Epiphany 1

Does the Bible say, “God will not give you more than you can handle”? Many Christians believe so, but you won’t find it in the Scriptures. This is one of many quotations inaccurately attributed to the Bible. Others include:

“This too shall pass.”

“Cleanliness is next to godliness.”

“God works in mysterious ways.”

“Everything happens for a reason.”

“God helps those who help themselves.”

Well, the Bible doesn’t make any of these claims.

We need to be careful, because the words of the prophet Isaiah in today’s Old Testament reading can be easily misunderstood and misapplied. When God says through the prophet, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you” (43:2), God is not saying, “I will not give you more than you can handle.” Nor is God promising, “This too shall pass.” No, the message is really very different.

Social media throws quotations at us every day, and not all of them are reliable.

Gregory Sullivan runs a website called “Quote Investigator” that offers examinations of the dubious origins of familiar quotations by famous folk.

Yogi Berra is often credited as saying, “Always go to other people’s funerals; otherwise, they won’t go to yours.” But guess what? That line first appeared in a novel in 1876, before Yogi Berra was born.

Mark Twain is quoted as saying, “The more I know about people, the better I like dogs.” A funny observation — one that seems to fit the humor of Twain — but credit goes to a French book from 1822.

So what is the actual message of God to us, as it comes through the prophet Isaiah? What does God mean by the words, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (v. 2)? This single quotation can’t stand alone, like a clever observation by Mark Twain. Rather, it needs to be understood in the context of the exile of the people of Israel.

For about 60 years, the people of Israel lived in captivity in Babylon, far from their homes in Palestine. They were feeling discouraged, dispirited and depressed, wondering if they would ever be able to return.

But now, as their exile is about to end, Isaiah reminds them that God has created them, formed them, rescued them and called them by name. After decades of darkness, a light is beginning to dawn. The deep doubts of the people are being replaced by the assurance of God’s care and protection.

Notice that Isaiah is not promising an easy path for the people of Israel, or for us. He doesn’t say “if you pass through the waters,” but rather “when you pass through the waters” (v. 2). Swirling waters will come, right along with raging rivers and searing fires. But in the face of all of these challenges, “I will be with you,” promises God. When obstacles arise, God will be powerful and compassionate toward us.

Isaiah never says that “God will not give you more than you can handle,” implying that God is the source of threatening waters, rivers, fires and flames. Isaiah does not say that God pulls us into turbulent waters or pushes us into fires.

These things happen because of our own actions, because of external forces beyond our control or because adversity is simply a part of the nature of life.

Instead, Isaiah understands God to be powerful and compassionate, a God who is always with us and for us. Think about that: God is with us and for us.

This is the God who was with and for the people of Israel as they escaped captivity in Egypt and passed through the waters of the Red Sea. This is the God who is with and for us when we face troubles of our own.

But God does not impose these difficulties on us. Instead, God chooses to be powerful and compassionate toward us when we are in the eye of the hurricane.

As Isaiah says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (vv. 2-3).

After hearing these verses, some may say that “God works in mysterious ways” — even though these words are not found anywhere in the Bible. It would be more accurate to say, “God works in redemptive ways.”

Sure, God is mysterious. God is mystery — transcendent and ineffable. But to say that God works in redemptive ways probably has more meaning for us. This means that God is always working to redeem us — to buy us back, recover us, deliver us, ransom us, save us. “I give Egypt as your ransom,” says God through the prophet Isaiah, “Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you. Because you are precious in my sight, and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life” (vv. 3-4).

It’s true that the specifics of this exchange are unclear to us — lost in the history of the ancient Middle East. Exactly how Egypt, Ethiopia and Seba functioned as a ransom for the people of Israel remains a mystery to us. But what is eternally clear is that God works in redemptive ways, always acting to save us from anything that can hurt or destroy us.

            Remember, the Bible does not say, “God helps those who help themselves.” No, the truth is that God helps those who can’t help themselves, because the Almighty is a God of mercy, grace, forgiveness and compassion. When we put our trust in the Lord, we discover that we are never alone in the face of the challenges of life.

We who have passed through the waters of baptism are members of a larger company: the church, the body of Christian believers. Baptism is the sacrament of entry into that company.

This means that, as we encounter rough patches in life, there are other pilgrims around us — Christian friends to catch us when we stumble and fall. In seasons of heartache and loss, there are sisters and brothers pledged to walk alongside us, to share with us some of their own strength.

A woman who lost her husband was living through the aching pain of bereavement. She kept coming to church during her time of grief, but she would just stand there with the hymnal in her hands, not singing.

A good friend noticed this and said, “I see you’re not singing, and I also know how much you love to sing. Why don’t you just try to join in? It’ll make you feel better.”

“I’m sorry,” said the bereaved woman, “but I just can’t sing right now. I’m sure I will, eventually. But for now, I know that the church is singing the hymns for me, and that’s a great source of comfort.”

Each week, in worship, we symbolically live out this work of being a company of believers. Individual prayer and meditation are wonderful things — but they’re no substitute for life together in the larger company that is the church. The Lord promises to be with us as we pass through the waters. A significant part of the way the Lord accomplishes that is through each one of us, week after week, as we gather as God’s people in person or online.

We don’t just come to worship for individual inspiration. We don’t just come to receive. We come to give. Our presence in the company of pilgrims is important to others as well.

Our presence in Christian community, week after week — praying, singing, offering up our gifts — is a ministry to others, a witness to faith. It just may be that someone else — sitting beside us, or behind us, or in front of us, or even seeing our name pop up in the online comments feed — is silently in pain, enduring some terrible trouble. Much of the time, we have no way of knowing this. Nor do we have any way of knowing how important it is to that fellow believer who sees us — yes, us! — engaging in worship.

How firm a foundation God gives us, in our life together as the church, for persevering through hard times. In the words of the hymn we sang just a few moments ago:

            When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;
            for I will be near thee, thy troubles to bless,

and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

Remember: Our Lord helps us in difficult times not because we have helped ourselves, but because we are precious in God’s sight, honored by God, and eternally loved.