Have You Not Known? Have You Not Heard?
“Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundation of the earth?” 
Five years ago, at 7:51 a.m. on a cold January morning at the L’Enfant Plaza metro station, a young man removed a violin from its case. Tossing in a few dollars and some change as seed money, he began to play. Within forty five minutes, this street musician played J.S. Bach’s “Chaconne,” Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria,” and other classical masterpieces. The notes from his violin rose and fell over each other in exquisite timing and graceful phrasing. While he played, over a thousand people—mostly government workers in that area—rushed by with barely a glance.One man did break stride to listen for a moment, then moved on. Several mothers with children passed; the children tugged, wanting to stop and listen, but their busy moms pulled them along. One woman on her coffee break stopped nearby and stayed as long as she could. One man stopped as he got to the top of the escalator. He stood against a nearby wall for nine minutes. Then close to the end of this impromptu morning concert, one woman recognized the street musician. With a wide grin, Stacy Furukawa, a demographer at the Commerce Department, planted herself in front of the violinist, where she remained until he finished playing.Who was the musician? A homeless man? A music student? No. It was world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell. What did Bell earn for his early morning concert? $32.17 (other than the $20 Stacy threw into the case). Yes. For about forty three minutes, during Washington D.C. morning rush hour, “one of the finest classical musicians in the world”—who can command thousands of dollars per concert —played a priceless Stradivari violin for commuters. Exquisite beauty, creative energy and fine craft were mostly ignored. These folks were not ignorant. They were not mean. They were just too busy and self-absorbed to see something larger than themselves in the midst of ordinary life.[1]“Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundation of the earth?”We may think that we in the twenty first century are plagued by more stress and demands than people in other times. However, in every age, human beings have faced challenges that rob them of the ability to see beyond themselves. In the sixth century BCE, the prophet Isaiah must remind the people of Israel of this. They are living in exile in Babylon, cut off from their people. The remnant of their people live in what remains of Jerusalem, which the Babylonians have pretty much destroyed—including the Temple. The people of God are weary and discouraged. They have no power over their own lives. They are forced to live under the domination of a system that has taken them hostage from their own land. In the midst of a pagan culture, they struggle to live in a faithful way to their own faith traditions. They wonder if God has abandoned them completely.
Isaiah reminds the people that God has not abandoned them. Yes, they have grown weary. Yes, the powers and demands of political, economic and cultural systems have drained them of hope and energy. Yes, they—like all human beings before and after them—must cope somehow with illness, grief, stress and separation from loved ones. Isaiah tells his people to go outside and look at the heavens. Look at the expanse of blue sky and sun. The countless stars that fill the night sky. The clouds and rain that give life to the earth and its people. In the face of creation’s grandeur and majesty, Isaiah says, look, there is something greater than yourselves. Pay attention! Look beyond yourselves.Yet this reminder is not always helpful to people who are stressed or struggling with life. If God is all that great, that majestic, that perfect and glorious, then why does God allow violence, war, grief, depression, illness and stress to be part of life? God in the stars might be awesome, but where is God when I need God? Isaiah reminds his people—and us—that the same God who is beyond us is also with us. “Lift up your eyes on high and see,” Isaiah challenges. “Who created these? [God] who brings out their host and numbers them, calling them all by name.” God may be beyond us, but has also numbered and named the stars. So if God has named the stars, then God must know each of us by name—which means that God is with us.Isaiah encourages his people. “[God] does not faint or grow weary; [God’s] understanding is unsearchable.” In other words, things happen in our human lives that we either do not, nor cannot understand. Stuff happens. Sometimes it is good stuff, sometimes it is not. We—or people we love—become ill. Struggle with chronic disease or disabilities. Live with cancer. We get depressed. Bury people we love. Become estranged from family members. We deal daily with jobs we hate, but endure because we just can’t afford to quit.
So where is God in all of this? When will the Lord renew our strength? When will we mount up with wings like eagles? When will we run and not be weary? When will we walk and not faint?The preacher suggests today that the answer is not in the sweet by and by. The answer is in the here and now. The present moment of life. Some of the descendents of Isaiah’s people were blessed to see God come among them in Jesus of Nazareth. Some descendents sit here today—we who have claimed the resurrected Christ as our Lord and Savior. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God is still with us.Sometimes we need to stop and pay attention. In the midst of the stress and struggle of our own lives, we must realize that we experience God most often in Christian community.God’s people come together in community and that is critical. Why? Because when we gather at the Table in worship, God feeds us with blessed bread and wine that nourishes and strengthens us. Then when we leave that Table, we still have community. On a day when you are grieving, one of your brothers or sisters will give you a hug and let you cry. On a day when you are depressed, someone will encourage you with a smile, a handshake, a reassuring pat on the back. On a day when stress and demands overwhelm you, someone will say “come sit down and have a cup of coffee with me.” On a day when your children demand more energy than you have, this community, this tribe, this village, can make a difference in both yours and your children’s lives.“Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundation of the earth?”On this winter day, remember that God is beyond us. God is with us. And in sweet communion—with God and with each other, God is within us. For these powerful and unsearchable blessings, may God’s holy name be praised. Amen.© The Rev. Sheila N. McJiltonPictures accessed through Google images