God’s love wins

Jo Penn May 23, 2025 4 0

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Isaiah 65: 19-25 (NIVUK)

19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
    and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
    will be heard in it no more.

20 ‘Never again will there be in it
    an infant who lives but a few days,
    or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
    will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach a hundred
    will be considered accursed.
21 They will build houses and dwell in them;
    they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
    or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
    so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
    the work of their hands.
23 They will not labour in vain,
    nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,
    they and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call I will answer;
    while they are still speaking I will hear.
25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
    and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
    and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
    on all my holy mountain,’
says the Lord.

As Victory in Europe was commemorated last week, we remembered the declaration in 1945 that ended one part of World War II. Cessation of war enabled the start of rebuilding every country involved, under a new world order and changed land boundaries. Rebuilding in a context where many people had been displaced or killed or had lived under unimaginable horrors. I remember stories from my grandparents’ generation, my great uncle was evacuated from the beach at Dunkirk.

On Easter Day, a day before his death, Pope Francis called war ‘an absurdity and defeat’ as no one wins, for the cost to lives, communities and the earth is very great. The current conflicts round the world attest to the desperation of people to gain power over resources and fight for land. These devastating experiences of the last century have not been enough to prevent wars again.

This shows the inability of the human race to live peaceably with one another without the intervention of a loving God, without trusting in our common heritage as sons and daughters of God, made in his image. Only if we follow the way and commandments of Jesus, and our hearts are reborn into the new creation, are we able to see a bigger picture, working for the flourishing of all humanity, stepping out of the tribal mindset which defends itself through acts of aggression.

This passage gives us hope that God has a plan to bless his people, to give them long life, a home that provides shelter and the stability they need to see them eat the reward of their labours. Where the strong care for the weak rather than devour them (the wolf and the lamb). When we see examples of this in our lives (and we may only experience it in glimpses) then our tears of sadness are turned to tears of joy at the beauty and wonder of it all.

Prayer:

God –

Forgive me where I have been hard-hearted and unwilling to live Your narrative of reconciliation.

Help me fight for the truth of our common humanity and welcome the loving Holy Spirit into places of disagreement in my community. Amen.