Isaiah 53: Smitten Series

ISAIAH 53 SERIES: SMITTEN

ISAIAH 53:4 | #Isaiah53

PERSON IN THE CONGREGATION READS ISAIAH 53

READ ISAIAH 53:1-12 (ESV)

“Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For He grew up before Him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4 Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on a Him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; and as for His generation, who considered that He was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made His grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, and there was no deceit in His mouth. 10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush Him; He has put Him to grief; when His soul makes an offering for guilt, He shall see His offspring; He shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by His knowledge shall the Righteous One, My Servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the many, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He poured out His soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

NARRATIVE

Our story takes place in Dusty Creek, Indiana. Dusty Creek is a town so small that the local gossip traveled faster than the morning paper. In Dusty Creek lived two characters whose names alone might have foretold a love story as peculiar as their very existence. Billy Bob was a downcast burly man with a feisty mustache that looked like it was trying to start its own country. Lucy Loo was a lady whose zest and enthusiasm for life was matched only by her collection of colorful hats. They were destined to meet and their meeting was destined to be memorable.

Billy Bob had been an ordinary man by all accounts. He ran the town’s only hardware store. His days were filled with fixing leaky faucets, untangling extension cords, and giving unsolicited advice on how to handle a stubborn squirrel in the attic. His life, though comfortable, lacked a certain sparkle and pizzazz, until the fateful day when Lucy Loo waltzed into his store. Her entrance into his store and into his life was announced by the chime of the bell on the door.

Lucy Loo was a bit of a constant whirlwind. She had recently returned to Dusty Creek after a stint as a traveling hat saleswoman in Ohio County, Indiana. Her hats ranged from the practical to the absurd: from sun hats large enough to provide shade for an entire picnic to feathered fascinators that seemed to have been plucked straight from a flamingo’s dreams. She was known for her vibrant personality, her love for spontaneous dance-offs in the middle of Main Street, and her rather unorthodox habit of naming her hats. She often introduced them to strangers as if they were beloved family members.

It was on a particularly sweltering August afternoon when Billy Bob first laid eyes on Lucy Loo. He had been in the middle of organizing a new shipment of duct tape when the bell rang and in breezed Lucy, wearing a hat that looked like it was made entirely out of autumn leaves, with a fluffy, oversized bow on top. It was the kind of hat that made people turn their heads, either out of sheer confusion or admiration.

“Good afternoon!” Lucy announced to the whole store, twirling dramatically in the doorway. “I’m here to bring a little sunshine and a lot of hats!”