June 22 - Second Sunday after Pentecost - Sermon and Video
Second Sunday after Pentecost
Isaiah 65:1-9
Galatians 3:23-4:7
Luke 8:26-39
Collect of the Day: O God, You have prepared for those who love You such good things as surpass our understanding. Cast out all sins and evil desire from us, and pour into our hearts Your Holy Spirit to guide us into all blessedness; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
When the disciples asked Jesus how to pray, Jesus gave them the succinct prayer that we call The Lord’s Prayer or The Our Father. I am grateful that the disciples asked that question of Jesus. But we should know that they already knew how to pray. They were simply asking Jesus for His recommendation. The reason I say that they already know how to pray is because they already had the Psalms. The Psalms are prayers. Israel had already been praying many of those psalms for a thousand years. They also had the examples of prayers found throughout the Old Testament. The reading from Isaiah 65 is God’s response to a prayer of Isaiah.
Biblical prayer teaches us to bring our joys, questions, frustrations, and anger to the Lord. Just as God sometimes has stern things to say to those with ears to hear, so we learn that God listens to our prayers in whatever form it comes. Our prayer may be pithy, such as, “Help!” which is short hand for “Lord, have mercy.” Or our prayer may be lengthier. Sometimes we are moved to write out our prayers so that we can sort out just what it is that we are trying to say to God. From time to time, our prayers become poetic. Because we bring our concerns as well as the emotions that go with our prayers, our prayers can sometimes be angry and accusatory. Isaiah’s prayer that precedes the Old Testament reading is poetic. It certainly has some questions for God that sound like an accusation of sorts.
The prayer begins in 63:15. The 17 verses that make up this prayer is essentially a prayer for mercy for a people that have forgotten God. Certainly not all the people have forgotten God, but an offensively large number have. Isaiah prays in behalf of his people.
63:15 “Look down from heaven and see, from your holy and beautiful habitation. Where are your zeal and your might? In 63:17, another question is asked, O LORD, why do you make us wander from your ways and harden our heart, so that we fear you not? Now that is quite an accusation! Isaiah blames God for his people’s willful rejection of God and consequent depravity of soul, mind, and behavior.
In the concluding words of the prayer, while observing that the people are getting what they deserve because they turned away from God and God’s protection, Isaiah wants to know, Will you restrain yourself at these things, O LORD? Will you keep silent, and afflict us so terribly? (64:12) Well, God is not silent. He responds to Isaiah for our benefit and explains why judgment is currently being rained down upon Judah and Jerusalem. Yet, as the LORD speaks of judgment, he also extends hope.
The Lord our God does answer our prayers. God’s answer is not what Isaiah and others want, but it is an answer. God takes Isaiah seriously. Just as He takes us seriously when we take our concerns to Him in prayer.
Let’s look at what God’s answer is here. There is some remarkable Gospel here. First, God is and remains present. Upon the first offense, or even the second and third, He does not storm off and slam the door upon us, never to be heard from again. He says, I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask of me. I was ready to be found…I said, “Here am I, here am I,”…
Second, God is persistent. He is determined not to abandon his creation. He says, “I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my face continually…” Despite the spurning that God endures, God’s grace is ever present. He chooses to welcome the repentant. He wants to receive the repentant. He takes no pleasure whatsoever in chastising the people. Yet, at the same time, His faithfulness to us, His love for us, His promises to us, prevent Him from simply letting us go on our merry little way as if nothing is wrong. Unacceptable, willful spiritual depravity and behavior is going to be disciplined. That is what is God is doing through the Assyrians and then the Babylonians. God uses individuals, situations, even other nations, to get our attention and return to Him.
Third, despite the rotten grapes, God remains gracious. In the midst of the rotten, new wine is possible. God seeks them out. God stays that He may be found. He does not destroy them all. He continues to call forth the faithful.
In 65:8, the Lord declares that he extends His mercy to sinners because of His servant. He is referring here to Christ Jesus, God’s own Son, who is the suffering servant. The suffering servant is described and explained to us several times in Isaiah. On Good Friday, we read Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12. This passage from Isaiah, foretells what Jesus does for us in his passion and death on the cross. A few verses remind us of the Gospel that emanates from this prophet. For example, in 52:14 “his appearance was so marred, beyond human resemblance,” As you recall, Jesus took quite a beating on his way to the cross. He took the beating for our sakes. 53:3-5 explains:
3 He was despised and rejected] by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces;
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
The prophecy of Jesus, the suffering servant, ends in this passage with those remarkable words, “he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” (53:12)
Jesus bore our sin on the cross. He intercedes on our behalf to the Father. Give me their failings, their sin, their depravity, so that I can give them my forgiveness. Punish me so that they may be free. Heavenly Father, let your wrath pass over them.
As the Lord explains to Isaiah, on account of the Son, his suffering servant, the LORD will not destroy them all. He will bring forth faith. They will return to Jerusalem. They will wait for the consummation of God’s promises in Christ Jesus.
On account of the cross of his Son Jesus Christ, grace is extended to the sinner. Faith enters the hearts of sinners. Those called by the Holy Spirit through the cross of Jesus receive forgiveness for their sins. They, we, receive the Lord’s promise of eternal life.
Despite God’s presence and persistence and grace; despite God’s gift of Jesus and his cross; despite God’s forgiveness; despite the promise of eternal life with God; it is not easy to live faithful to God in this world. We are enticed by many seductions to forego our faith and to no longer seek the LORD in his Holy House. We are enticed to downplay the need for God’s Word and His Sacraments. We are enticed to not make time for God’s people and the worship we do together. We are enticed to not pray.
This means we must be intentional about living as a people of faith in the midst of a people that worship many other things. The heart of all relationships is conversation, plain old talking. So, let’s keep talking to God. Whether that conversation be brief or long, poetic and melodic, or halting, mad, and filled with questions, it matters not. God teaches us that He is already talking to us. He wants to hear back from us.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment