Making Sense of Tragedy (Isaiah 5: 1-7)

Several years ago, at my previous church, there was a Sunday when I was planning to be away on vacation. The elders and I decided to not find a guest preacher for that particular Sunday, but to instead have the elders give the sermon.

And then we decided that, before I left, I would start writing the sermon, give it to the elders, and they would finish it.

And as I think back to that, I don’t remember how that little experiment turned out. But the fact that I don’t remember is probably a good thing. If things went poorly, I would have heard about it, and I would have remembered.

Anyway, the same scripture that was preached on then appears in the lectionary for today, so I thought I’d try a different version of that experiment. Today, I’ll preach the sermon, but I’ll leave some space; and instead of having just the elders finish the sermon, I’ll let all of you finish the sermon.

So I’m going to start preaching, but then I’m going to stop, and present a question for you to answer, with one or two people near you.

And I know, if you’re an introvert like me, you’d probably rather not participate in a sermon like this. One of our preachers at General Assembly kept telling us, in the middle of their sermon, to turn to our neighbor and say something, and for introverts like us, that’s just awkward. I know that.

But I’m going to have you do it anyway. I’ve acknowledged the awkwardness of it, so we’ve got that out of the way, so let’s get on with it…

The background to today’s scripture is this: the nation of Judah was prospering under King Uzziah. But then, under later kings, Assyria came in and basically took over the country. 

It was devastating. The people wondered why God could have allowed this to happen. They tried to make sense of it all. They tried to find meaning in their terrible situation.

Some of us know what that’s like. When someone dies tragically, or at too young of an age; or, when there is a great disaster, a plague, a pandemic, or a major terrorist attack, people start questioning God, trying to make it all make sense.

And you’ll hear people say that God must have had a reason for causing this to happen, or for letting it happen. Maybe it was punishment for sin. Maybe it was to teach us a lesson. Maybe it was, in the case of a person who died too young, that God needed that person with him in heaven more than we needed that person with us here on earth.

Well, that’s what some people say…

And maybe you don’t agree that that’s how God operates… but you can see how people, when they are desperate, and when they are trying to make sense of things, will come to such conclusions…

In Isaiah 5, the terrible thing that happened was Assyria’s takeover of Judah. And people tried to make sense of it. Was this God’s will? Was this punishment for sin? Why did this happen?

Isaiah tried to make sense of this by writing about a garden. The gardener put a lot of care into growing that garden, hoping for delicious grapes… but only wild, bitter, inedible grapes appeared. So the gardener destroyed the whole garden - ripped it all out - and started over.

That’s how Isaiah understood what was happening to the people of Judah. They had sinned. Their leaders had failed to do what was right. They had failed to rule with justice. And so God allowed Assyria to come in and (basically) destroy Judah, so that God could then start all over, and create a nation that would produce the fruit God desires, the fruit of justice.

There are other stories in scripture of great destruction, which are seen as God acting to punish sin. One you may have heard of is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah; the people of those cities failed to provide hospitality and protection to two foreigners, and so God destroyed those cities. There’s also the Great Flood - 40 days and nights of rain, causing waters to cover the entire earth, destroying all of creation, so that God could then start it all over again.

The flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the invasion by Assyria - Biblical writers tried to make sense of these events, and they came to the conclusion that God allowed or caused these events to happen as punishment for sin.

This is how people made sense of what was happening. It was how they gave meaning to the events they experienced. 

However, not every scripture agrees with the idea that God punishes sinfulness, and blesses righteousness.  There are places in scripture where this interpretation is called into question. 

The writer of Ecclesiastes was well acquainted with the idea that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. Yet when he looked at the world around him, he saw that “the wise die just like fools” (2:16).

And the writer of Ecclesiastes also wrote this:

“In my vain life I have seen everything; there are righteous people who perish in their righteousness, and there are wicked people who prolong their life in their evildoing.” (7:15)

The writer of Ecclesiastes struggles to make sense of this. Make it make sense! Why are bad things happening to good people?

The whole book of Job is about a man who suffered terrible calamities, despite being the “most righteous man on earth.” 

Job’s friends believed that calamity is God’s punishment for sin, so they kept asking Job what sin he had committed. But Job had committed no sin. So why were such terrible things happening to him?

