There is a wonderful image in the reading from Isaiah today, a rhetorical question that God asks. “Is my hand shortened, that it cannot redeem?” (Isaiah 50:2c). The metaphor is strong. God’s “reach”, God’s ability to interact with God’s people, is being challenged. With a shortened hand God could not be save or redeem Israel. But God confronts this mindset and dismisses it. Of course God’s “hand” has not been shortened nor God’s reach diminished. God is still at work and still able to touch the lives of men and women wherever they are.
Still, I wonder how often we think of God as “out of touch”, as a relic from bygone days that lacks relevance or power in our lives. There is an old (tired) joke about a minister who holds an offering plate full of that Sunday’s collection. “God,” he says, “I’m going to throw this money in the air. You take all that you want but I’m going to keep what lands on the floor.” If that is what we think of God’s “reach” then no wonder we doubt God’s presence in our world. But this is the God who spoke of writing on the human heart, the God who reached out through prophets and kings, calling, anointing, establishing, who ultimately appeared in the form of Jesus Christ who touched person after person and brought healing and compassion everywhere he went. God’s reach has never been shortened. I think it is we who, all too often, are shortsighted, unable or unwilling to turn to God and to trust what God is doing.
No, God’s “hands” and God’s “reach” remain consistent. It is we who need to be more aware and more willing to look with eyes of faith at the redemption and salvation that God offers us. Then we will see that God has meaning for today.
Prayer: God of compassion and of love, help us to live responsibly as your people, trusting in you and your care for all people. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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