Isaiah 40:21–31
It would be great to live in a society without prisons, but… It would be great to support people who are struggling, but… Forgiveness is great, but… I would love to give that person money, but…
The ‘yes, but’ it is the continual scourge of the church’s engagement with the world. Ideals can be preached on Sunday but the reality of crime and profit must be faced on Monday. The ‘yes, but’ is about maintaining the status quo, it is also about who is Lord. Isaiah has some words for us this week. And the words of the prophet seem a direct response to any ‘yes, but…’ we could think of. “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?”(41:21)
Who are we protecting by maintaining the status quo as a society? As Bob Dylan said, “you’re gonna have to serve somebody/Well it may be the Devil/Or it may be the Lord/But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” Abolition comes down to the question: “who do you serve?” Isaiah asks if we have known or heard? The prophet goes on:
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to live in; who brings princes to naught, and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing. (40:22-23)
The rulers of this world are brought to nothing by the God of all creation. Do we believe in the God of all creation to step out in faith by advocating and working towards the liberation of all? But even in taking that step, we are not alone. God “gives power to the faint,” (40:28) and in the struggle for abolition, it is common to feel faint staring at the prison-industrial complex. God “strengthens the powerless,” (40:28) and boy do I feel powerless sometimes in Texas when looking at our prisons and government and common misconceptions of Justice.
Honestly, though, most activities in life are tiring and I feel faint chasing my kids up the hill. I can tire myself out working for my own wants and needs, or I can listen to Isaiah, strive towards justice, and remember that “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.” (40:31)
We don’t have to say “yes, but…” to God or to justice. We can boldly say yes, and we will run together with the Lord.
Rev. Wilson Pruitt is a Methodist pastor and translator in Spicewood, Texas.