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| Deep ChairnessIsaiah 43:1-7   |   1/7/2001Designer desk chairs are hot, no doubt about it. But in the face of relentless attacks on our well-being, we need support for our souls - not simply for our backsides.[Interactive idea: Place a comfortable chair near the pulpit, in view of the congregation.]

Behold ... the chair.

The seat of success in our high-tech economy.

Right along with food, shelter, clothing, and high-speed Internet access, the chair is becoming one of life's necessities. With all the time we spend sitting these days - in front of a computer, a work station, a desk or a table - a comfortable chair is clearly a key to a quality existence.

[Take a seat in the chair.] It's got to be the right height. Gotta have good lumbar support. A top-grade cushion is nice, as are some armrests and a little rocking action. You want a comfy place to sit as you manipulate your computer mouse, keyboard, laser printer, scanner and the like. [Exit chair.]

But where do you go in your quest for
comfort?

Some folks are looking to a company called Herman Miller, a crafter of master seats. There's no comfy padding on their Aeron chair - just polyester mesh, woven into a unique design that is light, flexible, mobile, resourceful and utterly resilient. Posed like a damselfly on its off-center mechanical core, it is leveraged, restless and always ready to serve. It is an example of what the seat scientists of the 21st century call "deep chairness."

A competing firm, called Humanscale, makes its padding from a silicone-like substance called TechnoGel - a material that spreads weight with uncanny gentleness, thanks to its gelatinous buoyancy. The Humanscale chair has a waferlike seat that goes way beyond mere "cushioning." One user said it's "like sitting in a puddle of your own flesh."

Of course, seats this sweet are anything but cheap. The Aeron will cost you somewhere between $750 and $1,100. Humanscale's no-frills price is a mere $985.

In the grand scheme of things, seating comfort is not, of course, a world-class problem. Sure, it has made the front page of The Wall Street Journal in an article on padded church pews, and an episode of "Will and Grace" was devoted to the invention of a subway seat cushion, but there's little chance that many people have butt comfort very high on their agenda.

One might even ask the question that if we're willing to spend that kind of dough on cushion comfort, what would we be willing to shell out for peace of heart, mind and soul?

In today's text, the prophet Isaiah has no interest in high-tech chairs, but he is addressing a people who are in dire need of deep comfort. They're a people whose despair is driven by truly earthshaking concerns. Their nation has been broken and scattered. Their homeland, community and families are in danger - even their very lives. God says that when they pass through raging waters and walk through scorching fires, his presence will be with them. He will protect and restore them, for he is the one who has created and formed them - he is the LORD their God, the Holy One of Israel, their Savior.

"Do not fear," says the LORD. "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine" (43:1). Here is deep comfort for a hurting and hopeless community.

It's easy to forget, as we fuss about our new economy nuisances - you know, posterior pain and other problems of privilege - that our neighbors may be experiencing real agony.

People are passing through "the waters" (v. 2) - through the raging and overwhelming rivers of divorce, death, depression and job disillusionment. Think of the couple whose marriage grows colder and colder, and then shatters like a block of ice ... the young parents who lose a cherished child to a killer cancer ... the retiree who becomes isolated, depressed and then suicidal ... the computer techie who makes a stupendous salary but who absolutely dreads the thought of going to his cubicle each day.

Others are walking through fire - through the flames of family conflict, spousal abuse, financial difficulties and life-threatening disease. Picture the frustrated father locking horns with his defiant teenager ... the twentysomething wife who shows up at church with strange bruises and a chipped tooth ... the young professional who has maxed out his credit cards and can't seem to pay his bills ... the middle-aged man who is slowly wasting away because of AIDS.

These are our neighbors, people feeling pain as they pass through the waters and fires. They're not turned on by the tantalizing TechnoGel technology that turns an office chair into "a puddle of your own flesh" - instead, they want simply to keep their flesh in one piece, out of the searing flames and the raging rivers that threaten them every day.

