivar Pearson's son Michael is in exile in ICU at Beaumont Hospital with kidney failure and other complications. Val Revitzer, Art May and Joyce McQuade are in exile in rehabilitation. Karl Gerardi is exiled to his bed in order to keep his leg up while he's recovering from knee surgery. Families are in exile from one another when children refuse to come home or parents disown children or siblings deny one another a welcome. Sometimes people are in exile from themselves, mentally anguished or emotionally unable to understand or to accept who they are. And even though the Super Bowl is in Detroit, the Lions seem to be exiled from ever playing in that tournament again.

Exile, estrangement, is just as common in our lives as it was in the lives of the Israelites in 587 BC. We too go through times when we feel abandoned by God. And so maybe the word from Isaiah to those exiles also says something to us in whatever exile we might find ourselves.

Years ago a French infidel strutted and bragged that infidels would tear down the churches in France and destroy everything that reminded the people of God. A poor peasant replied, "But you will leave us the sun, the moon, and the stars, and as long as they shine, we shall have a reminder of God." That's precisely the word of comfort from the prophet to the exiles today. They can count on God to save them because God created the whole world. God controls the heavenly host and can call out the stars by name. "You mean you didn't know? Haven't you been paying attention? Haven't you been listening? Haven't you heard these stories all your life?" These stories were passed on in Temple worship. In Babylon, the sun, moon, and stars were closely connected to the chief gods. So the prophet reminds them that their God -- YHWH -- created the sun, moon, and stars. Our God is not an idol made out of silver and gold. God is the creator and lord of history!

So hang on, he says to the exiles. Keep faith and wait for God to act, and God will renew your strength. You shall mount up with wings like eagles. Even those words, that image of eagles' wings would be comforting to them. Those words would remind them of God's words to Moses at Sinai -- part of their story and their tradition: "You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself." This exile isn't going to last forever. Remember who you are and whose you are, the prophet says. God will bring the exiles back home and your lives will be restored. I'm reminded of something I read last year that sustained me very often during my first months here when I felt like I was in an exile of sorts. "God's servant does not have a surplus of strength in advance, but is given strength only in the midst of obedience." Such is the promise in Isaiah today: 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."

An eight year old boy named Dominic went skiing with his father and skied off the run without realizing it. A search party and two helicopter crews searched all night and couldn't find him. Finally ski tracks were spotted, which changed to small footprints. The footprints led to a tree, where they found Dominic. He was in super shape. He was in better shape than those in the search party. He was in such good condition that the hospital didn't even admit him.

It turned out that there was a good reason the boy did so well despite spending a night exiled in the freezing elements: his father warned the boy about what to do if he became lost, and his son had enough trust to do exactly what his father said. He snuggled up to a tree and covered himself with branches. He was simply obeying his wise and loving father.

Today we are given directions as to what to do when we become lost, when we feel abandoned by God, when we are exiled or estranged from all that is familiar and dear. Wait for the Lord. As we gather around Christ present in word and meal, we are given strength to wait for the Lord in the midst of suffering and uncertainty. We've been hearing this story, we've been given these directions, all our lives: "Do this in remembrance of me." You mean you didn't know?

Pastor Dana Runestad
5 February 2006
Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany
Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Livonia Michigan

Sources:
Leroy Brownlow, "Reminder" from A Psalm in My Heart. Reprinted in Stories for a Faithful Heart compiled by Alice Gray, Multnomah Press, p. 226
Walter Brueggemann, et al. Texts for Preaching: A Lectionary Commentary Based on the NRSV-Year B, p. 134-136
. Luis Palau, "Doing What Our Father Says," from Healthy Habits for Spiritual Growth. Reprinted in Stories for a Faithful Heart compiled by Alice Gray, Multnomah Press, p. 227 ff.
Douglas E. Wingeier, ed. "Lections for Fifth Sunday After the Epiphany" in Keeping Holy Time, Abingdon, p. 82 ff.

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