The prophet Isaiah is unique in that his proclamation is not just one of challenge. It does not simply call the people of Israel to repentance, but it ultimately offers a vision of hope. Of what change could look like and mean.
Isaiah 61: 1-11 shares a vision of God's intentions around justice. It speaks of hope with anticipation of what is to come. But it does so around some of the open wounds of the time. That people are brokenhearted. That people are held captive (especially as being exiles). That people are in prison for debts that they cannot pay. That oppression abounds.
In order for hope to come, the people needed to be honest about where they found themselves at that moment. In order to anticipate a better future, they had to be realistic about how the world was for them in the moment.
So it is with us. When we look at the world, we should see both as how it is and how God wants it to be. Then we listen for the invitation to change. To have our hearts changed and to have the world changed - all for the glory of God.
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