In the 9th chapter of John, there’s a story about Jesus and his disciples passing by a man who had been blind from birth. The disciples had been taught that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked, so when they saw the man born blind, they assumed his blindness was a punishment from God. 

They asked Jesus: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 

Jesus answered: “Neither.”

So here’s another example - this time from Jesus - that argues against the idea that terrible misfortune is always the result of God punishing people for sin…

First question: it’s not a test. Don’t feel like you have to answer every aspect of the question. It may even be that the question will inspire you to talk about something else that isn’t even directly related to the question… It’s OK to let your conversation go there…

90 seconds: What do you think? Does God cause, or allow to happen, terrible things, as punishment for sin?

In scripture, there is no “one answer” to this question. Scripture itself offers different answers to this question…as the scripture writers themselves tried to make sense of what was going on.

And yet… every time something catastrophic happens in scripture, God is there, working to restore and renew creation. Does God cause catastrophe to happen? 

The scripture writers don’t agree on an answer to that. But they do agree that God is there in the midst of whatever catastrophe occurs, working to bring about a future of healing, wholeness, and restoration. 

The garden: It is destroyed, but it is also replanted. It doesn’t talk about replanting here in this scripture (Isaiah 5:1-7), but later in Isaiah, there is a lot of talk about how God will restore and renew (ex. “I am about to do a new thing!” - Isaiah 43:19) 

You ever watch any of those home makeover shows? Extreme Makeover Home Edition; Dream Home Makeover; Property Brothers; Love It or List It; Flip or Flop? This Old House? There’s literally dozens of them. One that Ginger and I have watched a few times is called The Ugliest House in America…

In almost all of these shows, the first phase of the home renovation project is the demolition phase. Just like when you plant a new garden, you gotta tear things out before you can put new things in.

90 seconds: In your own life, has there been a time of uprooting or demolition, when the old was gotten rid of? What did you feel during that time? 

The biblical writers, with their different answers to why these things occur, don’t really seem to know why bad things happen to good people… and neither do I.

What I am sure of: God is with God’s people. Always. In captivity, God was at work, planting something new (as it were). And in any time where we feel things have fallen apart, God is always at work, planting, restoring, making a way for healing and wholeness to return. 

90 seconds:

When it feels like your garden has been uprooted, or your foundation has been swept out from under you, Are you able to imagine the possibility that this is actually a time of replanting, a time of preparation for something new, and that new growth, healing, and restoration are coming?

90 seconds:

Is there any part of our church’s life where it feels like a garden that has been completely uprooted? Can you imagine the possibility that this is a time when new seeds are being planted, for a new garden that has yet to grow? What can we do to water that new garden, care for it, so it produces the fruits God desires?

Making Sense of Things (Isaiah 5:1-7)

This is actually an unfinished sermon... Since I'm out of town this week, I began this sermon, but then turned it over to the elders of the church to finish and present. If you're reading this, you can finish it by taking time to ponder the questions in bold as you read.

The nation of Judah was prospering under King Uzziah. But then, under later kings, Assyria came in and basically took over the country. The people were devastated. They wondered why God could have allowed this to happen. They tried to make sense of it all. They tried to find meaning in their terrible situation.

Some of us know what that’s like. When someone dies tragically, or at too young of an age; or, when there is a great disaster, a plague, a pandemic, or a major terrorist attack, people start questioning God, trying to make it all make sense.

And often, you’ll hear people say that God must have had a reason for causing this to happen, or for letting it happen. Maybe it was punishment for sin. Maybe it was, in the case of a person who died too young, that God needed that person with him in heaven more than we needed that person with us here on earth.

Well, that’s what some people say…

And maybe you don’t agree that that’s how God operates… but you can see how people, when they are desperate, and when they are trying to make sense of things, will come to such conclusions…

In Isaiah 5, the terrible thing that happened was Assyria’s takeover of Judah. And people tried to make sense of it. Was this God’s will? Was this punishment for sin?

Isaiah wrote about a garden. The gardener put a lot of care into growing that garden, hoping for delicious grapes… but only wild, bitter, inedible grapes appeared. So the gardener destroyed the whole garden - ripped it all out - and started over.

That’s how Isaiah understood what was happening to the people of Judah. They had sinned. Their leaders had failed to do what is right. They had failed to rule with justice. And so God allowed Assyria to come in and (basically) destroy Judah, so that God could then start all over, and create a nation that would produce the fruit God desires, the fruit of justice.

