Come!

9.30am Sunday 2 December 2007

Readings: Isaiah 2:1-5; Romans 13:11-14

During Advent this year we are focussing on a number of passages from the book of Isaiah in which are found prophetic references to the coming of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, and the new age that he will usher in to world history. On the one hand its message is particular to the historical and political situation of the Jewish people at the time in which it was written. On the other hand its message is universal, as the scope of God's plan embraces all peoples, all cultures, all nations. This should not surprise us because He is the God who created the universe and thus all peoples. Israel was chosen by God as the nation through whom he would reveal his character and purpose to all humankind. The prophetic writings of the Old Testament play an important part in this.

When we look for the book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible, we find it in a very different place to where it is in our English Bibles. The Hebrew Bible is divided up into three sections: the Law (הרות), the Prophets (םיאיבנ), and the Holy Writings (םיבותכ). The Law included the first five books of the Bible, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The prophetic books are divided into two sections: the Former Prophets which includes all the historical books - Joshua, Judges, First and Second Samuel, and First and Second Kings; and then the Latter Prophets, of which there are three major prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, and then the twelve Minor Prophets which form the last twelve books of our Old Testament, Hosea through to Malachi. Most of the later prophetic books were written during a relatively short period of Israel's history, the period prior to, during and after the exile of the Jewish people in Babylon, that is, approximately 250-300 years. The third section of the Hebrew Bible, the Holy Writings, includes all the other books beginning with Psalms and Proverbs, and ending with Chronicles. So the very last passage of the Hebrew Bible is what you read in 2 Chronicles 36. It records the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC, the destruction of the city and the Jewish temple by the Babylonian army with the survivors being carried off into exile; and then in the final two verses, the pronunciation of King Cyrus seventy years later, that the Jews could return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple.[1]

Therefore the book of Isaiah in the Hebrew Bible stands back-to-back with Kings, which was the last of the Former Prophetic books. This is appropriate because both of these books have to do with the fate of Jerusalem, the book of Kings from a historical perspective, and the prophetical writings of Isaiah from a spiritual one. This is helpful for us today, for it is vital to have both perspectives, the historical and the spiritual. It has been said that ministers should prepare their sermons with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other, so that we are interpreting life and its meaning from both a human and a divine standpoint. Both are essential, for we need to see the present in the light of God's overarching purpose for humankind. Only this can provide a balanced perspective on life, which God's people in Isaiah's day did not have, and was why God sent the prophets to his people. Isaiah will help us not to make the same mistake today.

As we read through the book of Isaiah we notice two messages standing side by side: one a message of God's impending 'judgment' on his people for their sins, and the other of God's 'promise' both for his people, and also for all humankind. 'Judgment' and 'promise' alternate with each other throughout the book. It is a helpful book to study for it tells things as they are, and what they will be. It is a book in which the dark clouds of God's judgment hang low over his people as the destruction of Jerusalem and exile await his people, while at the same time it speaks of a new day, a different future, of hope beyond judgment, when God will do 'a new thing' for his people, one that promises them a future filled with hope, and not only for them, but also for the nations of the world.[2] Its message is universal and, therefore, breathtaking in its scope. It confirms that our destiny and future does not rest with ourselves, but with the God whom we worship and serve today.

In the first chapter of Isaiah, the prophet shares the vision God gave him concerning Judah and Jerusalem. It is hard-hitting material, not what you would say if you wanted to win friends and influence people. The prophet, however, does not waver from his task. He pulls no punches in addressing his people's rebellion and corruption, and the emptiness and insincerity of their worship. He emphasises their sinfulness in the sight of the Lord in graphic terms, how they have become abhorrent to him because of their injustice and unfaithfulness. He says, "From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness - only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil."[3] The Lord then through Isaiah challenges them to come to court and reason it out together, and promises to take away their sin if they will return to him and be obedient. He says, "Come now, let us reason together... Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool." This is a picture of wool, dipped in scarlet dye, hung up to dry, at Hebron. It helps us understand something of the graphic nature of the imagery Isaiah uses to illustrate what God will do when he cleanses them of their sin. Only God can wash out these fast colours. Then before returning to further words of 'judgment' on God's people and the rebellious city, we have this Messianic prophecy at the beginning of chapter 2 (also found in Micah[4]), that speaks of a time to come when Jerusalem with its temple will be the world's religious capital, when people from all nations will desire to know the Lord and to walk in his ways, when the Lord will judge all peoples, and wars will cease.

