Isaiah 1: 1-3, 10-20; Luke 12: 32-40
by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
August 7, 2016
The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth;
for the Lord has spoken:
I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
The ox knows its owner,
and the donkey its master’s crib;
but Israel does not know,
my people do not understand.
Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt-offerings of rams
and the fat of fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.
When you come to appear before me,
who asked this from your hand?
Trample my courts no more;
bringing offerings is futile;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath and calling of convocation—
I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.
Your new moons and your appointed festivals
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me,
I am weary of bearing them.
When you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings
from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
learn to do good;
seek justice,
rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
plead for the widow.
Come now, let us argue it out,
says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be like snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured by the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. - Isaiah 1: 1-3, 10-20
‘Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Watchful Slaves
‘Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit; be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them. If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.
‘But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.’ - Luke 12: 32-40
As the words of the prophet begin, I can hear the iconic Law and Order bells ringing the call for justice: Dun Dun. The bells prepare us for a sobering scene of why justice is needed. There is a backstory that leads to a courtroom hearing. Judah has fallen into a cyclical pattern that has been ongoing for generations. It is systemic. Judah moves along the right path for a spell and then falls off the wagon, so to speak. The pressures and influences of the surrounding cultures have long clouded Judah’s judgment and Judah wavers in taking the next right step in faith. Judah lives with the consequences for a while and then prays for deliverance and promises to do better. Throughout the generations God’s people are on the wagon and then off the wagon in habits of faith that help and then habits of unfaithfulness that hurt.
Now Judah has blood on their hands by living in poor decisions and corrupt behavior that has affected the livelihood of the most vulnerable. Judah has turned inward and complacent. Judah has turned a blind eye to being agents of God’s justice. Judah had not loved the stranger for they were once strangers oppressed in Egypt. God’s deliverance called Judah to live in a particular way but their complacency resulted in a corrupted heart.
The camera leaves the streets and pans into the doors of a courtroom. Judah takes the seat of the defendant and squirms in the hard wooden seat. What is so startling is that both the plaintiff’s and judge’s seats behold the voice of Almighty God. The divine plaintiff stands up to address the court and loudly summons heaven and earth as witnesses for this trial. The Jewish tradition held that you need two witnesses and of course heaven and earth had seen it all from the beginning of time. The voice of Almighty God speaks with a broken heart of the defendant’s actions and states the charges that have been filed.
“I have reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me” (Isaiah 1:2). The charge is that “God’s people do not know, they do not understand” (Isaiah 1:3). The people are not being charged for ignorance. The people were being charged with breaking their covenant relationship with God. This covenant through Moses tethered the people to an eternal relationship with God and one another. The people of God have forgotten their raising, as we say in the South. They have forgotten who they are and whose they are. They have forgotten how to live according to God’s grace with a particular intentionality.
You see the problem was this: the religious leaders and the people of God had become beyond complacent in their faith response. Rituals of worship become divorced from the heart of God’s will. Faith was no longer a vessel to pour out God’s just and righteous love into lives outside of the temple that were desperate for change. Judah’s worship lost its relevance to God’s message of hope for a hurting community. The gap was widening between faith that praises God and faith that practices godly ways [1]. When the gap is due to the condition of human sin, God is justified in God’s sentence and blameless when God passes judgment (Psalm 51:4). We said these very words about God’s judgment together in the prayer of confession.
To think of God as a righteous judge makes us squirm in our seats. For years this image of God made me beyond uncomfortable. I would wonder how could I possibly measure up to a God of judgement. I would much rather hear about a God of grace, mercy and love. And yet when we come into God’s presence we are to remember that we are all held within the tension of God’s judgment and God’s grace. The God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. While we may deserve to hear the gavel come down with a harsh sentence as Isaiah hints to, God chooses grace over the gavel. God gives instruction on how to be turned back to God and how to take the next right step.
The next right step is seeking what the Lord requires. Isaiah directs us to hear God’s hope: “Learn to do good, seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend and plead for the most vulnerable – the orphans and the widows” (Isaiah 1:17).
I love the way Micah prophesies it: “What does the Lord require but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). I once taught this verse to children at Vacation Bible School and I broke the meaning down in this way: justice is doing what is right; kindness is more than being nice – it is the love of serving others; and humility is to always give God the credit when we help someone.
What Isaiah and Micah are getting us to think about is this. Taking the next right step means that we all need to do a faith check. We need to see the gap that stands between our praise of God and our practice of God’s ways. And then we need to be focused to fill it. Filling the gap is not an easy thing to do. It takes intentionality and attentiveness. Filling the gap means not just talking the talk but also walking the walk.
