Sermon - 2013-06-09 - The Beginning of the End

Isaiah 49: 7-18

7Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the slave of rulers, “Kings shall see and stand up, princes, and they shall prostrate themselves, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.” 8Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I have answered you, on a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages; 9saying to the prisoners, “Come out,” to those who are in darkness, “Show yourselves.” They shall feed along the ways, on all the bare heights shall be their pasture; 10they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them. 11And I will turn all my mountains into a road, and my highways shall be raised up. 12Lo, these shall come from far away, and lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Syene.

13Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones. 14But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me.” 15Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. 16See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me. 17Your builders outdo your destroyers, and those who laid you waste go away from you.

18Lift up your eyes all around and see; they all gather, they come to you.

Psalm 30

1I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up, and did not let my foes rejoice over me.

2O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.

3O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

4Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones, and give thanks to his holy name.

5For his anger is but for a moment; his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

6As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.”

7By your favor, O Lord, you had established me as a strong mountain; you hid your face; I was dismayed.

8To you, O Lord, I cried, and to the Lord I made supplication:

9“What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the Pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness?

10Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me! O Lord, be my helper!”

11You have turned my mourning into dancing; you have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

12so that my soul may praise you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

Isaiah 53:1-12

Who has believed what we have heard? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2For 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, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.

4Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. 6All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. 9They made his grave with the wicked and his tomb with the rich, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain. When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days; through him the will of the Lord shall prosper. 11Out of his anguish he shall see light; he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12Therefore I will allot him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he poured out himself to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Last week we talked about the call of Isaiah. Isaiah calls us forth to look deeply into the mirror that is ourself, a true and honest look into how we are viewing the world and how we are being within the world. The prophet of Isaiah is calling the people back to the Law that God has given to them.  At the same time, reminding them that the Law was given to them in love so that they may hear the Gospel even better and bear witness to the very extent that God is calling them back from. Isaiah informs the people why the Gospel is coming to them, how the Gospel is coming, and even what the Gospel is saving them from.  

Ancient Israel and the prophets are some of the most important readings that anyone can actually read after understanding the Gospels. Through the prophets, we are reminded of what happens and what it looks like to be focused on other things within our life other than God. The warning signs are there. They are even very clear as driving down the road and seeing the speed limit sign, but still going faster.  As clear as those “Watch for turning vehicles sign” and not really slowing down.

During this time, the people are following the culture of the people around them. They are worshiping these false gods made by human hands. They have abandoned the ancient rituals and customs of the Temple. It had been so many years since they participated in those rituals that the people no longer understand why the rituals were important. The people failed to understand the connection between their faith and their daily life. This is a time in which those who knew and loved the Temple saw fewer and fewer people gathering there. They would see them only on a few occasions until finally they would not see them at all.  

As the people continued down the other paths that they had chosen in life, God continued sending prophets serving as road signs to warn the people. Finally, the warnings ended and God used the Assyrians to deliver God’s judgement. The nations that were conquered by the Assyrians would leave the nation together but demand that the people would pay tribute to the Assyrian King.  The people became slaves serving the King of Assyria.  The Assyrians conquer the nation of Israel but not the nation of Judah.  

Judah is left alone.  They are left surrounded by three great nations: the Assyrians to the Northeast, the Babylonians to the southeast, and the Egyptians to the southwest.  A king rises up that leads the people back to the faith of their Fathers.  Taking down the false gods that people brought into the nation and into their lives.  Returning the nation back is a painful process, the people do not want to give up the new ways of gods that make sense, a god that feels so close to them, without the ritual, this created god that is a part of their life. Regardless, it is a false god and as the First Commandment declares to the people: "You shall have no other gods before me.” Yet this is so hard for us.  As Martin Luther would say, if you can get the first commandment then the others are easy.

Within our own world today, we have many gods that we worship.  For example, when I was in Elementary school, we had a citywide olympics.  There were eleven elementary schools and we had several different events.  Each school was a team and would have a person represent them within the events.  I was a sprinter and I can still remember training and running the race.  But I don’t remember what place I got because truly it didn’t matter.  I do remember getting congratulated afterwards and standing on the three tiered boxes, but I don’t remember which one I stood on. When we focus only on status or which ranking we got, it becomes our god. For that is all we strive for, that is our goal, competing against those around us. Now I am not against competition. Competition  can be good, but when that is how you view life, that is how you are living your life. You are setting yourself up as your own god.  But God reminds Judah, it does not matter what position you are, how great you are or how large you are.  What matters is that God is with you.  

Isaiah is reminded of how very hard it is to stand alone, but God gives you strength to share God’s Word.  Here is what is truly amazing.  As the people heard the Word of God spoken by the king and by the prophets, the people actually listen.  They hear of the love that God still has for the people.  The hope that God is still giving them for the future.  That is what they are clinging to. God was there with them in their suffering. The people are reminded that even in their suffering, even in the wandering, God is still with them.  

Isaiah announces that God had promised them, God would not abandon them.  Isaiah delivers countless declarations of the saving of God’s people.  How God will save them no matter how low you go, how far you go, or what ever happens.  God will come and get you, through a righteous servant, through a servant like a lamb led to the slaughter, and one who will pour himself out for death.  These prophecies, these accounts of what this messiah, this one who saves shares the story of Jesus.  We hear how Christ comes into our world within the very bottom, in a manger as a lowly person for the lowly; but also for all those who place their faith and trust within him.  We hear how Christ goes and tells people of power and wealth, that their faith is not in God but in the false gods that they create.  We hear of how Christ is willing to face the Will of God to face death, taking on the sins of the whole people.  All so that you might be saved.  

For our faith in God often comforts us, gives us hope, but it also challenges us to love those around us as God loves them.  We are called to share the Gospel message with the lowly and support them, but also to be reminded that it is God who placed us in this blessed seat of forgiveness.