What concerns them is surviving. Not sitting.

Perhaps the same is true for us. Maybe our own quest for comfort goes beyond "deep chairness" as well. Along with all those in crisis around us, we are challenged to dig deep into this passage from Isaiah - a passage that promises to give us a way through fires and waters, as well as a shot of strength and comfort in the face of trouble.

The good news is that we begin in a privileged position. Not a bad place to start. God created you, insists Isaiah. He formed you. He called you. He redeemed you (v. 1). No matter how bad life gets - no matter how many divorces, deaths, disillusionments and disappointments we face - nothing is going to change this connection we've been given. We can't be pulled down from our position as created, formed, called and redeemed children of God.

Raging water can't do it. Neither can fire. We can't even be dragged down by a psychotic boss or an abusive spouse. "You are precious in my sight," says God through the prophet, "and honored, and I love you" (v. 4). That's a permanent commitment, from the Creator of all that is, in heaven and on earth.

So many men and women have counted on their relationship with God to sustain them through a variety of raging storms, and they haven't been disappointed. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Phil Berrigan wrote journals while in prison, speaking convincingly of the power of prayer and love to overcome the power of fear. Although he wasn't a Christian, Mahatma Gandhi was able to walk alone into incredible violence between Hindus and Muslims in India because he was convinced that Jesus walked with him. Sister Helen Prejean - whose story is portrayed in the movie Dead Man Walking - discovered that she could go into death row, develop a relationship with a convicted murderer, face all the recriminations that flowed from that relationship, and then accompany him at the moment of death. All of these people stayed in touch with the Awesome One who had created, formed, called and redeemed them.

But is this connection enough? Perhaps not. A relationship alone doesn't have power to protect us. We also need the assurance that God is taking aggressive action in our lives.

That's why the promise in Isaiah is so powerful: When you pass through the waters ... the waters of divorce, death, depression and disillusionment ... I will be with you, says the LORD. When you pass through the rivers ... the rivers of failing marriages, dying children and despair-filled days ... they shall not overwhelm you. I will be with you to bring you new love, new life, new opportunities, new hope.

God is an active God, not just a passive presence. When you walk through fire you shall not be burned ... even if the fire is conflict, abuse, bankruptcy or disease. God is always working to bring peace out of violence, good out of evil, and life out of death. Although we will certainly feel the heat, and may even get singed, with God at work in our lives the flames shall not consume us (v. 2).

But that's not all. Sometimes we ourselves can act as channels of God's amazingly active involvement in human life. At times, we can reveal the power and presence of the LORD to a neighbor who is in danger of destruction. When Sister Helen Prejean asked the condemned man if he wanted her to be present at his execution, he said yes. She went on to tell him, "At that last moment, Patrick, look into my eyes and I will be the face of Christ for you."

[Back in the chair.] The quest for comfort always ends here: In the presence of the God who creates, forms, calls and redeems us and who works actively and aggressively for good in our lives. The ultimate good is not deep chairness, but instead "deep faithfulness" - the deep faithfulness of Almighty God.

So, in the end, where do you really want to sit?

In a puddle of your own flesh?

Or in the lap of God?

Sources:
McGinnis, James. "Go Out Into the Deep." Weavings, March-April 1999, 42-43.
Sterling, Bruce. "The Hot Seat." Wired, July 2000, 196ff. ----

Commentary Isaiah 43:1-7 is an oracle of redemption, one of the finest examples of classical Hebrew poetry and one of the best-known and best loved prophetic utterances. In its theological compass, it combines, in a brief scope, a sweeping panorama of both time and space. Redemption for Israel involves Israel's past, present and future, and not Israel alone. Salvation is a matter of cosmic dimensions.

The text is cast in classical prophetic mode, using a style and language that had its roots in the earliest days of Israelite prophecy and poetry. The passage is composed of six synonymously parallel cola (vv. 1b, 2, 3, 4c-d, 5b-c, 6), introduced by a rubric (v. 1a), and interspersed with extra parallel cola (vv. 1c-d, 4a-b, 5a, 7).

