made to belong

We are all people who operate on a system of values in one way or another. If you are the kind of person who values competition, you are probably going to be involved in several competitive activities. If you value creative human expression, you will probably be involved in the arts—music, painting, poetry, things of that sort. Sometimes we have values that hold within a certain group. That became evident several years ago when I first came to this church and became involved with the Life Skills program. At that time there were several participants in the program who came from the Deborah’s House ministry and were primarily African American women. It was a struggle to make the Life Skills program work with them; and I think it was because of group values. The Life Skills program was put together with an assumed group value of independent self-sufficiency. One of the goals driving the program was to help people become independently self-sufficient.

What we discovered is that independent self-sufficiency is very much a white middle class value that is not shared universally by everyone. The women from the Deborah’s House struggled with the program because independent self-sufficiency was not a shared value in their community. The African American community very much values communal interdependence rather than self-sufficiency. We had to learn a few things about the ways in which our white middle class values were shaped into a program that assumed everyone else shared the same value.

For reasons like this, it is always good for us as people to be aware of the values that are driving our goals and activities. It is especially good for us to state and be aware of the group shared values that we hold together. In this church we call out three values in particular that we name as being care values that drive our goals and activities. Those core values are gratitude, service, and belonging. We value gratitude because it keeps our attention focused squarely on being a community of grace. We have the lives we have and we do the things we do because we have been given an immeasurable gift of grace from God. We value service because we desire to be people who embrace tangible expressions of the love and grace we have received from God. As Christ has revealed himself to be a servant among us, so we follow the example of Christ in serving others.

God himself within God’s very being is a community of belonging

We have been created to belong

And then thirdly the core value of belonging. That’s what I want to talk about today. Belonging is a core value which helps define who we are as a group. We believe from scripture that God is a Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God himself within God’s very being is a community of belonging. And in creating humans in his own image, Gad has given to each one of us a place of belonging in relationship with others and with him. We have been created to belong. And somewhere deep inside each one of us craves and desires places in which we know we are accepted and that we belong.

The sacrament of baptism gives us a glimpse into this value of belonging. It is one of the ways in which God says to us, his people, that we belong. Today I want to open that up just a little bit further with words from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah which speaks about the ways in which God declares that we have a place of belonging within the family of God.

Isaiah 43:1–13 (NIV)

Isaiah 43:1–13 NIV

1 But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. 4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. 5 Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. 6 I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth— 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” 8 Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. 9 All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Which of their gods foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.” 10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. 11 I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. 12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God. 13 Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”

This passage from Isaiah is not God’s ego gone wild. No, it is a statement of belonging. It is God’s way of reminding the people through the prophet Isaiah that they have a guaranteed place of belonging with the God who created the universe and all that is in it. This might have felt like tough words to be hearing from God during the time of Isaiah. It is a time when the nation of Israel is falling apart. The Assyrian armies from within the Persian Empire are dominating the entire region surrounding and within Israel at the time. Israel has already seen many of the northern tribes fall into defeat and be carried into captivity and exile. And now news of an even greater Babylonian army from deeper within the Persian Empire is on the move. Look at the way the language of this passage acknowledges all of this and yet keeps a perspective of belonging with God.

feels like Israel belongs to the losing side

The opening verses speak of the trials and struggles of God’s people using poetic words of walking through both fire and water. Verses 5 and 6 acknowledge that many people have already been taken away and are broken and scattered among the surrounding territories of the Persian Empire. For a God who speaks so highly of belonging, it sure doesn’t look like much at the moment. In fact, it appears at the moment of Isaiah’s writing that the LORD was on the losing side. I am not sure that is a side I would want to belong to. At least, this is what the people of Israel must have been thinking. It does not seem like much assurance for their God to come to them and tell them that they have a secured place of belonging when that place of belonging is about to be completely swept away.

God redeems his people based on a covenant love that is unconditional

We need to hold onto that tension for the moment; we’ll get back to it. Let’s turn our attention for a bit to the basis by which people have belonging with God. For all of the ways in which the Old Testament covenant between God and his people appeared to be conditional, these words cut straight to the unconditional nature of God’s covenant love for his people. There is no stipulation placed upon the redemption God brings for his people here. There is no sense from God that this salvation is contingent on anything at all the people can do one way or another. The people are quite simply just the recipients of God’s grace, and it comes sheerly as a choice God makes. Look at the God describes it.

Isaiah 43:1 (NIV)

Isaiah 43:1 NIV

1 But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

Isaiah 43:4 (NIV)

Isaiah 43:4 NIV

4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.