During my first call in ministry I served as an Associate Pastor for Young Adults and Outreach. I loved finding ways to intersect life and faith with my young adults. I also loved building relationships with individuals and groups across denominational lines and organizations. I still love this ecumenical aspect of ministry.
One Sunday evening I came alongside a group of young adults and youth to prepare and serve dinner to 50 to 75 guests of the Salvation Army Shelter. Before dinner was served our service team gathered for instructions and prayer. I encouraged our group to welcome our guests with smiles and a warm welcome. Make eye contact. And when everyone is served then go out and sit next to a guest and talk with him or her.
Not all of the Salvation Army dinner guests were homeless. They were also men, women, and children who were trying to make ends meet and needed a hand up for a hot meal. The guests were white, black, and Hispanic too. Some were dressed nicely and some had threadbare clothes and holes in their shoes. Not everyone sitting at the cafeteria tables wanted to talk that night. And not everyone who volunteered to serve dinner felt comfortable walking up to a total stranger and starting up a conversation.
You will never guess what filled the gap that evening. It was Bingo. Good ole fashioned Bingo. As folks were finishing their dinner the youth and young adults disposed of trash and passed out Bingo cards to our guests and volunteers alike. We all came together to sit at the cafeteria style tables. And as the B-5’s and the G-16’s were called, we slowly had folks across the room shouting BINGO! And then came the genuine smiles and giggles.
As the game progressed each Bingo winner was invited to come forward to select a prize from the big basket. The prizes were wrapped in colorful wrapping paper and ribbon. The items ranged from candy to personal hygiene products to small games. One woman came forward to select her item and she just hugged it; glad to have a gift just for her. A man gave his prize to a young child who had not won a game. That night every person seemed to feel the joy of belonging to something bigger than themselves.
And as I watched the game continue, I was amazed that a simple game of Bingo could break down our diverse demographic walls and make each of us feel like and act like children of God. Now Bingo will not solve everything and it will not bring about God’s justice in full force. But on that evening God’s Spirit was present and I felt the kingdom of God break in as we sought to do right by loving our neighbors, serving others, giving God the credit, and seeing Christ in each other’s eyes.
For God justice is an action of love. It is primary in order to bring about God’s intentions for reconciliation, healing, and wholeness. Justice for the weak and vulnerable was of the utmost importance to God for it hinges on who God is. God set his heart in love on our spiritual ancestors alone and chose us out of all the peoples. The Lord our God is mighty and is not partial and takes no bribe. God executes justice for the orphan and the widow and loves the strangers providing them food and clothing.
We also are to express love to these specific neighbors for our spiritual ancestors were once vulnerable strangers in the land of Egypt and God’s compassion delivered them (Deuteronomy 10:15, 17-19). God’s unconditional love put on the thin skin of humanity in Jesus Christ to show us how to be dressed for compassionate action too. Therefore our commitment matters to keep in step with Gods’ dream for justice to roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:24).
We fill the gap between our praise of God and practice of faith by seeking to do what is right in the community through the power of relationships. Ask the Spirit to open our eyes to those who are vulnerable in our backyards. Be willing to listen to our neighbor’s stories of what life is like from their unique perspectives. Pray for God to reveal the needs that our gifts can meet with compassion that empowers and strengthens our community.
Maybe justice looks like caring for the widow next door with meals and rides to the doctor. Maybe justice looks like mentoring a child at school who needs help with reading or math and proof that someone cares because no one in his home does. Maybe justice looks like a Bookmobile with storytime, cookies and lemonade, and children who cannot buy books or get to the library are invited to receive a book and the joy of learning in community. Maybe justice looks like dimes that pour out to stop hunger. Maybe justice looks like Bingo where everyone feels a sense of belonging.
Isaiah’s words are sobering. Sometimes Scripture gives us comfort and sometimes it pushes us out of our comfort zones. May you and I take heed to Isaiah’s challenge to see the gaps between our praise and practice as individuals and as a church. Do you know what is at stake for us? The way in which you and I praise and practice God’s unconditional love and compassion. God’s reputation is on the line. And it is our highest calling to reflect God's love in all things. Thankfully Christ shows us the way. So let us go and fill the gap.
In the name of our Father, Redeemer and Sustainer. Amen.
Sources Referenced:
Artwork by Stuart Shelby
[1] Stacey Simpson Duke’s Pastoral Perspective on Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 “Feasting on the Word: Year C, Volume 3” (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), p. 318.
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