Reading in Isaiah this morning events that occurred over 2,500 years ago. Sitting in my car at the gravel pit getting a perspective on life like no other. It was their story over two millennia ago and it is our story now, God in relationship with his human creation. C’mon. Where else can you experience this “whoosh,” this century-soaked dose of life grounded firmly in reality now and forever?
(Isaiah 56:3-8 ESV) Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely separate me from his people”; and let not the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” (4) For thus says the LORD: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, (5) I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. (6) “And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant– (7) these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” (8) The Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.”
So maybe you are wondering what the heck do we have in common with the foreigner and the eunuch mentioned here. People who took a step or steps toward God but were not in on the ground floor as Jews and who very possibly felt like second-class citizens, on the periphery of Gods plans if included at all.
God knew how they might feel, or what they might be thinking. Just as I might feel at times, or you might feel at times, when we are around all the perfect people who have done everything right, when all the glowing testimonies of life lived right seem so discouraging and make us wonder if we have done anything right.
I remember a pastoral gathering several years ago. I guess we had a sharing time. What I remember is that it seemed every wife spoke of how spiritual and wise her husband was, and so forth and so on. My wife didnt, thankfully.
Let not the foreigner say. . .
Let not the eunuch say. . .
What may seem to be true from our perspective is often very untrue from Gods perspective. From the foreigners perspective he had no lot with God. He wasnt one of the chosen ones. He was a tag-along, an add-on. From a human viewpoint he could reasonably assume that God would leave him out of the picture when he passed out the good stuff.
The foreigner The LORD will surely separate me from his people. Yessirree, just a matter of time before God weeds out the bad apples, not Jewish, you know, if youre not Dutch youre not much.
The eunuch Im just a dry tree. What use would God have for me?
Stop. That is what God is saying here. Dont say what is not true. There are no second-class citizens in the kingdom of God.
Bringing this forward, What would God tell us not to say? What promises of God are we not hearing because we are looking at life from our perspective instead of his?
The foreigners and the eunuchs addressed here had a relationship with God. God would not withhold his goodness from them, just as he will not withhold his goodness from us because we dont seem to be the cream of the crop. Maybe we came to know Christ late in life, maybe we are divorced, maybe our children are not living for God, maybe we are in prison.
Maybe. . .just name your mess, but you will find not one that is not covered through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. If you have joined yourself to God through believing in Jesus Christ dont allow anyone to cause you to read the story of your life differently than God has written it.
