Quotes & the Exercise from my sermon on Isaiah 52-53: Facing Anxiety

The first quote comes in the second point on God saving us from our guilt; it's from the book What It Is Like To Go To War by Karl Marlantes.  Marlantes appeared out of nowhere on the literary scene a couple of years ago with his brilliant first novel, Matterhorn, a semi-autobiographical account (it seems to me) of the author's experience as a Marine fighting in Vietnam.  That book appeared on many 'best books of the year' lists, and rightfully so; it's one of my favorite war novels. But then this year Marlantes published What It Is Like To Go To War, which are his personal reflections on the different aspects of being a soldier in the modern world. The quote I used comes in his chapter called "Guilt" and describes how the author was haunted for years by visions of the face and eyes of one of the NVA soldiers he killed up close in a firefight:

That kid’s dark eyes would stare at me in my mind’s eye at the oddest times.  I’d be driving at night and his face would appear on the windscreen.  I’d be talking at work and that face would suddenly overwhelm me and I’d fight to stay with the person I was talking with. 

The other quotes come from Tolkien's The Two Towers where Theoden expresses his doubt and despair in the face of the merciless siege at Helm's Deep:

It is said that the Horburg has never fallen to assault, but now my heart is doubtful. The world changes, and all that once was strong now proves unsure.  How shall any tower withstand such numbers and such reckless hate?

Then, with Aragorn's encouragement (magnified in the movie version), Theoden and the remaining warriors ride out and charge into the sea of orcs before them:

With a cry and a great noise they charged.  Down from the gates they roared, over the causeway they swept, and they drove through the hosts of Isengard as a wind among grass.

Finally, as part of my application I asked people to work through the following exercise that I gave as a handout:

Martin Luther said true Christianity is a matter of ‘personal pronouns.’ Replace the generic pronouns in the (second, blank) text of Isaiah 53.5 below with a personal pronoun (“my”) or, even better, your own name. Then spend some time identifying the specific sins for which you still feel a sense of guilt: what past actions, thoughts, or failures rob you of a sense of God's comfort when you face anxiety?  What have you done that you feel "disqualifies" you from God's care?  

Write those things down in the appropriate blanks.

Read the result, meditate on Is. 53.5, and believe that Christ has put away your sins.

Isaiah 53.5

[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.

[5] But Christ was pierced for
        

__________ ____________________;

                  he was crushed for

__________ ________________________;

                  upon him was the chastisement

that brought ____________ peace,

                  and with his wounds

 ___________ is healed.