Note in verse one it says, "This is what Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem..."[5] Translating it literally it says, 'the word which Isaiah saw.' 'Word' here signifies 'message' or 'truth,' and 'saw' signifies 'perceived by divine revelation.' Thus Isaiah is affirming that revelation prompted his message and inspiration prompted his words. The Lord gave him a picture of what was to come, something he could visualise of what would be in the future. He was able to imagine a different reality to that which dominated the present, a time when people wanted to know the Lord rather than rebelling against him, a time when the worship of God's people would be sincere and genuine rather than just ceremonial and artificial, a time when justice would prevail instead of bribery and corruption, a time of peace and security instead of constant conflict. This is what the coming of Christ at the first Christmas brought the world.

We are familiar with the words, "Where there is no vision the people perish..."[6] Vision is vital in all walks of life. You have to have something to live for, hope for, even die for, to keep going, especially when the going is tough, something that inspires hope for a better future, for another reality than that which exists in the present. You need to be able to picture it, see it in your mind's eye. This vision of Isaiah's has not happened yet. It is yet to be, and so we can embrace it to because we are included.

One of the things you find as you study the book of Isaiah is that he does something similar to what we do with the zoom lens on our cameras. At times his prophetic messages zoom in on particular people and places, and then at other times he zooms out to give us God's perspective on what is happening. For example, in chapter one Isaiah identifies a number of specific sins the people of Judah were committing, and then here in chapter 2 he zooms out to see what it will be when God's reign is supreme. The Bible helps us see our present reality in the light of God's eternal purpose, and it essential to have both perspectives.

Isaiah begins his prophetic message of that future time with the words, "in the last days." Where we find this phrase elsewhere in Scripture, mostly in the New Testament, it is in reference to how it will be prior to Jesus' return.[7] At that time there will be a much clearer distinction between those who are God's people and those who are not. It will be that time immediately preceding the return of Christ which, while it will be time when many turn away from God and his standards, it will also be a time when many from all nations will come to Jerusalem, the holy city, as Isaiah foretells here.

One of the issues that God had with his people was that they had forgotten their calling. They had become self-centred. Their focus was on the temple and its sacrifices, but did not go beyond that. They had lost sight of the fact that God had chosen them to be an example and a blessing to the nations about them. They were to show the peoples around them the goodness of their God through keeping his commands and worshipping him in sincerity and truth. But instead, the way they were living brought the name of the Lord into disrepute, and their worship was a sham. They flagrantly flouted the law and engaged in practices that even the nations around them would never do. Such a situation could not continue. But sometimes I wonder if are we any better. We can become so absorbed in our own life as a congregation that we lose sight of the fact that we have a mission in this world? We are doing some things. We help support Christian workers in New Zealand and overseas. We have run holiday programmes for children. We have activities that have an outreach focus, such as Mainly Music and Indoor Bowls, but I wonder if as a congregation we really do have a concern for those who do not know Christ, for those who are not yet part of God's family. Does our church exist, as William Temple, the Bishop of London once said, solely for the sake of those outside its membership? Have we not, like the people of Judah in Isaiah's day, lost sight of our purpose, what we are here for? Have we not become church-centred, rather than community-centred in our mission?

