Shame. Disgrace. Humiliation. Reproach. For the widow in Isaiah 54, all these came as a result of her sin. Her past was even one in which she found God Himself fighting against her. The consequences of her sin were brutal.
The postmodern world is a battlefield of torn, twisted, brutalized people. The church has a responsibility to extend grace to these people. Not the usual kind of presumptive grace that excuses sin now and in the future, but the strong arm of grace that commits to walking with a person as they untangle their lives. Postmodern ministry will take lots of prayer, time, work, and patience, but it is working with the hand of God as we help to restore the years the locusts have eaten.
This is where Isaiah 54 holds out particular hope. What a gracious God we serve! He invites the widow to enlarge, stretch out, lengthen, strengthen her hope in God and to remember her reproach no more. God says he will bring back the wayward widow with 'deep compassion.' He forgives her past and signs his own name on her vindication. No one can bring an accusation now because God has wrapped His cloak around His prodigal wife to protect her from the storm.
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