The Gospel According to Isaiah, Part 5:
God’s Dream of a New Zion
Isaiah 62:1-12
March 25, 2012
Rev. Stephen Aram
Bethel United Methodist Church
Certainly one of the greatest blessings I have ever had in my life came in the year 1977. We were coming to the end of about 2 years leading a Christian house ministry in Kathmandu, Nepal. The couple who were replacing us had arrived. It was prime trekking season in the Himalayas and some friends had a trek all planned out. And I joined them for a 17 day trek in the Himalaya Mountains. It was just a hike. We never did any rock climbing. But it was incredibly beautiful. One of my favorite moments was a vista looking north, across ridge after ridge of snowcaps, and someone in our party said we must be seeing all the way into Tibet. That was awesome. Tibet had been conquered by China and in those days China was closed. Almost no westerners got into China. And they had brutally suppressed the Tibetans so they were really, really sensitive about any westerners getting into Tibet. We had prayed for the day when the doors would open and Tibetan people could hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. And there I was, looking into Tibet.
But I had no idea what I was seeing. There were incredibly beautiful ranges of mountains. But I had no idea how big the valleys between them were, or what people lived in those valleys. I had no idea where the boundary fell, where Nepal ended and Tibet began. We had no frame of reference for such things.
Reading the Prophet Isaiah is often like that. It’s clear where he stood during his life. His heart was broken that the people of Judah had turned away from their God. And we talked about that broken heart in the last 2 sermons. His heart was broken because of the way they had treated their God, rejected the God of Israel, who loved them and wanted to be close to them like the parent that he was. His heart was broken because of the way they treated each other. Their society was polluted with profound social injustice. They were supposed to be a light to the world. Isaiah knew the story of how the Queen of Sheba had once travelled long distances to hear the wisdom of God from the great King Solomon. But now Judah was a laughingstock. Judah was an embarrassment to God. Judah was an ugly stain on God’s reputation. Judah was a stumbling block for God’s dream of blessing the whole human race.
And many people come to the point where they are upset at how the world is going and stop there. They turn bitter at their world. They criticize and tear down. But not Isaiah. Isaiah was committed to his people and to his God. He prayed and he prayed. And God gave him many visions of hope for his people, hope for a new Jerusalem. And as those visions have come down to us they are confusing sometimes. We want to fit them into a history book or a calendar. And it’s hard. It’s like looking at range after range of mountains, not knowing where the boundaries lie, not knowing how long of a gap there is between those mountain peaks. But Isaiah saw it, a glorious future for the people of God. Do you want a peek? Our scripture is Isaiah 62:1-12
1 For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch. 2 The nations shall see your vindication, and all the kings your glory; and you shall be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will give. 3 You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. 4 You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. 5 For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your builder marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. 6 Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted sentinels; all day and all night they shall never be silent. You who remind the LORD, take no rest, 7 and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it renowned throughout the earth. 8 The LORD has sworn by his right hand and by his mighty arm: I will not again give your grain to be food for your enemies, and foreigners shall not drink the wine for which you have labored; 9 but those who garner it shall eat it and praise the LORD, and those who gather it shall drink it in my holy courts. 10 Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people; build up, build up the highway, clear it of stones, lift up an ensign over the peoples. 11 The LORD has proclaimed to the end of the earth: Say to daughter Zion, "See, your salvation comes; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him." 12 They shall be called, "The Holy People, The Redeemed of the LORD"; and you shall be called, "Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken."
I love Isaiah. For over 50 years he spoke to his people, calling them back to God. When King Hezekiah was on the throne Hezekiah really worked to bring reform, but Isaiah could see it hadn’t gone deep enough to last.
But did he give up? No. Did he turn bitter? No. In verse 1 of our text he wrote, “For Zion's sake I will not keep silent, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until her vindication shines out like the dawn, and her salvation like a burning torch.”
Isaiah was committed to God’s project to make Israel a blessing to all nations. God had promised to Abraham centuries before, that through Abraham’s child “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” But Israel had exchanged that glorious calling to serve the nations for a sense of privilege. They saw their lives not about God’s glory, not about serving other nations, not about demonstrating the wonder of the life of love that God was offering and instead focused on privilege for themselves. They saw God’s purpose as just blessing them. They became totally self centered. And that corrupted them and they started ignoring God and taking every opportunity to exploit one another.
But Isaiah kept the memory alive. And he determined that he would not keep silent until God’s salvation was shining like a burning torch in a dark world, until all nations would see the glory of God. God’s project of making Israel a light to the world failed in the Old Testament and the modern nation of Israel isn’t doing very well as a light to the world today, either. But he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to build the church, a new Israel, a new light of the world, that would bring the good news of Jesus to every nation, even to the ends of the earth.
Isaiah determined that he was going to pray to God until Israel was purified. In verses 6 and 7, he wrote: 6 Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have posted sentinels; all day and all night they shall never be silent. You who remind the LORD, take no rest, 7 and give him no rest until he establishes Jerusalem and makes it renowned throughout the earth.
Isaiah, and a small group or prayer warriors around him, determined to be pests to God, to give him no rest until that vision was fulfilled, an Israel of love and service, a light to the world.
And this is the sign of the true prophet of God. He had a deep sense of the holiness of God. He was painfully aware of the sins of God’s people and it broke his heart. But he had spent time with God. He knew the heart of God. He knew God would not give up on his people. He remembered the purpose for which we are on this earth, to live holy and loving lives so that the world can see what God is like and that his plan for the world is wonderful, if we will just get on board.
And sure, Isaiah pointed out the sins of his people. He made their sin painfully clear. But there was always hope mixed in. Again and again there was a reminder of who they were, who they could be in God. And I would love to read a bunch of those words of hope for you, but this is already a busy morning, so I put some posters around the church to share some of Isaiah’s words of hope with you.
And what does that mean for us? Parents, and grandparents, it is your job to correct your children, to make it very clear when they are doing wrong. But criticizing is only the beginning and it’s just too easy to stop there. Even more importantly, it’s your job to give them a clear vision of who they can be in God, of the blessing their lives can be in God, and how much you love them and how much God loves them.
Bethel Church, God has called us and blessed us. But we can never afford to just take that blessing as a privilege for us to enjoy. God has blessed us; God has given us a taste of how wonderful it is to be part of the family of God with all the love and support that is here.
But it’s not for us. It’s not about us. We are called to be a light to the world. And will you allow me to put on my Isaiah’s hat for a moment and say, “Bethel, we need to do better.”? We need to be impacting our community. We need to do a better job of showing God’s goodness to those outside the church.
And our Church Health Team has a project for us that will help us show the light of God’s love to our community. We have a short video so you can see it and then Michele will come and tell us a bit of the nuts and bolts. And you can read more about it in our next newsletter.
