One of the things that frustrates me most is when people use scripture to justify their own actions or behavior, without understanding what the scripture really means.
Now, we all do this to some extent. I don’t think one can not do this, at least a little. We all come to scripture with our own prejudice and biases, which influence how we understand scripture and how we apply it to our lives.
But some do it so flagrantly… They take a scripture that means one thing, and use it to justify some behavior that is really just the opposite—the complete opposite—of what the scripture is saying.
In fact, the behavior that they are using the scripture to support is, actually, exactly what the scripture is condemning!
We’re not talking about just a little nuance. We’re talking about turning the meaning completely on its head.
This is the exact behavior that Jesus condemns in the gospels! In fact, it’s almost the only behavior that Jesus ever condemns, or at least, the one behavior that he condemns so passionately.
People who should have known better—religious leaders, chief priests, scribes, Pharisees—the authority figures, the leaders of the people…
They often turned scripture into a tool or a weapon, to get people to conform to a pattern of behavior that those leaders wanted from them, rather than the behavior that scripture actually teaches.
Those leaders used scripture as a way to control people. They demanded that certain rituals be performed, and certain protocols strictly observed, while they ignored the real needs of the people… especially those who were poor and vulnerable.
And these leaders often made those who were already vulnerable and oppressed feel even more vulnerable and oppressed. Jesus said that they tied up heavy burdens that were hard to bear, and placed them on the shoulders of the people, making life even harder for them.
Scripture is meant to liberate and heal. Scripture is meant to help people recover from the trauma and oppression and injustice in their lives, not inflict more trauma and oppression and injustice on them.
And when leaders—religious leaders, political leaders—use scripture to do just that—to inflict trauma, to control people, to bend people to their will—they have so perverted the message of the gospel that they suffer the wrath and condemnation of Jesus.
There are leaders today who do this.
I don’t often call them out, because, as a Disciple, I’m so committed to Christian unity, that I don’t want to speak negatively in any way of others within the body of Christ.
The founders of our movement declared that “Christian unity is our polar star.” That is an important value to me.
I don’t want to create divisions between different churches with different theological understandings.
But over the years, I have had more and more people come to me, to share with me the trauma and the abuse inflicted upon them by those who use scripture as a weapon, or as a tool, to control and manipulate, that I can’t stay silent… not when so many are victimized and made to suffer, because of the damaging and dangerous ways that the gospel is sometimes preached.
***** I heard church historian Diana Butler Bass talk about this on a recent podcast.
Diana Butler Bass is a remarkable scholar whose books I’ve read and who has been a keynoter at several different conferences I’ve been to.
In the podcast I heard this week, she talked about how some leaders intentionally create trauma or inflict trauma on people as a way to control them.
Some evangelical religious leaders in particular do this, she said; and some of our leaders in government do this. They’ve even been caught on tape, admitting and even boasting that it’s their goal is to inflict trauma on people, so that they can then control them.
And that explains the actions and behavior of a good number of our leaders today, doesn’t it?
And they will often use scripture to justify their behavior and the actions they take, because they know that scripture is a tool they can use to control and manipulate people.
That’s why I decided to preach on Isaiah 6 this morning, even though it’s not part of the lectionary.
Because in the past few weeks, I’ve heard Isaiah 6 misused in order to control and manipulate. It has been twisted, so that the way it’s being used makes it sound like it’s about one thing, which is really just the opposite of what this scripture is really all about.
***** So. To understand this scripture from Isaiah 6, one needs to understand the context…
Isaiah 6 begins at a time of political instability. King Uzziah, who had reigned over Judah for over 50 years, had just died.
This means that it was a pivotal moment in history, a chance for the nation, with a new king, to either follow the same path that had been followed, or to chart a new path.
That path that had been followed under King Uzziah was a path that led to a growth in wealth and power for the nation’s ruling elite. The nation was stronger politically, and the royal treasury was full.
But the people of the nation, most of whom were poor, were not benefitting from all this. In fact, the prosperity of the nation was, to a large degree, the result of their exploitation. It was their labor, and their suffering, even, that made it possible for those at the top to prosper.
In God’s eyes, this is evil. God has a preferential option for the poor, as the Latin American liberation theologians teach us. We see God’s particular concern for the least of these… and anytime they are mistreated, God demands justice.