In Isaiah's time, the people in Judah believed that they were God's chosen people, the guardians of true worship, that God would never forsake them, and that he would never allow Jerusalem to be captured. To entertain the possibility that one-day their city with its magnificent temple would be destroyed was unthinkable. How wrong they were! The Scriptures constantly affirm that God is a God who is both 'just' and 'merciful.' We cannot fully appreciate his mercy apart from his justice, and we cannot fully understand his justice apart from his mercy. God is just, and therefore the consequences of sin must take their course. Using Paul's image, sin's wage must be paid, paid in full. It cannot be otherwise. It is written into the very fabric of the universe. But God is also merciful. He took upon himself in the person of his Son the punishment for our sin. Isaiah, hundreds of years before the crucifixion, spoke of this when he says in the fifty-third chapter, " ...he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him... We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."[8] This is what we remember with grateful hearts every time we come to Communion.

Zooming back in on the passage we read from Isaiah, did you notice the movement in these verses? There is both a 'coming' and a 'going.' There is a 'coming' in the sense of coming to worship and to learn, but there is also a going as both the word "walk" and the words "will go out" imply. This is helpful for us today. God's invitation to us today is to 'come.' We are to "come" to the Lord in worship and to learn "his ways." Isaiah is calling us to holiness and righteous living, just as Paul is in the passage we read from Romans does. We must understand "the present time," Paul says. It is time to put aside, to cast off, "the deeds of darkness" and "clothe" ourselves "with the Lord Jesus Christ." But, as Isaiah says, what we learn we must put into practice. We are to "walk in his paths," "walk in the light of the Lord."[9] It must be a daily living out of what we have been taught about how he wants us to act in our daily lives. We are do this 24/7/365. Wherever you spend your week between Sundays you are engaged in serving the Lord. You are an agent of his kingdom. Come, learn "his ways" and walk "in his paths."

But the word of the Lord must go out, it cannot remain within these walls. It must be imbedded in our lives, in our speech and in our conduct. We 'come' that we may 'go.' And we 'go' that others may 'come,' because God is planning a different future, one that is in the process of becoming. Glimpses of his new order can be discerned as we heard in the testimonies shared last Sunday. We see it when people step out of darkness into his light, when the sick are healed, when a kind word is spoken and a kind deed done, in the caring for the lonely and compassion for the poor. It is looking forward to the day Christ when will reign supreme in the universe. One day there will be universal peace. One day all wrongs will be righted. One day sin will be no more. One day death will be destroyed and the powers of darkness banished forever. One day "a great multitude" that no one can count, "from every nation, tribe, people and language" will "stand before" God's "throne and in front of the Lamb" to sing the praises of God.[10] One day God's will "will be done on earth as it is in heaven."[11] Then will come about what John wrote in Revelation: "Then I saw 'a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 'He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.'"[12] God will make "everything new!" The song The Holy City helps us envisage the day. (Shared Word for Today devotional 29 Nov '07 on Heaven.)

The important question today is, where do you stand in all of this? Are you one of those who have responded to Christ's invitation to 'come,' and you are in the process of becoming all God wants you to be? You are diligently seeking to live out in your daily life what you have learnt and want to continue to learn of "his ways."

Or are you like many of the people of Jerusalem in Isaiah's day? Like them you have wandered away from the true worship of God, so are living your life outside of what you know God desires for you, and you need to acknowledge that, turn back to him and once again "walk in his paths." Maybe God has been taking you through your own personal hell, as he was God's people in Isaiah's time. When God disciplines you as he disciplined the people of Judah, he does it because you belong to him and he loves you. It is always for your ultimate good. It shows he cares about you and your future. You need to respond to the Lord 's invitation, "Come now, let us reason together... Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Come to him in repentance and faith.

Or maybe are you like one of the people from the nations of whom Isaiah speaks here who want to know the Lord. You are conscious that God is at work in your life, that he is calling you to 'come' to him. You know you are not part of God's family yet, but you want to be. You know your life is not all it should be. You may not understand what it is all about, but you know God wants you to come. Respond to his invitation today. Don't put it off. Members of the Prayer Team can help you take that step today.

God's invitation to each one of us today is to "Come."