From the Pastor |
Isaiah 56: 1-8
There is a popular anecdote that’s been around for quite some time… you will probably recognize it but I think it bears repeating: There was a terrible storm coming into a town and local officials sent out an emergency warning that a flood was eminent. They ordered an immediate evacuation of the town. A faithful Christian man heard the warning and decided he wasn’t going to leave his home… he thought to himself, “I will put my trust God and, if danger comes, God will save me.” The neighbors came by his house and said to him, “We’re leaving and there is room for you in our car, please come with us!” But the man declined. “I have faith that God will save me.” As the flood waters began to rise up his porch steps, a man in a canoe paddled by and called to him, “Hurry and come into my canoe, the waters are rising quickly!” But the man again said, “No thanks, God will save me.” The floodwaters rose higher filling the 1st floor of the house. A rescue boat came by and saw him at the 2nd story window. “We here to rescue you!” they shouted. But the man refused, waving them off saying, “Save someone else! I have faith that God will save me!” The flood waters rose higher and the man had to climb up onto his roof. A helicopter spotted him and dropped a rope ladder. A rescue officer pleaded with the man, "Climb up, we will rescue you!" But the man STILL refused, “No thank you! God will save me!” Shortly after, the floodwaters swept the man away and he drowned. When he got to Heaven, the man stood before God and asked, “I put all of my faith in you. Why didn’t you come and save me?” And God said, “Son, I sent you a warning, a car, a canoe, a boat, and a helicopter. What more were you looking for?” God tried to save him, all it would have taken was him to respond to the efforts. Salvation! It is a wonderful, wonderful thing… but salvation requires a response, and this is what the prophet Isaiah is telling us this morning. “This is what the Lord says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. Blessed is the one who does this—the person who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps their hands from doing any evil.” God’s salvation is near… so the prophet, God’s mouthpiece, issues the call for the people to keep the covenant God made with them. The covenant to Love God and love their neighbor… To maintain justice and do what is right… to keep from doing any evil. This has been Isaiah’s message since the beginning… since chapter 1: Wash and make yourselves clean. … stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow (Isaiah 1:16–17 ESV) And the reason for this call… the reason for the people to do these things? “…for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.” Isaiah tells the people that God’s salvation is coming… change the way you are living… keep the covenant God made with you. If you want to be saved… well… Salvation requires a response… a change… Salvation and righteousness were coming and it was time for the people to change their ways and come back to God’s ways. It was the same message given 100’s of years later by John the Baptist: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” [Matthew 3:2] Repent… turn back to God… change your life so that you live in God’s ways… not the ways of this world. Because salvation demands a response. Salvation was and is life changing… and is made evident by a changed life. As followers of Christ today, we know that God has offered salvation through grace in Christ Jesus, and it is through our faith that we gain salvation. Grace and faith work together to provide God’s salvation to God’s people. As Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God…” [Ephesians 2:8] We are saved by grace through faith… both working together… Grace is what God provides and faith is our response. When you think about it… the gospel is pretty simple…In fact, 1 John 3:23 sums it up succinctly: “And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.” Believe… and… Love! Two necessary responses to the freely offered grace that leads to salvation. To achieve salvation… first we must believe. We must have faith. This is our first response to the grace offered… Our faith… our belief in Christ. Jesus came and revealed God’s love to us to the point of willingly dying on a cross for our sins. He died so we might be saved… he destroyed the power of death by his resurrection, completing the work of salvation by grace. But there is another part to the gospel command… we are to believe AND to love one another. This is not a requirement of salvation… it is the RESULT of our salvation… the response generated by the love and grace given to us. It was not the nails that kept Christ up on that cross… it was love… the overwhelming love of God revealed in Christ Jesus. When we accept God’s grace in faith… when we have received the salvation that comes from God… God’s love fills our hearts and we cannot help but extend that love to others. But Isaiah makes one other thing very clear… and it is something God’s people sometimes forget… God’s invitation and grace-filled offer of salvation is extended to all people. Isaiah stresses that God’s saving grace is not offered solely to the people of Israel “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant… And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. The Sovereign Lord declares— he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.”” God will gather “still others”… eunuchs and foreigners… people traditionally considered outcasts and not included in the covenant community will be welcomed. No one who accepts God’s grace by faith… no one who comes to the Lord will be rejected… There are no “2nd class citizens”… No Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free… there are only God’s people. Every person is invited to come to God… to be reconciled with God by the blood of Jesus… every person is invited to come and find the grace, love and hope freely offered. All who keep God’s covenant… who respond to God’s grace with faith will be welcomed into God’s family. It is not our place to judge who is in and who is out… God’s embrace is far wider than we could ever imagine. Through Christ, God has done his part by offering us all salvation through grace. Through grace, God provides salvation, healing, and everything else we need, but if we don’t respond in faith to what has been provided by grace, we won’t receive it. This offer of salvation by grace requires a response… we must respond in faith… When we do… when we respond by opening our hearts to God and believing in Christ… we will be filled with God’s love and find that there is a wondrous result of the saving grace and love we experience. The result is that we strive to share that love… to love others as we have been loved… to share the mercy and compassion we have received… to follow God’s commands of love. We are not called to be spectators, but rather participants in the saving work of God in the world today. The call is out… Salvation is close at hand and God’s righteousness will soon be revealed… we must respond in faith that then prompts us to follow God’s commands… to Love God… Love our neighbor, one another, ourselves, our enemies… to maintain justice and do what is good and right… fight for freedom for the oppressed… care for the widows and the orphans… be compassionate and kind to those in need… the poor and vulnerable of society. Our salvation… our eternal life begins now… on this earth and in this life… our response is required now.
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Yeon Shin
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