The prophet Isaiah who is regarded as one of Israel’s greatest prophets, lived and prophesied in the eighth century B.C. at a time when Judah and its sister nation Israel were enjoying arguably their most economically prosperous period since the reign of Solomon over the united kingdom of Israel. Wealth had increased. The time was a lot more peaceful and everything seemed to be going well. However, danger was lurking in the background in the form of the rising power of the Assyrians, a powerful kingdom to the north, which was moving south and threatening smaller nations in its path. An even more dire challenge was the fact that this increasing wealth and prosperity had led to increasing complacency among the people which resulted in a high level of immorality and idolatry in the nation. While Isaiah was prophesying to the people of Judah, his contemporaries Amos and Hosea were prophesying about the same ills to the northern kingdom of Israel. The people had rejected God and lost their way even though they seemed fervent and dutiful in carrying out their religious ceremonies and practices. Apparently, this hypocrisy had become the sickness of both the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah. Isaiah himself had a lengthy ministry as a prophet of about forty years beginning right at the death of Uzziah and through to the reign of Hezekiah one of Judah’s best kings. It is widely believed that he was martyred in the reign of Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son and one of Judah’s worst kings. Isaiah was the prophet whose prophecy about the coming Messiah was a highlight of his book and the entire Old Testament.
In the text that we are reflecting on today, Isaiah presents God’s message to the people in the form of a court case where God as the prosecutor has laid the charge against his people. The charge is rampant immorality and idolatry resulting from a rejection of God who called them into a relationship with him. Things are so bad that the country is compared to Sodom and Gomorrah, the archetype of everything sinful and immoral. What an insult this must have been for Judah to be compared to Sodom and Gomorrah? So God has brought a charge against his people and they are implored to respond as the defendants in the case. But even as the charge is brought against the nation, God is also offering an invitation to settle the matter ‘out of court’ so to speak. He says through the words of the prophet in verse eighteen (18), “Come now, let us reason together…Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.” (Isaiah 1:18 NIV)
In the preceding verses we get a clearer picture of the charge God has against his people. The people are fervent in their religious practices and dutiful in their worship to God through their celebrations and offering of sacrifices and all of that but they were equally unrepentant in their evil ways. According to the prophet God is disgusted because they have no mercy on the poor.They do not look out for the widows and the orphans and in fact they build their wealth on the backs of the poor and the vulnerable and helpless. (See verse 17) Through this chapter we see that God’s primary concern is about social justice. As we reflect further on the text the following issues that come to light are as relevant to us today as it was for the people of Judah at the time of Isaiah’s prophecy.
- True religion and true worship of God is not in rituals and ceremonies but in the care and concern for the weak and vulnerable.
Many people believe that real worship of God begins and ends with what we do in our churches. Many people devote themselves to dutiful attention to following religious dogma and practices but fail to, or refuse to make the connection with the world at large. They believe or behave as if they are convinced that our religion or our worship of God can be authentically practiced in isolation. They have no interest in the needs and issues of other people especially those whom they consider to be less religious than they are or who they see as godless or heathen. Many resolutely believe that their worship of God begins and ends at the church doors until the next time they return to the sanctuary.They fail to see that true faith in God can only be expressed in our relationships with each other and especially in the ways in which we advocate for or stand with the vulnerable and the marginalized in the society. I really do wonder if the reason God does not seem to be working as powerfully among our churches today is simply because God is tired of the praise we offer in our sanctuaries. Many of us are very good at doing that but failing badly to live lives that demonstrate our love of God in relationship to those on the margins. Maybe God is tired of our prayers. Is it possible that God is disgusted at our pretense at being committed to him? Is it possible that too much of what we do as praise and worship is nothing but a hypocritical farce to God? Maybe God has seen enough of our lack of care and our willingness to always put our interest above others so that when we come to the communion table or we come to sing our praises and lift our hands in prayer he is just not interested. In fact, God might just be completely disgusted by what we offer as worship when in the week we are completely indifferent to the circumstances of those who need our support and our advocacy on their behalf. He knows that we do not as Christians show enough of his love for all humanity in our everyday actions and he is deeply concerned. Many of us happily isolate ourselves from the challenges and needs of others who are less fortunate or who have no one to advocate for their needs and the depressing conditions under which they exist from one day to the next. Many of us may even knowingly or unknowingly support or encourage support for the institutions and organisations political or otherwise that oppress and marginalize the weak and the vulnerable among us. Then we come to church and lift hands in praise not even thinking that those hands that we lift to God are not innocent hands. Let us all take a careful look as Christians into all the groups or organisations we support and all the causes that we align ourselves with to see whether these may be actually institutions of oppression and abuse of the poor and vulnerable whether in our own country or abroad.
- The ever-forgiving God is always willing and ready to forgive and reset our relationship with him if we are willing.
