Called by a New Name
For Meditation (Elisabeth Hayes)
Merry Christmas! You might have taken down your tree and put away all your nutcrackers already, but in the Christian calendar, Christmas isn't over just yet: in fact, we're just beginning the season of Christmastide, in which we focus on what it means for us now that Jesus came then, even as we're waiting for Him to come again.
In this final week of our "Prepare the Way" series, Isaiah's prophecy tells about the promise of the Messiah to give His people a radical makeover. The transformation Isaiah prophesies isn't like a 90-day couch-to-5k plan or a serious spring cleaning. It's not something a little determination, some elbow grease, and a New Year's Resolution can accomplish. No, this is a transformation so complete that God's people won't even be recognized by their old name--we'll be called something new.
In preparation for worship, read Isaiah 61:10 – 62:5. Make a list of what the speaker says God's people will no longer be, and what the speaker says God's people will be. Offer that list to God as a prayer of gratitude and of faith.
Isaiah 61:10 – 62:5
10I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
11For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness
and praise spring up before all nations.
1 For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent,
for Jerusalem’s sake I will not remain quiet,
till her vindication shines out like the dawn,
her salvation like a blazing torch.
2 The nations will see your vindication,
and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the Lord will bestow.
3 You will be a crown of splendor in the Lord’s hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 No longer will they call you Deserted,
or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah,
and your land Beulah;
for the Lord will take delight in you,
and your land will be married.
5 As a young man marries a young woman,
so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you.