Ordinary Time Week 12

Psalm: Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23 or Psalm 33:12-22

Old Testament: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

 or Genesis 15:1-6

Gospel: Luke 12:32-40

Epistle: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

I am still a few weeks behind, but I am still plugging away and posting when I can. This week I mostly want to focus on the reading from Isaiah. My NASB Bible heads this section as, "God has had enough." That alone should make us pause and wonder what was so bad that even God got tired of it. The answer unfortunately, was that God was tired of Israel's dry and performative sacrificial worship system. It had become entirely void of any meaning and God's Laws no longer had any say on how the people lived. I have a note in my Bible from a class in college under this section that says Israel had become "worship addicts." They were addicted to performing the ceremonies and the rituals but they no longer wanted to follow the heart and intentions of the Covenant God had set up.

Looking at the passage, the first thing to notice is that God, through Isaiah's vision, called Israel Sodom and Gomorrah. This is a rhetorical device obviously since those two cities were destroyed, but everyone got the point. Israel was on the same path to destruction as these two cities and had become just as godless.

The next few verses, 11-14, lists all of the ritual sacrifices, holidays, and acts that were performed. There aren't any specifics at this point as to why the ceremonies were being rejected, those come later in the book. However, the first 9 verses of chapter 1, which aren't in the Lectionary passage, do give us a few highlights if you want to read them in addition to verses 10-20.

Moving forward, verse 15 contrasts two examples of the people's hands. At certain times their hands were lifted in prayer, but those prayers were rejected because those same hands were covered in blood.

In verses 16-20 we get to the heart of Isaiah's message to the people concerning repentance:

 Learn to do right; seek justice.

   Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

   plead the case of the widow. (vs. 17)

The people had become so focused on the ritual of their "religion" that the forgot the very heart of the Covenant was about relationships: between humanity and God yes, but also between people. Despite the people's sins however, God was extending to the people an opportunity to change. They had abandoned their covenantal commitments, but God extended the chance for them to "wash themselves, [and] make themselves clean." (vs. 16) Ultimately, though the people's sins were as "scarlet," they could be made "white as snow," if, and there are two big "ifs" in this passage, they "consent and obey," and "refuse to rebel." (vs. 19-20)

No matter how far the people had fallen away, God was still extending the invitation to repent and return. That is the message of the Old Testament! God never stopped calling and working with this people. Even in the exile, God still called and promised restoration and a return to the Promised Land.

Looking at what this means for us, there are a lot of ways we can go. First, we need to be careful that our worship doesn't become empty ritual. And the way to prevent this is through our relationship with others and how we care for needy. Second, there is also hope in the fact that God continually calls people to himself and seeks the restoration of broken relationships. That is good news for us, and also good news for those who haven't yet experience the love of God for the first time. Let us be mindful this week of God's love for us, but also the ways in which that love calls us to serve and love others.

Grace and Peace.