“The desert and the parched land will exult; the steppe will rejoice and bloom. They will bloom with abundant flowers, and rejoice with joyful song.” (Is 35:1-10 )
A “steppe” is a grassland region that is semi-arid, too dry to grow forests of trees, but not dry enough to be considered a desert. The days can be very hot and the nights quite cold. Grasses and shrubs can grow in this harsh climate, which receives rain infrequently. However, a tremendous transformation can occur when the rain does come – a dull landscape can overnight become a beautiful budding of flowers and lush grasses.
Isaiah is talking about this transformation of the “steppe” in today’s first reading, which we will also hear on the upcoming 3rd Sunday of Advent. The image is that of a thirsty dry landscape just waiting for some relief, some moisture to ease the dryness and aridity of a harsh environment. Isaiah continues this vivid description and how it will…”
“Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak, Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, he comes with vindication; With divine recompense he comes to save you.”
How will this saving Advent happen? When will it happen? How can we make sure that we are able to SEE it when it does? Luke in his Gospel today (Lk 5:17-26) is giving us a possible clue I believe when he recounts the story of the paralytic who is lowered down from the ceiling of a house wherein Jesus is preaching…
“…And some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed; they were trying to bring him in and set him in his presence. But not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus.”
That which needs healing within us, in our personal lives, and in our world, sometimes has to make a dramatic presentation in order to be noticed or seen. It has to be placed right in front of our face, sometimes quite rudely perhaps. The crowds are massive and the companions of the paralytic cannot get the sick man through the door of the house, so they resort to climbing onto the roof with him, removing the tiles of the roof and lowering the man down into the crowd right in front of Jesus.
As Isaiah puts it: “Here is your God, he comes with vindication; With divine recompense he comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; Then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing.”
In the Gospel story it is not just that the paralyzed man is placed directly in front of Jesus but also that he is put in the “middle” of the crowd. This is so that ALL can see what is here, that is, what needs healing. The healing is intentionally tied to forgiveness, and note that it is not just for the sick man…
“When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘As for you, your sins are forgiven.’ ”
This is what gets the Pharisees all upset. Jesus is challenging the notion that Forgiveness comes ONLY from God, in a unidirectional way that has its own place and time, but doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with anyone else. To make it clearer for them, Jesus asks the question:
Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’?
Forgiveness is then about the ability to walk, to journey, not alone but with each other. It is precisely that which is “given for” (for-given) – not something that we earn or are awarded individually, but that engages us in the totality of our lives when we truly receive it. We do carry each other’s burdens or “sins” and the healing does not come from Jesus alone but from Jesus AND us. The paralytic was placed in the “middle” of everyone and in front of Jesus. This is a relationship of forgiveness. And what does this grant us… perhaps the ability to walk with each other.
This is the abundance of the “steppe” in Isaiah that is a highway built by God but only accessible through our reception of if in each other. Isaiah says,
“It is for those with a journey to make, and on it the redeemed will walk.”
To be saved then can mean that we walk with each other through Life in all its joys and pains. And when the dryness of some of our life experiences become so great, it becomes the shared tears of compassion that pool in the desert – “The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water”
When we “steppe” with each other abundantly in forgiveness, we can begin to see life in all its fullness, where nothing and no one gets left out. Then the blind do see, the deaf hear, and the lame walk, because we are doing it together – seeing, hearing, and walking together. This is our God of Relationship whose healing does depend upon our receiving that which is given for us. We can confront our sickness together and heal it together because that is who our God is –
The One keeping “steppe” with us on a highway of healing!
Peace
Thomas
“Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the earth.” – RUMI