There are other stories in scripture of great destruction, which are seen as God acting to punish sin. Last week, we heard about Sodom and Gomorrah. There’s also the Great Flood - 40 days and nights of rain, causing waters to cover the entire earth, destroying all of creation, so that God could then start it all over again.

The flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the invasion by Assyria - Biblical writers tried to make sense of these events, and they came to the conclusion that God allowed or caused these events to happen as punishment for sin.

This is how people made sense of what was happening. It was how they gave meaning to the events which took place. 

Does it make sense to you that God would cause terrible catastrophe as punishment for sin?

Not every scripture agrees with the idea that God punishes the wicked but blesses the righteous. There are places in scripture where this interpretation is called into question. 

The writer of Ecclesiastes was well acquainted with the idea that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. Yet when he looked at the world around him, he saw that “the wise die just like fools” (2:16).

And the writer of Ecclesiastes also wrote this:

“In my vain life I have seen everything; there are righteous people who perish in their righteousness, and there are wicked people who prolong their life in their evildoing.” (7:15)

And the writer of Ecclesiastes struggles to make sense of this. Make it make sense!

The whole book of Job is about a man who suffered terrible calamities, despite being the “most righteous man on earth.” His friends believed that calamity is God’s punishment for sin, so they kept asking Job what sin he had committed. But Job had committed no sin. Sometimes, terrible things happen, and it’s not because we’re being punished for sin.

In the 9th chapter of John, there’s a story about Jesus and his disciples passing by a man who had been blind from birth. The disciples had been taught that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked, so they asked Jesus: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered: “Neither.” So here’s another example - this time from Jesus - that argues against the idea that terrible misfortune is always the result of God punishing people for sin…

What do you think? Does God cause, or allow to happen, terrible things, as punishment for sin?

Scripture itself offers different answers to this question…

And yet… every time something catastrophic happens in scripture, we read that God is there, working to restore and renew creation. God is there in the midst of whatever catastrophe occurs. Even when the people suffering feel as if God is far away, God is still there, and God is working to bring about a future of healing, wholeness, and restoration. 

The garden: It is destroyed, but it is also replanted. It doesn’t talk about replanting in this scripture (Isaiah 5:1-7), but later in Isaiah, there is a lot of talk about how God will restore and renew (ex. “I am about to do a new thing!” - Isaiah 43:19) 

• A home renovation project often begins with a demolition phase… Planting a new garden begins with pulling up the weeds and unwanted plants that are already there…

What replanting have you seen in your own life? Have you ever experienced a time of disappointment, only to find in that time the birth of something new and wonderful?

What I am sure of: God is with God’s people. Always. In captivity, God was at work, planting something new (as it were). And in any time where we feel things have fallen apart, God is always at work, planting, restoring, making a way for healing and wholeness to return. 

• Is there any part of your life where it feels like a garden that has been completely uprooted? Can you imagine the possibility that this is actually a time of replanting, a time of preparation for something new, and that new growth, healing, and restoration are coming?

Is there any part of our church’s life where it feels like a garden that has been completely uprooted? Can you imagine the possibility that this is a time when new seeds are being planted, for a new garden that has yet to grow? What can we do to water that new garden, care for it, so it produces the fruits God desires?

Justice (Isaiah 5)

 A few months ago I told you about the plants I planted in my little backyard, next to our fence. I started with the soil, turning it, working it. I attached chicken wire to the fence, so that the star jasmine I was planting would have something to climb as they grew. Then I planted, and watered, and waited.

Almost every day, I've been going out and checking on those plants. I got really excited when I noticed the first shoot reaching and attaching itself to the wire. And then I watched it grow up, twisting itself around, reaching 2, 3, 4 feet off the ground…And I began looking forward to next spring, when those white, sweet-smelling, five-petaled star jasmine flowers appear.

I began to feel an emotional attachment to these plants. They were my babies.

So you can imagine my distress when I went out one day and made a startling discovery: some of the vines had been broken - snapped and separated from the main plant. And when I looked down at the soil, I saw paw prints.

So I bought a low fence, stuck it in the ground, to keep the dogs out of the soil and away from the plants. And now the vines are growing again, up the wire…and I still have hopes that all will be well, and the flowers will appear…

This experience has helped me better understand the emotion in today’s scripture reading from the 5th chapter of Isaiah. 