The opening formula - "thus says the LORD" - is found more than 400 times in the Hebrew Bible, and is the hallmark of the utterance of the prophet, the member of Israelite society who spoke on behalf of Israel's God. The first word of the verse, "but," is implied by context; it is not found in the original text. Israel's unresponsiveness to God's leading, described as blindness and deafness in 42:18-25, is juxtaposed to the acts of God's gracious protection in 43:1-7. Four verbs in this opening verse - "created," "formed," "redeemed," and "called" - coming in rapid succession, compress a wealth of theological insight and religious sentiment into a few lines, setting the pace and tone for the rich oracle that follows.

The parallelism of "Jacob ... Israel" in verse 1b is a standard biblical designation for the entire people of Israel, stretching back to the earliest examples of Hebrew poetry (e.g., Genesis 49:7). Although the historical Hebrews lived for a time as the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, the ancient patronymic designation "Jacob" never completely died out as a name for the Israelites; in its form "house of Jacob," it was a particular favorite of Isaiah, occurring more times in that book than in any other. It is fitting that an oracle in ancient poetic style and composed of the primordial theme of creation and the identity-shaping theme of exodus should employ this archaic designation in its opening verse.

Like "house of Jacob," the verb "created" in verse 1b is a favorite term of the author, who uses the Hebrew verb bara' more than any other writer in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., 40:26, 28, 41:20, 42:5, 45:7, 8, 12, 18, etc.). The verb occurs again in verse 7, where it forms an inclusio with this occurrence, providing the main theme for this passage: Israel's redemption as a new creation.

"Formed" (v. 1b) is a Hebrew verb that is most often used in its mechanistic sense, and usually designates the activity of a potter or carver (e.g., Isaiah 29:16, 41:25, 30:14; Jeremiah 18:4, 6, etc.). Occasionally the subject is God (as in the forming of the first humans and animals in Genesis 2:7, 8), and when the object is Israel as a people, this use of the verb is restricted to the book of Isaiah (27:11, 43:1, 21, 44:2, 24, 45:9, 11, 64:7).

Redemption is a topic that, for obvious reasons, has been the subject of an enormous literature in studies of both testaments. In the Hebrew Bible, the verb translated "to redeem" has both a mundane and a supramundane usage, depending on the subject of the verb. God's redemption of Israel occurs most frequently in the context of Egyptian bondage and Babylonian exile, and in the book of Isaiah, the verb occurs chiefly in Second and Third Isaiah (e.g., 44:22, 23, 48:20, 52:9, 63:9 - it does not occur at all in chapters 1-39).

Redemption denotes God's salvific activity for Israel based on the relationship that exists between them: Israel is God's chosen (1 Kings 3:8), God's firstborn son (Exodus 4:22), God's beloved (Isaiah 5:1), God's treasured possession (Deuteronomy 7:6). It is out of this supramundane reality that God acts on Israel's behalf (and not, pace some writers on this subject, because of a "blood relationship," which did not exist between Israel and its God and would have been considered an abominable idea to the writers of the Hebrew Bible). God's gracious acts toward Israel in the past form the basis of the assurance Israel may take in God's continuing to act in Israel's future.

The use of "waters" and "fire" (v. 2) to denote threats to Israel's life are generalized terms intended to recall Israel's preeminent liberation, the exodus (Exodus 14-15), when waters and fire shaped Israel's understanding of God's care and activity in history. The mention of Egypt in verse 3 reinforces the echo of the exodus, as does the theologically complex statement that other nations have been given in exchange for Israel's life (v. 4). Although there is no account in the Hebrew Bible of God's handing over other nations to perdition in exchange for Israel (analogous, for example, to God's surrendering of Job to Satan), it is likely that Isaiah is referring to Egypt's hardheartedness as resulting in that nation's suffering under the plagues of the exodus.