One of the key themes highlighted throughout the entire book of Isaiah is God’s forgiving love. As angry as God may become at his children’s failings and their stubborn resistance to his compassionate embrace, God is always waiting patiently and urging his people to come back to him. It seems that God cannot be angry permanently. His never-failing love is always giving us another chance, another opportunity to come back into his loving embrace. Here again we see God giving the same message through the prophet Isaiah to the people that there is hope for reconciliation because God is ever-patient and ever-willing to give us humans the opportunity to change our ways. This is echoed in his words, “Come let us reason together.” We do not hear in these words God being heavy-handed and unreasonable. What we hear in those words are the entreaty of a loving and compassionate God. This is the same characteristic of God which is described in Psalm 103:8 as “slow to anger, abounding in love.” This is the God who is still reaching out to us today and saying there is still time to come back to me. I am ready and willing to renew my commitment to you. Some of us may be tempted to think that we are so far gone that God cannot truly want to have anything more to do with us. What’s even worse is that some of us as Christians do feel the same way about other people. Even though we have benefitted from the blessing of God’s mercy and forgiveness, like the prophet Jonah, we don’t feel that other people are deserving of God’s forgiveness like us. We as a church and as individuals treat them as undeserving and irredeemable because oftentimes our prejudice gets in the way and we think, for all kinds of reasons, that they are not good enough for God to love as he loves us. As we reflect on God’s forgiving love, think of what you need to do to make your relationship right with God today. Maybe it is that you need to start by extending God’s love and forgiveness to someone else so that you can see the power of God at work in your worship and in your daily living.
- True worship of God is hinged on our obedience and faithfulness to him.
Throughout scripture the word obedience recurs. It is the most important word that describes the glue that holds our relationship with God together. Here again, the people are urged to obey their God so that they can be blessed. From the very beginning the covenant between God and the people was sealed on the basic tenet that God would bless the people immensely if they were obedient to him. (See Genesis 12 and 17) Saul lost his kingship over Israel because he was disobedient to God’s instruction. (See 1Samuel 15) In the New Testament Jesus instructed the disciples that obedience to him was the proof and seal of their relationship. (See St. John 15:9-14) Today, our relationship with God is no less dependent on our willingness and desire to know and obey God who in turn promises to bless those who are faithful to him. Ultimately our obedience to God marks the choice that we make between God and the devil, good and evil, what is right and what is wrong. Moses in his farewell address instructed the people to choose whom they will serve. Jesus informed the disciples that they are his friends if they obeyed his command, and today we make choose God by committing our lives to him and being obedient to his way through life’s journey. It does not of course mean that by choosing to be faithful and obedient to God everything will go according to our desire. In fact, we will often find that choosing God’s way is the harder path to take with the greatest challenges along the way. Quite often, you will consider whether this is worth it after all, as you have to bear suffering and pain, loneliness and grief, disappointment and defeat. None of these suggest that the decision to choose Christ as one’s Savior and Lord and remain committed to doing all our lives is the naturally easiest thing to do. In fact, many people have turned away simply because the choice for God over the worldly ways has been too painful and disappointing and unrewarding in their estimation. Today, as individuals and as a church together we are facing that same challenge which is to remain obedient and faithful to God when many of us are facing individual crises and challenges which make us question whether faith in God is really worth it after all. We may even see our non-Christian friends seemingly doing better and seem less stressed than we are when we expected that the opposite would be true when we chose to follow and obey God. Yet the word for us today is that our trials and our pain whether as a congregation or as individuals is not a sign that we have been abandoned or that this Christian walk is only grief and heartache. The word for us today is that we may suffer a little while but in the end we will be victorious. Paul reminds us to set our hearts and our minds on things above (See Colossians 3:1-2) so that we will constantly be reminded that it is not the worldly things such as successes and accomplishments and the things we acquire or how stress-free or trouble free this life is, that should mark our faith in Christ, but it is our unswerving desire to gain eternal life which must be the true motive and goal of all who come to accept Christ. The things of this world are temporal and short-lived. These include our pain and sadness, and our testing and our trials. We are assured however, that in all of these things, God works for the good of those who love the Lord. (See Romans 8:29) Let us therefore continue to choose to obey and to serve God who remains steadfast and sure with us especially when we are going through the worst possible experiences in life. It may seem like going through hell itself but let’s be assured of God’s continuing presence with us through every storm of life. The Psalmist David puts it best when he says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” (See Psalm 23:4 NIV) David was not saying that God would keep bad things away from us but instead God will be with us to take us through those things that seem as if they are the worst ever things that can happen to us and our families. That’s the assurance that we as a church and all of us who have been bearing our own sufferings individually are being reminded of today. I know some of this may not be the easiest thing to hear and to digest by some of us who face the loss of family and friends, those of us who are constantly suffering through ill-health and pain or who suffer with our family members through their struggles with health and so on. It is, nevertheless, the word that God wants us to hear today, that we must remain obedient and steadfast in our faith because God’s blessings continue to be with us even when we think that we are going through hell and indeed the righteous will prosper in this life and have the assurance of eternal life to come if we remain faithful. Please comfort and strengthen each other with these words today and every day. Amen.