Rev. Paul J Cain
Isaiah 29:17-24
Faithful to Us
Wednesday of Trinity XII, 17 August 2016
Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
When we face
uncertainty in our lives, people react in different ways. Some behave like an
egg. When boiled, an egg gets hard. Others act like a potato. When boiled, a
potato goes soft. Still others are like coffee or tea. The tea or coffee
transforms the boiling water into a pleasant beverage that provides alertness
for the present and future. No matter what happens, the Lord is faithful to us.
Our uncertainties regarding today and tomorrow are well
addressed by the prophet Isaiah.
Isaiah writes to God’s people seven hundred years before
Christ. The northern kingdom, Israel, would fall to the Assyrians in 722.
Twenty years later, Jerusalem, the capital city of the southern kingdom, Judah,
would be under siege. There would be a reprieve. Judah and Jerusalem would
eventually fall in 587, over a hundred years after that..
TLSB: The visitation of the Lord will bring death and
destruction to Jerusalem. Yet the Lord promises to do wonderful things with His
people. God desires genuine repentance, not hypocrisy. God has accomplished
wonderful things for us through the gracious visitation of His Son in our human
flesh. In Jesus’ death and resurrection, God has turned the world upside down and
removed our shame. [We pray with King David:] “Create in me a clean heart, O
God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps 51:10).
Those who mock the Lord, those who prefer their ways to the
Lord’s ways will face consequences. Lebanon with its strong cedars mocked the
one true God. TLSB: Soon Lebanon will be humiliated (2:13; 10:34; 37:24).[This]
Illustrates the coming divine reversal, when the exalted will be humbled and
the humble will be exalted. [This is what we hear in verses 17-19.]
17 Is
it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful
field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? 18 In that day the deaf
shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of
the blind shall see. 19 The
meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among mankind shall exult
in the Holy One of Israel.
Christ Jesus made the deaf hear and made the eyes of the
blind see. TLSB: Jesus quotes this as evidence of His ministry.
The time of the Lord’s action is coming. The meek will find
joy, the poor shall exult in Christ. TSLB: They will experience new things that
bring them joy.
The Holy One of Israel will give His people His own holiness
in exchange for their sin and unrighteousness. This is the Divine Reversal.
This is the Great Exchange. The Lord will provide. We know this because of His
Gospel promises. We also know that the Lord was faithful to provide daily bread
in the past and to keep His promises. Where people may be unfaithful, the Lord
is faithful, dependable, trustworthy, true, and good.
The Lord has made known in His Word what His will is. His
desire is that we would keep His Commandments. As sinners, that is not
possible. Our inability to do His will in that regard does not negate His good
and gracious will for us to keep the Ten Commandments. Gracious, merciful, and
abounding in steadfast love and mercy, the Lord has provided His only begotten
Son as our substitute. Our sins are forgiven, we are absolved for not achieving
His standard of holiness, and our guilt is atoned for, all in Jesus Christ.
The Lord provides.
Yes, the Lord provides forgiveness, life, and salvation. Yes,
the Good Shepherd provides undershepherds, pastors, to serve His flock gathered
around Word and Sacrament in different times and places. Yes, the Lord provides
to His Church all that we need to support this body and life.
We should remember that the Church, the Body of Christ, is
the people of Christ, the baptized, all given the gift of faith through the
Word and the work of God the Holy Spirit. We have been resourced with all that
we need to do the Lord’s mission and ministry according to His wishes. Yet, we
are often reluctant to prioritize the Lord’s Word, will, and ways and we may
want to do things our way instead.
It is not that the Lord hasn’t provided for the work He has
given us to do in Gospel outreach and human care. He has provided generously.
Yet, sometimes, what the Lord has provided to His Church, His people, does not
always get returned to the Lord for His work in a congregation.
The Church is not primarily a building. The Church is not
primarily a human organization. The Church is not primarily a 501(c)(3) religious
nonprofit organization under the laws of the United States of America. In the
Smalcald Articles, Luther himself says, “Thank God, today a seven-year-old
child knows what the Church is, namely, the holy believers and lambs who hear
the voice of their Shepherd [John 10:11–16]. [SA III XII 1–2]”[1]
Jesus is always our Good Shepherd. He never leaves us, never
forsakes us, and never leaves us without His loving care. In contrast, verses
twenty and twenty-one of our text introduce us to the proud, selfish, greedy,
and abusive people that prey upon others: 20 For
the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease, and all who watch to
do evil shall be cut off, 21who
by a word make a man out to be an offender, and lay a snare for him who
reproves in the gate, and with an empty plea turn aside him who is in the
right.
TLSB: The proud people [are here] described in greater
detail. They deprive the poor and innocent of justice. The prophet [Isaiah] addresses
this perversion of the Law (e.g., 1:17; 5:7–8).
What were the problems? TLSB: False testimony or judgment
wrongly convicts the helpless. [They perjure themselves for their own benefit.
They mock others.] They oppress anyone who testifies against them. [They abuse
the legal process and corrupt it. They deny true justice. They bear false
witness against their neighbor and against the Commandment of God. They do not
keep their promises. They lie.]
The good Lord, our Good Shepherd will never do those things
to you. Ever. And to remind his first hearers and us, Isaiah brings us God’s
faithfulness to Abraham: 22 Therefore thus says
the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: “Jacob shall no more be ashamed, no more
shall his face grow pale. 23For
when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in his midst, they will
sanctify my name; they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob and will stand in
awe of the God of Israel. 24And
those who go astray in spirit will come to understanding, and those who murmur
will accept instruction.”
What does this mean? TLSB: Abraham’s redemption was his
“exodus” from his homeland, away from its idols and false gods (Jsh 24:2). The
Lord brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give him the Promised Land (Gn
15:7). In like manner, the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt to give them the
same land (cf Ex 20:1–2). Exodus imagery runs throughout Is (e.g., Is 12:2;
43:16–17). [In addition, the Lord will gather to Himself the faithful remnant
of the so-called “ten lost tribes.” He will perform yet another “exodus,” and
the faithful remnant of the Judeans will return from their Babylonian exile and
rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord.]
There will be no need for the faithful people of the Lord to
grow pale in fear of their enemies or their future, for the Lord will be with
them. Even the uncertainties of the future will not cause them to lose their
faith.
And then? TLSB: They will honor God by living in His ways.
Cf Ex 20:7. [They will keep their promises to the Lord and one another. They
will return to the Lord their God in heart, mind, word, and deed.] And I love
what comes next in verse 24. TLSB: Some who drifted from faith will return.
Some who spoke against God or engaged in other religious practices will seek
God’s truth.[2]
17 Is
it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful
field, and the fruitful field shall be regarded as a forest? 18 In that day the deaf
shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of
the blind shall see. 19 The
meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among mankind shall exult
in the Holy One of Israel.
TLSB: God desires genuine repentance, not hypocrisy. God has
accomplished wonderful things for us through the gracious visitation of His Son
in our human flesh. Lord promises to do wonderful things with His people.
The Holy One of Israel, Jesus Christ, gives His people His
own holiness in exchange for their sin and unrighteousness. This is the Divine
Reversal. This is the Great Exchange. The Lord will provide. We know this
because of His Gospel promises. We also know that the Lord was faithful to
provide daily bread in the past and to keep His promises. He will remain
faithful to all of us that we may exult in Him. Amen.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
