Corybanter

This Advent reading from Isaiah I found to be particularly effective when the pastor read it this morning from the CEB.  If you’re like me, you may have raised an eyebrow at the phrase “menstrual rag” in verse 6.  At the risk of sounding cliche, this rendering gets right “in your face.”  I had to look the verse up in several other translations, just to see what choices they made.  Most other translations say something along the lines of “filthy rags.”  (The NET Bible also says “menstrual rag.”)  But this verse is a perfect example of how the CEB, despite claims from those who believe a modern translation is by definition less accurate, is actually more accurate than most of the “traditional” versions. Several commentators confirm that the Hebrew phrase indeed refers to menstrual rags, and the ritual uncleanness of such garments.  The directness of the CEB’s rendering is a little shocking, but it gets us listening afresh to what the passage is saying.

One of the difficult things for modern people to get the hang of in seasons such as Advent and Lent is that many of us feel that we’re basically pretty good folks, who don’t really need to focus on salvation as much as spiritual balance.  We don’t really think of sin in the way the ancients did, and we feel pretty proud of our accomplishments.  The idea of our righteousness being nothing but a dirty Maxi-Pad is offensive to us.  But if we look honestly at the brokenness of the world around us.  If we look at the things we have done (and not done) in our lives, the dreams we have failed to achieve, I think we can begin to get an idea of what Advent is all about, and what the Incarnation is all about.  After all, Christ, our Emmanuel, became incarnate, took on flesh, and in so doing, identified with our human condition—all of it.  The baby born in the dirty stable, surrounded by animals, none of it is sanitized and cleaned up, to appeal to our natural prudishness.  As C.S. Lewis once put it, the idea of the Incarnation is roughly analogous to a human having to take on the form of a slug.  But God in Christ does so, and does it willingly.

We are entering a holiday season which, in our world, often brings out the worst in human beings.  (I think about the incidents of violence that often happen at stores that open so early on Black Friday.)  If we can be honest with ourselves, we can see that we are a people who live in darkness, and are waiting for the light to come.  Salvation is something we can still look forward to in anticipation.  We are, in many ways, unclean.  The salvation Jesus Christ brings can wash us clean.  Come, Lord Jesus!