Isaiah 5 starts with a poetic love-song between a man and his vineyard. 

The speaker here seems to be God, and the keeper of the vineyard is God’s beloved… but then, identities shift a bit, and God becomes the keeper of the vineyard. 

And if this is a love song (as it says), who are the two lovers? God and the keeper of the vineyard? The vineyard grower and his vines? Both?

It’s like a dream, isn’t it? In dreams, identities shift around. … I know in my dreams, I could be interacting with a person in one moment, but then, in the next moment, I’ve become that person...

Oh! It just occurred to me… Perhaps Isaiah 5 describes an actual dream that the prophet Isaiah had…

Anyway, it is clear that the keeper of the vineyard loved his vineyard. He had high, high hopes for his vineyard. Like me with the plants I planted, he couldn’t wait to see his vineyard reach its full potential, producing beautiful, delicious grapes good for eating, or good for making wine.

Reading a little further, the identities shift around once again, and suddenly, we are God’s garden. All of us. We are the garden God works so hard to grow and nurture. And just that little bit of joy I experience in seeing my garden grow - multiply that by a thousand, and that’s how much joy God experiences by watching us grow and reach our full potential. God watches over us, the same way I watch over my jasmine plants. God’s heart is invested in us. We are God’s beloved.

And it is clear that God loves diversity in God’s garden. Grapes come in many different colors, just like people do. And to make the best wine, you incorporate different combinations of grapes grown in different locations. Some of you know a lot more about wine than I do, but it is clear that if there was only one type of grape, capable of making only one type of wine, the world would be a lot more boring.

The same is true for people. Is it a stretch to think of our congregation as a unique, one-of-a-kind wine? Because the combination of diverse people that we have here isn’t replicated exactly anywhere else on earth.

And yet, we are in partnership with other congregations, in our region, in our denomination, which are all unique in their own ways - not to mention the other congregations and denominations in the body of Christ that exist all around the world. 

Each of us, unique. Each of us, part of the body of Christ. Each of us, adding to the beautiful diversity of the church….

Not long after I planted our star jasmine at home, Ginger decided that there needed to be a little more diversity. She planted a different type of climbing plant - one with red flowers - so that there would be a beautiful color contrast with the white flowers of the star jasmine. 

I’m sure this will work out. In the wild, plants tend to embrace diversity. And this diversity actually helps the plants and trees grow.

We see this on farms. Most farms plant huge fields of a single crop. The advantage for the farmer is that a single crop reduces costs; but this type of farming isn't really sustainable in the long term. 

It increases the danger of a widespread crop failure. Plus, it deprives the soil of the benefits that come with growing a diverse population of plants. It's easier for the soil to have its nutrients naturally replenished when there is a diversity of plants. This reduces the need for fertilizer, which is good, because most fertilizer is made of synthetic chemicals that are bad for the environment and natural ecology. 

So even among plants, diversity is good. It’s not only beautiful, but it helps the plants thrive and grow. Diversity contributes to healthy communities... of plants… and people.

The keeper of the vineyard planted his vines, and expected grapes. Good, beautiful, delicious grapes. But what happened? The grapes that grew were puny wild grapes, bitter, practically inedible, and certainly no good for making wine.

So the keeper of the vineyard tears down the vineyard. Rips it out. He’ll try again somewhere else. Not here, because the soil is bad. (Remember what my Aunt Cindi said: “Start with the soil.”) 

Now as we keep reading through Isaiah 5, it turns out that - in this ever- shifting dream - that the vineyard is the nation of Israel; the people of Judah. God planted this nation. (Two nations, actually.) God nurtured it. And God expected justice to be the fruit that arose from the nation. Justice. But instead, God saw the bloodshed of those who had been treated unfairly. 

And God expected righteousness. Righteousness. But instead, God heard the cry of one who has been denied justice and righteousness.

And we know that it is easy for people to give lip service so that it appears they are acting in ways that are just and right. It's easy to give the appearance of doing what is right and just. There's actually a play on words here that demonstrates this. In Hebrew, the justice God expects is mishpat, but the bloodshed God gets is mishpah.

And the righteousness God expects is sedaqa, but the cry God hears is se’aqa.

