Our student pastor gave the message this week and did a great job She started out giving the children a lesson in perspective by asking them to go - actually giving them permission to run - to any place in the sanctuary where they do not normally sit. They got to see that it looks different, depending on where they are.
The scripture from Isaiah 40:21-31 is the reminder for Israel that God is in charge, even though they complain and doubt. The entire community is in an identity crisis, in exile. For Israel God is in the temple and the land, so they can easily believe that God is dead or weaker than the other "gods." They are praying and not getting the answer they want, probably biblical smiting of their enemies and return to their home. Isaiah reminds them that God is in charge, even in this difficult time, and with the community.
A parallel was drawn with the movie "Soul Surfer." Based on the true story of Bethany Hamilton, the movie details the story of a championship surfer who loses her arm in a shark attack. She does the hard work to return to the sport she loves but places last in her first competition back. As you can imagine, she suffers an identity crisis, questioning why this should happen to her, who is she if she can't surf any more, is it part of God's plan that bad things should happen?
The answer she gets is very similar to the one Israel got from Isaiah - we don't know why bad things happen, but we do know that God is in the business of bringing good out of the bad things that do happen. In the movie Bethany goes on a mission trip, helps a child who faces devastation greater than anything she ever imagined, and comprehends that there is more in this world than just her problems.
Who among us hasn't felt consumed by our own problems? There are times when we feel lonely, abandoned, a stranger in strange land. But how often is our own behavior off-putting, stand-offish, refusing to adapt to new environment, praying for relief but feeling angry and cheated when the answer isn't the one we want? It's a little like the seagulls in "Finding Nemo." They travel in a flock but are not a community, out for only themselves, constantly sniping and crying mine-mine-mine.
Bethany and Israel learned to look outside themselves - to get a different perspective and consider things from a communal point of view. Bethany needed to be in a community, to interact with and love others in order to stand inside herself and look out. Time to examine my point of view...
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