Something to think about... Isaiah 55:1-5 This next Sunday we will be concluding a study on Isaiah that has helped us look at the major themes that stream through the entire book. While we are most familiar with the book of Isaiah during Advent and Christmas, the entire book is focused on three historical eras surrounding the Babylonian exile. Israel is called out by God for not following Gods commandments. The nations political and religious leaders are so corrupt that God threatens to destroy them all, unless they repent. As the leaders fail to develop their citizens into faithful subjects; they pitted them against each other to the point of ignoring their sacred obligations to the poor, sick, and homeless. They could not even effectively mount an army to diffuse the military presence at their borders, and all they could do is cry out how God has abandoned them! Does this sound vaguely familiar? The people were cast into exile, and for years they began to repair their relationship with God until they were finally delivered and return home. A new covenant was struck. Out of their humiliation, they became the example to all the world. They become the light to the nations! We ask at times, why they just didnt get it? Why is it so easy for the people of the past to forsake God and to pursue their own passions and greed? But to answer that question is to ask ourselves why we continue to do the same things. Sin is not a thing of the past, it is ever-present. It is difficult to see the effects of sin on a day-to-day basis, until some major crisis begins to unfold. Take for instance the waves of migrant children at our borders or the conflict between Israel and Gaza. These things developed many years before they exploded on the pages of our media. For decades, Central America has become even more impoverished due to a variety of international and local failures. Children literally ran for help to a place they believed to be a sanctuary. Palestinians and Israelis have continued the cycle of violence and aggression to meet demands, and there seems to be no end. Isaiah would say - see there it is, God thrown to the side in favor of some other idol. It is not until Gods people woke up, opened their eyes, repented, and pursued a righteous path. Perhaps we need to do the same thing. We need to ask, how does God want us to handle difficult and complicated situations with compassion, mercy, and love? What do we need to do to help turn violent confrontations into moments of openness and solidarity? How do we reflect the light of God?
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 20:02:57 +0000
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