This wordplay in Hebrew shows how easy it is for a person or a society to turn justice into bloodshed, and righteousness into cries of oppression.

In the rest of Isaiah, chapter 5, the prophet gets more specific regarding how the lack of justice and righteousness has played out. 

First, in verse 8, the prophet condemns those who acquire house after house, field after field, buying up all the real estate, driving up rents and housing prices, until there is no room for anyone else.

Then, in verse 11, the prophet condemns those who feast lavishly and get drunk on wine, but who pay no heed to God’s calls for justice for the poor. 

Then, in verse 18, the prophet condemns those who commit fraud and misrepresent God to the people.

Then, in verse 20, the prophet condemns those who call evil good and good evil, who present darkness as light and light as darkness.

Then, in verse 21, the prophet condemns those who boast in their own wisdom and cleverness, thinking they alone have all the answers. 

And then, in verse 23,  the prophet condemns those who accept bribes from the guilty, and then rob the innocent of their rights.

Oh! a lot of injustice. And it’s all going on in our country today. It’s all happening. Now...

Finally, in verse 25, the prophet says that the anger of the Lord is kindled against the people. Because they have so clearly not produced the fruit God expected. 

God cares deeply about justice, and about what is right. It infuriates God when the poor are taken advantage of, when the poor must bear greater burdens so that the rich can - as Isaiah says - join house to house and field to field and enjoy ever more luxurious feasts. God hates that! God hates it when some live in luxury, while others languish in poverty. Which is why it is sin to deprive the poor and the innocent of what is right and what is just.

This is what is important to God. The basic idea is repeated over and over throughout the entire Bible…. In the gospels, there is a story of Jesus confronting some of the religious leaders - they carefully practice all the rituals of the faith, yet they have neglected justice. And for this, Jesus says to them: “Woe to you!”

This didn’t make Jesus very popular with the religious leaders. And those who preach justice and work for justice today often find resistance as well.

Just this week, a colleague of mine said he can’t preach about justice at his church; he can’t even mention the word “justice.” The leaders in his congregation told him it’s too divisive.

As Oscar Romero said a year and a half before he was assassinated, “All those who preach justice will find themselves up against the stone wall of people who don’t want to change their ways, who don’t want to orient their relationships with others by the ways of justice.”

Justice is the message of the prophets, and justice is the message of Jesus. Those who fail to practice justice are subject to doom and woe.

But to the masses suffering from a lack of justice… to those who are poor and oppressed, and who have had heavy burdens placed upon them by the powerful and the wealthy, this is the good news.

It is the promise that God will not long abide the injustice that exists. God will not long tolerate abuses heaped on the poor. God will not long put up with white supremacy and other forms of oppression.

And God hears the cry of those who suffer, those who are oppressed. And when God hears that cry of suffering, look out! Because God is about to act! to restore justice! to restore what is right! To restore wholeness to this fragmented world!

Sermon: "Vineyard of Justice" (Isaiah 5:1-7)

Uzziah was 16 years old when he became king of Judah. And he was a great king! Abraham Heschel, the famous rabbi, scholar, and theologian, wrote that Uzziah’s fame was second only to Solomon’s.

So before I do anything else, let me tell you a little about King Uzziah...

According to the book of 2nd Chronicles, the 14th book of the Hebrew Bible, one of King Uzziah’s great accomplishments was to restore Eloth, the great port located at the northeastern-most part of the Red Sea.

Living in Long Beach, we know how important it is to the economy to have an efficient, functioning port.

The port of Eloth had been taken over and destroyed by another nation, but Uzziah recaptured it and rebuilt it.

The book of 2nd Chronicles says that Uzziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and that God gave him success. Just listen to this list of successes:

“He marched against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh, and Ashdod. Then he rebuilt towns near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines. God helped him against the Philistines, the Arabs who inhabited Gur, and the Meunites. The Meunites paid taxes to Uzziah, whose fame spread even to Egypt because he had grown so powerful. He built towers in Jerusalem, at the Corner Gate, the Valley Gate, and at the Angle, and reinforced them. He also built towers in the wilderness and dug many wells for his large herds in the lowlands and the plain. He had many workers who tended his farms and vineyards, because he loved the soil. Uzziah had a standing army equipped for combat … Uzziah supplied the entire force with shields, spears, helmets, armor, bows, and sling stones. He set up clever devices in Jerusalem on the towers and corners of the wall designed to shoot arrows and large stones. And so Uzziah’s fame spread far and wide...” [2nd Chronicles 26:7-15]

The wealth and power of Judah under Uzziah’s reign was not limited to just the upper classes. Even the poor benefited, so that the gap between rich and poor was not so extravagant. The nation’s prosperity was shared among all the people. It was a good time in Judah, a great time.

