Is Divinely United

The Lord Will Gather Still Others To His Church

8.20. 23 [Isaiah 56:1-8] River of Life (12th Sunday after Pentecost)

Some say it was long overdue. Others say it was little more than sound and fury, signifying nothing. Experts who have tried to put it into historical context say it’s the largest movement in U.S. History. For the last three years, it seems like everywhere you looked it was all anyone could talk about. Social justice.

It wasn’t just that protestors were surging through major cities and small towns. Companies that previously only ever made milquetoast statements flipped overnight. They scrambled to put out statements of ally-ship. They boasted about hiring diversity, equity, and inclusion consultants. Their marketing campaigns transformed, too.

Everything on our screens changed, too. Suddenly you couldn’t watch the news, an awards show, or a ballgame without someone opining about systemic racism, rampant misogyny, or intersectionality. Even in private conversations, you felt new tension and agitation.

Thinking and talking about social justice likely still makes us feel some kind of way. It makes people passionate and angry. Some feel like they’re being unfairly punished—weary of the whole matter. There are those who push back. And there are those who are still fighting.

From the perspective of a Christian, there are many, many problems with the social justice movement of the past three years. While we can acknowledge systemic problems and failures, we must also point out that the problem is that people are more broken than any system is. Christians are called to love every single one of their neighbors, but can never be an ally to wickedness in any form. Our culture's appetite for justice is good, but their idea of how we do justice is off-target, and they have no ability to recognize real righteousness. But our Lord calls us all to fight for justice and also do what is right according to his Word.

That’s what we hear from the Lord through the prophet Isaiah. (Is. 56:1) Maintain justice and do what is right. We might read that and think this is written to a people who are utterly corrupt and couldn’t care less about justice. We’d only be half right. The people of Judah were utterly corrupt—but they were even more blind. God granted that (Is. 58:2) day after day they seek him out and seem eager to know God’s ways. They fasted. They offered sacrifices. They followed rules about doing this thing and that thing. They claimed to rely on the Lord Almighty. But even though they appeared to be pious, they were just going through the motions. God wasn’t fooled. The Lord said, (Is. 29:13) these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. The Lord Almighty who fashioned and made them knew them inside out. He heard their slander & blasphemy. He saw their ruthlessness & selfishness. They were corrupt from top to bottom. Their political leaders were fools. Their spiritual leaders were scoundrels. Their business leaders were treacherous. And the whole lot was stubborn and rebellious, proud and stiff-necked. They were (Is. 57:4) sneering at the Lord and sticking out their tongue at his commands.

The first 39 chapters of Isaiah are primarily about God’s calls to maintain justice and do what is right and how the nation of Judah collectively, systemically, and individually refused to repent and do so. Because of their wickedness, God hade them carried off into exile.

But even before King Nebuchadnezzar carried off her best and brightest, the Lord Almighty promised comfort & consolation—(Is. 7:3) a remnant would return. Isaiah ch. 40-55 promise that God’s righteousness would soon be revealed and his salvation would come near. God was going to gather a new people on his (Is. 11:9) holy mountain. People who honored him with their lips and loved him with their hearts. This group would not be limited to the descendants of Abraham, either. It would include those that the people of Israel loathed—the Gentiles. The Lord Almighty declares that eunuchs would have an everlasting name and foreigners would rejoice in his house of prayer, the Temple. The Sovereign Lord would do what he’d been promising since Abraham. (Gen. 12:2-3) I will bless you…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

This was always God’s plan for the world. God intended for Israel’s unique righteousness to attract foreigners to know the glory of the Lord Almighty. He wanted their Sabbath Day to fascinate outsiders. He intended for their homes and markets to be where everyone acted with integrity, justice, and generosity. The Lord promised to bless them so abundantly that strangers would envy them and how the One true God made his dwelling among them.

But Israel spurned God’s love. They neglected his wisdom. They took his patience and faithfulness for granted. Their hearts were far from God. Their honoring of him was hollow and meaningless. And (Rom. 2:24) God’s name was blasphemed among the Gentiles because of them.

We must recognize our own propensity for hollow honoring and distant hearts. We may do what is right for an hour a week, but what about the other hundred or so hours we’re awake? Do we honor God with our lips when we’re here and then slander our neighbor when we’re out there? Do we allow our anger to consume us and curses to fly out of our mouths at those who aren’t like us or we don’t like?