The geographical sweep of verses 5-6, where all the points of the compass are mentioned, casts in spatial terms the comprehensive nature of God's saving activity that has been recalled in temporal terms in the preceding verses. Israel's redemption encompasses those in every time and every place who have responded in faith to the gracious summons of Israel's God - "everyone who is called by my name" (v. 7). The last verse of the oracle contains three of the four verbs used in the oracle's opening verse (called, created, formed), summarizing and concluding this great and vast proclamation of redemption.----

Animating Illustrations The Heritage Chair, loved among design aficionados for its homage to their superhero, Charles Eames, is getting a new pair of legs. The Emeco Heritage Rocker combines the lifelong aluminum construction of Eames's original with the sleep-inducing advantage of rocking motion. A mere $700 sets you up for some stylish winks.


-"Zzzzzz," Esquire, September 2000, 178.----

You can't have an omelet without breaking eggs. The same is true in confronting evil. Martin Luther King Jr., and Gandhi took some amazing risks, they had to go through a lot of suffering and hardship, there's no way out of that. The point is not to return to violence.


-Utah Phillips, musician, in Hip Mama #20.----

Sitting is a posture we have taken to new levels since the Industrial Revolution. Never in history have so many people sat still in a chair for such long periods of time. And companies are cashing in on chairs designed to tolerate even the toughest white-collar worker. A good chair is one solution, but learning how long to sit in it is another.

Between 75-85 percent of all people will experience some type of back pain at some point in their lives according to the American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons. In fact, more people see doctors for back pain than any other ailment except coughs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that back pain accounts for more than 40 percent of all occupational injuries in the United States that result in days away from work.

Most back pain can be associated with bad posture, sitting in the wrong type of office chair, sleeping in a bed without good support, lifting incorrectly or the weekend softball game. Whatever the cause, prevention is the key and the earlier the better. Ergonomic chairs for children is a market that is just beginning to take off as people become educated in this field.

A recent interview in the Tampa Tribune featured Dr. Jay Brand who works for Haworth, a large office-furniture supplier. He summarized the sitting process as follows:

1. Within 8-10 minutes of sitting, gravity starts pushing the ischial tuberosities through their overlying tissues closing the surrounding capillaries.

2. Prostaglandin E2, a central nervous system depressant, is released into the bloodstream.

3. Fatigue sets in affecting performance and productivity.

Perhaps George Costanza from "Seinfeld" is onto something when he climbs under his desk for the afternoon snoozes. An article in msnbc.com had a statistic from a chiropractor showing there's approximately 25 percent more pressure on your spine when you're sitting than when you're lying down.

So once you've purchased an ergonomic chair, remember to stand up, stretch, take a walk or do whatever it takes to get that pesty prostaglandin E2 out of your bloodstream. This might be just the excuse you need to justify more frequent office breaks.


-"Side effects from sitting,"
www.ergoweb.com.----

Dave Barry explains how appliance manufacturers plan to drive consumers insane:

Of course they don't SAY they want to drive us insane. What they SAY they want to do is have us live in homes where "all appliances are on the Internet, sharing information" and appliances will be "smarter than most of their owners." For example, the article states, you could have a home where the dishwasher "can be turned on from the office" and the refrigerator "knows when it's out of milk" and the bathroom scale "transmits your weight to the gym."

I frankly wonder whether the appliance manufacturers, with all due respect, have been smoking crack. I mean, did they ever stop to ask themselves WHY a consumer, after loading a dishwasher, would go to the office to start it? Would there be some kind of career benefit?

YOUR BOSS: What are you doing?

YOU (tapping computer keyboard): I'm starting my dishwasher!

YOUR BOSS: That's the kind of productivity we need around here!

YOU: Now I'm flushing the upstairs toilet!