And because things were good, and because there was a fair amount sharing of the resources in which the poor were not left out, God did not feel the need to summon any prophets to speak to those in authority. God only called prophets when the poor were left behind, when the benefits of the nation’s prosperity went only to the rich.

But then... in his power, Uzziah became arrogant. He began to act corruptly. The kingdom’s prosperity and power started to unravel.

The poor, especially, bore the brunt of this unraveling, while the wealthy and powerful used their power and wealth to cling to what they had.

When Uzziah died, and his son Jotham became king, things got even worse.

In the book of Isaiah we read that, in the year that King Uzziah died, when his son Jotham became king, God called Isaiah the prophet to begin his work. For most of Uzziah’s reign, when the gap between rich and poor was not too great, God didn’t feel the need to call any prophets.

But as God often did, when the rich began to hoard the country’s resources for themselves, and the poor began to suffer in greater measure, God called upon prophets to be the conscience of the nation, and to call the nation to repentance.

Prophets got their message across in diverse ways. Sometimes they spoke directly. Sometimes they spoke allegorically. Sometimes they used poems and stories. And sometimes, they even engaged in street theater.

Today’s passage is a poem that Isaiah wrote and recited, about a vine-grower who planted a vineyard. I wouldn’t be surprised if Isaiah recited this poem on more than one occasion while standing in an actual vineyard; prophets liked visual images to go with their stories.

In this story, this poem, the vine-grower planted his vineyard with great care, creating all the perfect conditions for growing the finest grapes which would make the finest wine, but in the end, all he got was wild, worthless, inedible grapes.

And now, people of Judah, he says: you tell me what I should do with my vineyard. What can I do, but tear it down completely and start over?

Then he says: the vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel, and the people of Judah are its pleasant planting. God expected justice, but saw bloodshed.

The Hebrew poetry here has some wordplay: God expected mishpat, but got mispah. God expected justice, but got bloodshed.

God expected righteousness - sedaqa -

But heard a cry - se’aqa.

And, I should point out, it’s not just any cry; it’s the cry of a plaintiff seeking justice. It’s the cry of a mother weeping over her starving child. It’s the cry of people being oppressed. It’s the cry of distress.

God always hears that cry. When people have been treated unfairly and unjustly, and they cry out for justice, God hears that cry.

It was the cry of the Hebrews under slavery that led God to call Moses, to lead them out of slavery and to the promised land.

God hears the cry of the oppressed, the cry of those crying out for justice, the cry of the poor suffering under oppressive economics.

But apparently King Jotham, Uzziah’s son, did not hear that cry.

If he heard that cry, he would have acted differently. But instead, the rest of Isaiah chapter 5 shows how he acted.

In verse 8, Isaiah speaks prophetically against those who “join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no room for anyone but you…”

Apparently there was a housing crisis in Judah, affecting the poor, who could not find a place to live. In the time of prosperity, rents had gone up, and now rents remained high even though incomes for the poor had fallen. There was no place for the poor to live.

There was no sedaqa - no righteousness - there. There was only se’aqa, only a cry.

Southern California has its own housing crisis right now. Home prices are rising, and rents in particular are skyrocketing, even while poverty levels are rising. As people of faith, we know that God - through the prophet Isaiah - speaks to this. Isaiah had a message then, and Isaiah has a message for today.

In verse 10, Isaiah speaks against those who stay up, partying all night, drinking beer and wine, smoking fine cigars, enjoying wealth and luxury night after night, day after day, at the country club, at the mansion, at the palace… while ignoring the work of the Lord, the work of doing justice, the work of caring for the poor, the orphan, the widow, the immigrant, the refugee, the uninsured…

If there are growing numbers of people who need help - growing numbers of poor, growing numbers of refugees fleeing terror, growing numbers of people dying because they are losing their health care, what right do you wealthy have to be celebrating a rising stock market, cutting taxes for the rich, using money to influence public policy in your favor? God is not pleased with such things.