Do we actively govern our hands and feet, eyes and ears to pursue paths of righteousness? Or do we slough off at work when no one is looking? Do we get a thrill out of hearing the latest gossip about neighbors and celebrities but get bored with reading and inwardly digesting the living Word of God? Do we indulge our sinful cravings?

Do we fritter away our most precious gift—our time—on vapid forms of entertainment instead but can never find the time to make known the wonders of God’s mercy to our neighbors? Do we put our trust in princes & gurus who have proven themselves to be spiritual fools? We may think we are eager to follow God’s ways, but do we consistently treat people justly and live righteously?

But what we have not done, (Is. 9:7) the zeal of the Lord Almighty has accomplished. God promised to send someone who would establish and uphold justice and righteousness. He will reign on David’s throne. He would minister in the Temple. He would speak for God to the people. He would be known as the (Is. 9:6) Wonderful Counselor and Mighty God. Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace. There is no end to his greatness. His peace will never pass away. He is Jesus, the one and only Son given to us by the Lord God Almighty.

Jesus is the righteousness that Isaiah said would soon be revealed. He is the salvation that was close at hand. He would live perfectly, as the blessed Holy One of Israel. He held fast to God’s Law. He kept the Sabbath perfectly and joyfully. His whole life he kept his hands from doing evil, his feet from walking in step with the wicked. His eyes were fixed firmly on the will of God, the plan of salvation. His ears were tuned to the Word of God which was his strength.

Jesus did what Israel was called to do. He lived a life of unique holiness and righteousness that attracted the unrighteous and those estranged from the Lord to him. Again and again, we see Jesus engaging with sinners without engaging in their sinfulness. Though he broke bread with tax collectors and prostitutes, he never participated in their sins. Jesus never took what wasn’t his. He never had a lustful thought.

He never allowed the way sinners thought, talked, or behaved to corrupt the way that he thought, talked, or lived. He always did what was right. Jesus always treated people right. He loved his neighbor fully without once compromising the righteous standards of God’s Word.

But Jesus’ unique holiness and righteousness didn’t just attract sinners from Israel. He engaged with Gentiles. He taught 4,000 Gentiles for three days and then miraculously fed them just as he had done for 5,000 Israelite men. Jesus healed the servant of the Roman Centurion and then praised his faith, saying it (Mt. 8:10) surpassed anyone in Israel. Then he prophesied that many would come from far away to sit with the Patriarchs of Israel in the kingdom of heaven. He freed two Gentile men from demon possession. He did the same for the Canaanite woman whose daughter was suffering terribly. Jesus engaged with Gentile sinners because he came to save Gentile sinners, too. In his death on the cross, the Gentiles saw God’s justice, righteousness, and mercy. Jesus’ unique life and death caused the Roman Centurion at his crucifixion to confess: (Mt. 27:54) Surely he was the Son of God!

Jesus brought salvation to the house of the Gentiles, too. And we are a living testament to that. The Lord Almighty has included us in his plan of salvation. We have been credited with Christ’s righteousness. Our prayers are heard by the Sovereign Lord. God has gathered us through his powerful Word and Sacraments.

And God will still gather more. He is gathering those who do not share a common language but do share a common need for a Savior. The Lord is the One who gathers his Church and he uses his Word to call all those who are far off. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile. The same Lord richly blesses us all. But how can those who are far off call on the One they do not believe in because they have not heard of him? This is why God calls his church to bring good news to all.

That will include those who think and talk in ways that are strange to us. The ambitious Church, as the bride of Christ, does not cower in the corner when people start talking about justice and doing what is right.

We must be eager to assure people of God’s justice for all. We must be clear as we point beleaguered and frustrated souls to the merciful Son of God, who is righteous and gifts us his righteousness.

We must also be tender and compassionate with modern-day eunuchs. As the bride of Christ, we must be ready to give lasting comfort and true peace and real hope to those whose bodies, minds, and lives have been wrecked by what is currently called gender-affirming care. We must assure them that the identity they crave is found in Christ. We must hold up for them the everlasting hope and the wonderful inheritance that all God’s children possess forever. Let this be our mission as the ambitious church, to welcome all to God’s house. Let this be our conviction. The Sovereign Lord will gather still others to us! Amen.