WHAT  DOES  REDEMPTION 

SOUND AND  LOOK LIKE? 

Today’s readings help us to understand what  Redemption – Salvation – Being Saved  - Being with God – Being in Christ - sounds and feels like.

This is a very easy homily. I am simply going to repeat today’s 2 Readings and the Psalm in light of my question: “What Does Redemption Sound and Look Like?”

Today’s first reading from Isaiah 49 gives great images to help us get our hands and our minds on what Redemption sounds and looks like.

It’s like feeling one is a prisoner and one hears the words, “Come out!”

It’s like feeling one is in the dark, and one hears the voice, “Show yourself. You no longer need to hide in the dark.”

It’s like feeling you’re a hungry sheep and the Lord will lead you to pastures.

It’s like feeling thirsty and the Lord leads you to wonderful  springs of water.

It’s like being out on the road in windy weather or scorching heat and the Lord  gives you protection from both.

It’s like having to climb a mountain to get to the other side and the Lord cuts a road straight through the mountain for you.

It’s like being on a bumpy or pothole road and the Lord makes the highway smooth as possible.

It’s like feeling all alone and people come from all over to be with you.

It’s like feeling down and out and you start to sing and feel like you have an in.

It’s like being uncomfortable and the Lord comforts you.

It’s like feeling you’re a motherless child and you hear the Lord said, “I won’t forget you – even if a mother forgets you – I won’t forget you.

Today’s Psalm 145 continues telling us what Redemption is like.

If you think the Lord is angry with you,  you got it wrong:

The LORD is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and of great kindness.
The LORD is good to all
and compassionate toward all his works.

If you think the Lord has disappeared, let me tell you:

The LORD is faithful in all his words
and holy in all his works.
The LORD lifts up all who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.

If you think the Lord is unjust remember:

The LORD is just in all his ways
and holy in all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth.

Today’s gospel from John 5 also tells us what Redemption looks like.

Jesus and his Father are forever working in our behalf.

If you want to know how the Father sees and thinks, see how the Son sees and thinks. The Son shows us what the Father is like and he does the works of his Father – in fact the Father will do even greater works than the Son.

If you’re worried about death,  realize that the Son raises the dead and gives them life.

If you’re worried about judgment, realize that the Father doesn’t judge, He leaves that to the Son. So study the scriptures and the stories about Jesus – and then you’ll know he doesn’t throw rocks – he won't refuse you even in the last hour – rather he'll welcome you home like a lost sheep, found coin, or lost son.

And if you miss your dead – and worry about what happened to them, be at peace, because Jesus is in graveyards, amongst the tombstones, calling the dead into Risen Life.

Amen.