That is Isaiah’s message then, and that is Isaiah’s message today.

In verse 18, Isaiah speaks against those who say “it’s all in God’s hands;” Isaiah speaks against those who say, “God will take care of it;” Isaiah speaks against those who say, “have faith…” as if such words are enough. Words are not enough; action is needed. So Isaiah speaks against those who send thoughts and prayers to those who are suffering, but do nothing to help.

God demands justice and righteousness from US. God demands that WE create a fairer, more just world. God demands that we stop the bloodshed, that we listen to the cries of those who are suffering.

All your thoughts and prayers don’t mean a thing if you are not willing to ACT for what is good, ACT for what is right, ACT for what is just.

That is Isaiah’s message then, and that is Isaiah’s message today.

In verse 20, Isaiah says: “Doom to those who call evil good and good evil, who present darkness as light and light as darkness, who make bitterness sweet and sweetness bitter.”

Those who rob the poor to pay the rich make the evil they do sound as if it is a good thing. They cut services for the poor to give the wealthy tax cuts, and say it will benefit the economy, that everyone’s lives will improve. They promote and enact racist policies, and say it’s about states’ rights, or about honoring our history.

But this evil is NOT good. God is against those who take the bitterness of racism, the bitterness of unjust economic policies, and make them taste sweet.

That is Isaiah’s message then, and that is Isaiah’s message today.

In verse 22, Isaiah speaks against those who pervert justice by accepting bribes, letting the guilty go free but robbing the innocent of their rights.

Isaiah speaks against those who accept bribes from the NRA, then say that mass shootings are the price of freedom. Isaiah speaks against those who accept bribes from insurance and pharmaceutical companies, then work to take health care away from millions. Isaiah speaks against those who accept bribes from giant corporations, then work to enact tax policies that cut social services to pay for the massive tax subsidies these corporations receive.

This is Isaiah’s message then, and this is Isaiah’s message today.

As a preacher, I don’t aim to be political. But I do aim to discover God’s truth in scripture, and share that truth. It’s what God has called me to do, just as it’s what God called Isaiah to do. It’s what God calls upon all of us to do: to speak for justice and righteousness, to act for justice and righteousness, to remove the bloodshed, to hear the cries,... As William Barber says, it’s not about conservative vs. liberal; it’s about right vs. wrong. It’s about moral vs. immoral.

Also: some people say, that all this Old Testament stuff was replaced by the New Testament, the New Covenant. It’s Jesus that matters. Not Isaiah. Not the prophets.

Well, let’s remember the first thing that Jesus did when he began his ministry: he walked into the synagogue. They handed him a scroll to read, which just happened to be the scroll of Isaiah.

He read it; the passage went like this: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

It was Isaiah’s message in a nutshell: do what is right. Do what is just. Proclaim good news to the poor…

Jesus read it, rolled up the scroll, and said: “Today, in me, this scripture has been fulfilled.”

Boom! Mic drop!

And the people realized that all that stuff Isaiah said, all his condemnation of the rich, all his words about helping the poor, all his words about justice and righteousness… everything Isaiah talked about, Jesus came to fulfill.

But those in positions of authority didn’t like this teaching. It was too political. It challenged those in positions of power and authority. It challenged those who had wealth. It challenged those who put prisoners in prison, and profited off of it...

They thought, “we need to silence him, right away.” They tried to grab Jesus and throw him off a cliff, but he escaped, and carried out three years of ministry before they were finally able to arrest him and execute him.

That’s what people do to those who speak prophetic truth. They vilify them. They defile them.  They crucify them.

And sometimes, they tweet about them.

All the while pretending that they are the holy, righteous ones.

But God’s truth cannot be stopped. Jesus proclaimed God’s truth of good news to the poor, sight to the blind, freedom to the oppressed, and release to the captives… and they tried to kill him… but they couldn’t.

Today, God still hears the cries for justice. God’s people still stand for what is right. And the words of Isaiah that were fulfilled in Christ will be fulfilled through Christ’s body, the church. The message is now ours to carry, ours to share, ours to proclaim. And we will do so, because we are followers of Christ.

No matter how broken this world gets, we will always be a movement for wholeness. We will always proclaim good news to the poor. We will always stand for justice and righteousness. We will always follow Christ. And we will never turn back.