-Dave Barry, "Remote control,"
The Washington Post Magazine,
March 5, 2000, 32.----

Problems are like a mattress, when you're on top of them, you rest comfortably. When you're underneath them, you feel smothered. Don't worry while you wait ... work while you wait for your breakthrough. Tackle your problems one at a time. Do the best you can. You labor not in vain.

Faith is like a light bulb ... you need it when you can't see where you're going and you don't know what to do. Stay in the Light.


-Jewel Diamond Taylor, motivational speaker and author, September 16, 1999
jeweldiam@aol.com.----

In America we love fairly easily. But to trust someone is almost a higher art, a higher goal than to simply love someone. Love is used fairly freely as a word to describe our feelings for other people. But we can love them without necessarily trusting them, and I suspect that the most complete form of love is also to trust someone and risk all the pain that might ensue from having not just loved, but also trusted them, bared oneself to them.


-Abraham Verghese, "The conversation,"
Joe, vol. 1, number 1, 1999, 40.----

"Ever since I was a small kid, I've been excruciatingly aware that people suffer," said the singer-songwriter Jewel Kilcher, 25. "I was raised around enough poverty, enough welfare, enough housewives who felt like killing themselves when they were 40, to feel like that's how the world exists. But suffering has never seemed okay to me."

I visited Jewel, one of America's most popular young singers, on a summer afternoon in Raleigh, North Carolina, where she was wrapping up a concert tour. She was seated in her hotel room, dressed in black cargo pants, a shrunken Levi's T-shirt and green platform sandals. She was in a relaxed, chatty mood. I wanted to discover why so many millions of American were moved by Jewel's songs and why she herself seemed so moved to help others. Perhaps, as she suggested, the answer lay in her childhood.

"When poverty bites you hard at a young age, you don't get over it," Jewel said. "It affects how you see the world."


-Lauren David Peden, "I want to
give back," Parade, January 2, 2000, 10.----

In modern times a psychological study of happiness showed that it was mostly attained by people with at least one close relationship and a circle of supporting friends. An apparent anomaly in the study was that soap opera buffs tended to rank higher in happiness than non-buffs, and it has been suggested that the buffs think of the actors as their friends. The friends don't have to be people, either. Other studies show that people with pets as friends tend to be not only happier, but healthier, too.

Is there a difference between friendship and love? Apparently not. In Middle English the word "friend" means "lover," and it stems from a word in Old Gothic meaning "to love." If anything, it implies a deeper kind of love, one that goes beyond obligation.

Hawaiians have many terms for "friend" that signify varying degrees and types of friendship.

Hoaloha (beloved companion), for example, is a general term for friend.

Makamaka (face to face) is a friend with whom you share freely.

Aikane (probably "dependable") is a close, personal friend of the same sex.

Pilialoha (sticky love) is a romantic friend.

And here's a great one: 'au ko'i (axe handle), a trusted friend.

The Hawaiians make such an art of this that I'll end with one of their proverbs describing a good friendship:

Pili kau, pili ho'oilo - Together in the dry season, together in the wet season.


-Narada's Spiritual Quest, members.tripod.com/~Narada2.----

Anne was brought to the hospital with an infection in her knees and hips so severe she had not been able to get out of bed for nearly a year. At the young age of 42, this poor woman was facing extensive surgery plus a mountain of personal problems including drug abuse, family squabbles and a stack of unpaid bills. Anne was in big trouble.

I was approaching the end of a long three months of chaplain training required to become a pastor in my denomination. I began as a brash young pastor who thought he could change the world, and left the hospital a little older and wiser focusing more on changing me and leaving the "world changing" to God.

Routine blood tests revealed an additional problem for our 42-year old sufferer. Anne was HIV positive and would likely develop full-blown symptoms of AIDS soon. Can you imagine that? She was already suffering from so much... now AIDS! What a catastrophe! The doctor wisely called for the chaplain to accompany her, which in this case was me. I wanted to help but how? What could I possibly say or do that would help to resolve Anne's dilemma or ease her suffering?

