Our Only Hope

Intro to theme: Restoration & Renewal

lent 2021 theme

check out the resource page on our website

Core idea of restoration & renewal

the world & the kingdom

the world is fallen, subjected to “principalities and powers” that are at enmity with God, that oppose Him

the Kingdom of God is the “rule and reign” of God, everywhere where created life recognizes their God and lives and worships under His good and ultimate authority. Once all of creation lived within God’s rule and reign but then, through sin, we all fell away.

the world and the kingdom are opposed to each other because the forces behind them are opposed to each other

this requires further study but we will save that for another time.

For now, keep in mind, the world & the kingdom are at odds with each other and the whole history of God’s acts upon the earth are comprised of Him demonstrating His Kingdom and inviting all to abandon loyalty to the world and enter His kingdom.

Allegiance is determined by who you listen to and who you trust

you are a person of faith if you listen to and trust God

So when we talk about “restoration” specifically, we mean by that that we examine our lives, the voices that we’re listening to and the objects of our trust and we actively work together with God by His Spirit to realign our lives with His Kingdom. To quote one of the best bands to ever walk the earth, restoration is when we “get back, get back, get back to where you once belonged”.

Isaiah 30

exposes our misplaced “alliances”, the foolishness of trusting in the dominant things of this world

Judah is in a tight spot

Assyria is a threat and Egypt is the old, dominant power of the region

While God through His word and His prophets counsels them and tells them not to “go down to Egypt” they do so nonetheless because, well, that’s what you do.

so they look to Egypt for protection and salvation from what’s coming

All the talking heads were saying that only Egypt could defeat Assyria

Popular opinion was that the leaders of the country needed to make a decision and act quickly and stop waiting around

On social media people were saying to each other “it’s all going to be alright” “keep your head up” “stay positive”

Meanwhile, God breaks in and warns them about what’s really coming down the path they’ve chosen to walk

you can’t trust Egypt, they are deceitful and dangerous

they make promises they can’t keep

“Roaring while sitting still”

If you do things like the world does things, expect the world’s consequences

But the people didn’t want to listen

Isaiah 30:10–11 NIV

10 They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. 11 Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!”

Their allegiance was to the ways of the world and not to the ways of God’s Kingdom

This is the same temptation we face every day

This world

defines for us what power is, what justice is, what wrong and right is

it makes promises

it counsels us according to its own wisdom

it will even define what it considers to be sins and tell you what you have to do to pay penance for those sins (more on that another time)

and so many around us build there lives on the claims of this world, submitting themselves, as it were, to its rules, regulations and its power, working with such enormous effort to live up to its standards

but what an impossible standard, what a terrible power it is

Isaiah 30:12–14 NIV

12 Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says: “Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit, 13 this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant. 14 It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern.”

everything you’ve put your trust in might feel like a tall strong wall but in reality its bulging, cracking and will crush you underneath its own weight

shattering mercilessly everything beneath it

how insidious that such a thing that would promise hope and strength and security would truly be that which enslaves and destroys

how deceptive that it works its way into our lives slowly, subtly, calling for our attention and our trust and gaining it before we even realize what is happening!

what hope then do we have if all that we have trusted is truly bringing us to ruin?

Our only hope

Isaiah 30:15 NIV

15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.

Repentance is the way out, not pride

Rest is the way through, not effort

Quietness is the way out, not activity

Trust is the way through, not doubt

We have believed lies in our lives, and we have trusted in our own efforts, wisdom, activity and rationale.

In so far as those things were not based upon trusting in the God and listening to Him, we have gotten out of sync with His Kingdom.

But praise be to God that the way out is so simple and so powerful!

Repentance, rest, quietness and trust

Isaiah 30:18–21 NIV

18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! 19 People of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

We should not avoid the godly sorrow that leads us to repentance

this is what Paul wrote in our NT reading this morning

this godly sorrow that leads to repentance leaves “no regret” because it brings us out from that hideous strength of the claims of this world and into the wide open country of God’s grace and forgiveness and abundant life in Jesus Christ

So to sum it up: this world has its ways of pulling at our allegiances and our affections and so we should turn to God and embrace repentance, not in shame, but with joy.