What’s worse, is that the rulers and leaders in Isaiah’s time were using religion to justify the way they showed contempt to the poor.
They put on a show of performing the rituals and leading worship services; yet as soon as those rituals and services were over, they went right back to oppressing the people.
They were taking the words of scripture, and twisting them to justify their own behavior, and so that they could control and manipulate the people of Judah and Jerusalem.
This, by the way, is exactly what it means to take the Lord’s name in vain. It is to take the teachings of God and twist them to justify your own actions, even though your own actions are contrary to the actual will of God.
Taking the Lord’s name in vain is to say that God is in favor of one thing, when in fact, God is not. It is to say that God is on your side even though you oppress the poor and withhold from them compassion. That is misrepresenting who God is and what God cares about. That is what it means to take the Lord’s name in vain.
***** So. God needed a prophet to call the nation and its leaders to repentance. God needed a prophet to speak to those in power, to point out their hypocrisy, to expose the ways they manipulate scripture to justify their evil ways.
And God chose… Isaiah.
We don’t know a whole lot about Isaiah, the person. He may have been a priest.
What is clear is that he attacks social justice in the same way as Amos, Hosea, Micah, and other prophets whom God called.
And we know that, for Isaiah, it all began… with a vision.
…A vision of the Lord sitting on his throne, surrounded by six-winged seraphs, singing “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
And Isaiah’s first response is to say: “Woe is me!”
Isaiah recognizes (knows) that God is so much bigger than he is, that God is not something to be controlled or manipulated.
Isaiah humbles himself before God. Isaiah admits that he himself is less than perfect…
A prophet always demonstrates humility before God. A prophet knows that God alone is worthy, God alone is good.
God then assures Isaiah that, though he is only a mortal, that God can use him, and that, with God’s power, Isaiah can speak words that are true and holy and good.
As a sign of this, the seraph touches Isaiah’s lips with a hot coal, and declares that Isaiah’s guilt has departed and his sin has been erased.
I am struck by how Isaiah’s humility compares with the arrogance and certainty of kings and rulers. Kings and rulers can do no wrong, at least in their own eyes. In fact, they think they are above such categorizations.
The temptation for kings and rulers is to put themselves above God’s laws. They decide what is right and what is wrong, because they sit on the throne.No matter what they do, it is considered right, because they are the king.
But God called Isaiah… and the other prophets… to declare that no person, not even a king, is above God’s laws. And even a king must follow God’s teachings.
A king must remember the poor, and have compassion on them. A king must not exploit the poor and make them suffer… and a king must not twist and manipulate the teachings of God to make it appear that God supports the injustice that the king commits.
And a prophet who is bold enough to declare such things is what God is looking for: someone to hold kings and rulers accountable; to declare to them God’s displeasure at the way they use religion to defend the evil they commit, and to demand that they return to carrying out the justice God demands.
So God says to Isaiah: “Whom shall I send?”
***** And Isaiah says: “Here am I; send me!”
And when Isaiah says that, he commits himself to the task. He commits himself to holding the nation’s rulers accountable. He commits himself to demanding that they act with justice toward the poor; that they act with compassion; that they defend the rights of those who are most vulnerable.
Which means that anyone today who seeks to follow in Isaiah’s path… anyone today who dares to respond as Isaiah responded, by saying: “Here am I; send me”...
Likewise commits themself to holding leaders accountable for how they mistreat the poor.
Anyone who says “Here I am; send me” likewise commits to calling out injustice and oppression.
Anyone who says “Here I am; send me” commits to defending the rights of the vulnerable, which today includes immigrants; and LGBTQ folks; and our siblings from other, non-Christian religions; and people of color; and disabled folks…
Anyone who says “Here I am; send me” commits to being faithful to the true meaning of scripture as well as the teachings and commands of God; not misusing and abusing those teachings and commands to justify and support their own agenda.
In Matthew 13, Jesus quotes Isaiah 6, referring to how he himself would be rejected by those who fail to understand, teach, and practice all that God commands.
Jesus himself would be rejected, and crucified by rulers in his own time who failed to understand and practice the ways of God.
Yet through his crucifixion, God would continue the work of reconciliation, using it to unite all people with him and his way of peace.
And God continues to hold before us the opportunity to choose love over hate; to choose hope over despair; to choose compassion over disdain; to choose peace over violence; to choose justice over injustice; to choose life over death.
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