After the doctor explained the meaning of HIV positive and the ramifications, she left. For nearly an hour, Anne alternately talked and cried. She had been horribly abused much of her life
and sought escape in the only way available, hoping a local gang would satisfy her longing for friendship and love. Anne could not have been more wrong, but by the time she realized her mistake, it was too late. The years of beatings, brutal sexual abuse and drugs took their toll.

Soon she would face excruciating surgery followed by a long,
painful recovery, only to cope with AIDS. What could any mere human being possibly say? "Would you like to receive communion?" She looked at me for the longest time ... and with a tear beginning to run down her cheek, Anne nodded: yes!

Later, that night, amidst the busyness and noise of a large metropolitan hospital, a struggling student chaplain and a deeply troubled woman discovered the words of comfort only God
can give: "Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you ... in the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven. The body of Christ, given for you. Amen. The blood of Christ given for you. Amen."

A hospital chaplain who thought he could do it all and a
struggling woman who seemingly lost it all both discovered the greatest gift of all ... the all-encompassing comfort of God.

Several days later, following her knee and hip surgery, I was summoned to Anne's room for a different purpose. "I sensed the presence of God in the room that night during communion and for the first time in my life I felt truly loved. Thank you! Now, I have a surprise for you!" She stood up triumphantly and asked me to escort her on the first real walk she had taken in over years: down the length of the hospital hall and back. This timit was my turn t


-Larry Davies, "Hospitals,
chaplains & god's comfort," August 25, 1999
Sowseeds@hovac.com.----

Children's Sermon Put on a skateboarder's helmet (or bicycle helmet), elbow pads and knee pads, and ask the children to explain what all this protective equipment does. Invite them to tell you about the injuries that can occur without such protection. See if they have had some bad falls themselves. Then ask them to tell you what kind of protection is available when they feel scared in the middle of the night, or worried about a family disagreement, or nervous because of a test at school. Tell them that there is no special helmet for those kinds of danger, but there is something even better: The power and presence of the Lord. Read Isaiah 43:5: "Do not fear," says God, "for I am with you." Let them know that God promises to be with them always, keeping them safe -- he is going to provide more protection than all the helmets, elbow pads and knee pads in the world.----

Worship Resources Call to Worship

L. Great God, your love has called us here, as we, by love for love were made.
P. Your living likeness still we bear, though marred, dishonored, disobeyed.
L. We come, with all our heart and mind your call to hear, your love to find.
P. We come with self-inflicted pains of broken trust and chosen wrong;
L. Half-free, half-bound by inner chains, by social forces swept along,
P. By powers and systems close confined, yet seeking hope for humankind.
All. Great God, your love has called us here. Amen.

--Brian Wren, Piece Together Praise:
A Theological Journey (Carol Stream, Ill.:
Hope Publishing, 1996), 79.
Prayer

God of wondrous love, you have touched us and never left us in despair. You have held us in our grief and chaos. You have never deserted us.
You paid us a visit and your visit has never ended. You clung to us when we were given up for dead. In life and in death -- you raise us anew! This we know! This we experience! This is your word of assurance!
God of wondrous love, touch us again in this time. Stay with us -- as we continue healing our memories and lives. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen.


- Jann Cather Weaver, from Touch Holiness,
ed. by Ruth Duck and Maren Tirabassi
(Cleveland: United Church Press, 1990),
102-103.
Benediction

L. God said, "I have called you by name, you are mine."
P. We will not be afraid.
L. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.
P. We will not be afraid.
L. For I am the Lord your God, and you are precious in my sight.
P. We will not be afraid, for you are always with us. Amen.

Music Links

Hymns
How Firm a Foundation
God Leads Us Along
Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Precious Lord, Take My Hand

Praise
I Take Refuge in You
He's Calling Out Your Name
I Want to Be Where You Are

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