Isaiah 43:12 (NIV)

Isaiah 43:12 NIV

12 I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.

These are not conditional statements by which God is threatening people to obey him or else. God has already decided to love and redeem and save his people regardless of what the people do. Biblical commentator and theologian John Oswalt says it like this:

“The shift in tone in Isaiah 43 is breathtaking. What God will now do is grace. Interestingly, there is nothing the Judeans have to do in advance for this grace to become available to them. They do not have to repent or promise to change their ways. God simply declares that he has ‘redeemed’ them. It is a completed fact. The association with creation in 43:1 is important. It is because God created them that he can redeem them”

It is entirely God’s choice for you to belong as a part of his community

Here is the point. There is nothing you can ever do to make yourself belong to the people of God. It is not up to you at all. God is the one who makes it happen. It is entirely God’s choice for you to belong as a part of his community. There are no try outs. There is no resumé you need to turn in or application you need to fill out. It’s already a done-deal. God has already decided it. The reason we hold a preference in this church towards infant baptism is precisely because of this. It is not our choice to join and belong to the family of God; it is God’s choice include us as belonging to his family. You get the vibe from the tone of God’s words in Isaiah 43 that this is God’s choice alone. And without hesitation God chooses grace, love, forgiveness, redemption, and salvation. God chooses to make a place for his people to belong.

what does belonging to God’s family look like?

Let’s get back to the tension of this passage. If the indisputable action of God cannot be matched or challenged or undone by any forces of this world, then why does it feel like God is losing? If it is true as God declares in this chapter that God alone has dominion, then why does it feel like God’s people are the ones being dominated? I think we need to deal with this tension because it leaves us in a rather confusing place. If God is, in fact, a God who holds dominion as the all-powerful creator of the universe, and if it feels like God’s people are losing and being dominated by others, then is this God being truthful about his claims in this passage? Dos God, in fact, hold the capability to redeem and save his people? Or perhaps equally as disturbing: if there are moments in life which feel more like helpless domination rather than victorious redemption, does that mean I actually am NOT a part of God’s family? Does it mean that I do NOT belong after all? What does belonging to God’s family even look like?

Let’s go back to the chapter one more time. There is an interesting exchange which God works out on behalf of his people in this passage. There is in fact a ransom that is paid for God to redeem his people. Look at the way Isaiah states it.

Isaiah 43:3–4 (NIV)

Isaiah 43:3–4 NIV

3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. 4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.

Egypt, Cush, Seba = dominating world superpowers at the time of Isaiah

What’s going on here? It looks like God is making a deal and working out a bargain. Let’s put this reference into context. The Israelites lived in a region which always seemed to be engaged in a struggle for dominant control. There are always fights with the Philistines and other inhabitants of Mesopotamia. The hand of power and control always seems to be passing around in Israel’s history. Egypt is a territory that had never been conquered or controlled by anyone else. Egypt was considered a world superpower. At the time of Isaiah the Persian Empire was also considered a world superpower. The references to specific territories in this passage like Egypt and Cush and Seba are references to these world superpowers that nobody could stand up to and overthrow. These thrones of total and complete world dominance is what God gives as a ransom in exchange for his people.

God gives these thrones of power in exchange for his people

However, is this a literal exchange of specifically these two empires or is the Bible using figurative language to point us towards a deeper understanding? God is saying to his people that the most powerful and dominant seat of authority and control will be given up in exchange for the redemption of his people. Isaiah is indeed pointing us forward to the New Testament. What higher seat of authority, power, dominion, and control could there be than the throne of God himself? The ransom to be paid for the redemption of God’s people is a price that God himself gives up. It is Jesus who steps in and is given. In the end, God’s dominion does not show up as an empire that crushes the other superpowers of the world. God chooses for the dominion of his empire to look completely different than anything else the world has ever known. The apostle Paul says it like this.

God chooses for the dominion of his empire to look completely different than anything else the world has ever known — Jesus gives up his own throne to redeem his people

Philippians 2:5–8 (NIV)

Philippians 2:5–8 NIV

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

God chooses belonging by the way of sacrificial love

belonging to God does not result in us wielding the power to dominate others or control the world by our own liking

That’s what dominion looks like in God’s empire. It is sacrificial love that is freely offered as a gift of grace. And so, yes, belonging to God doesn’t necessarily feel like the kind of powerful dominion we see elsewhere in this broken and sinful world. Belonging to God does not result in us wielding the power to dominate others or control the world by our own liking. No, belonging to Jesus means that—as the apostle Paul says—we have the same mindset as Christ Jesus; that we pursue the same sacrificial love displayed by Jesus.

in a sinful broken world, belonging to Jesus will always feel like exile

As long as you and I live in a world that is broken by sin, this is always going to feel a little bit like exile. A world that is broken and sinful will always feel a little out-of-place for those who live by the sacrificial love of God’s empire. Yet the words of Isaiah are just as true for us as they were for the Israelites of the Old Testament. God has made you to belong his community. God has redeemed you through the blood of Jesus to belong to his community. And by the Holy Spirit—signified in baptism—God has placed a seal upon you by which you will always belong to his community.

I belong to Jesus by grace through faith