Religion or relationship? Isaiah 64:1-65:7
WBC 4 May 2003 pm. Kate Chapman’s Baptism
Revival
Good to have you here tonight. Good to be here!
- Folks here with all kinds of outlooks, spiritually
o you’re ALL v welcome!
- Those - Seeking. Unsure. Tentative
- those who feel no need to seek… no compulsion
o already decided. Or “Tried and found lacking” or “thought lacking & so not tried”
but are here for Kate.
- Those confused as to what this all means!
- Those who thought (!) all irrelevant
o Until see it in someone’s life!
And many, here- for whom it has all clicked… and they feel like Isaiah, in a passage I’m going to read!
- “oh, Lord. You’ve done so much in my life. It works! …
- … do something MORE” “For THEM”
- rend the heavens, come down! Bring it on. Set the earth alight. Cause the fire to boil. Do it, Lord!
- …. Bring revival and awakening!
Read Is 64: 1-5a
When you’ve been ‘touched by God’ it is so easy… understandable… to feel like that
- have… DO… myself
- you know what others are missing
Oh, it’s a good thing to want… pray
But there’s a problem, here.
- God answers. And it’s not as expected
Background is:
- It’s speaking (prophetically) into a context somewhere about 530 BC. Judah, the S Kingdom of the Jews has been carted off to Babylon (Iraq). Jerusalem has been destroyed. God’s temple burnt, desolate
o They’re either just starting to come back, or still there
Isaiah cries out… along with us… “revive them! Restore their fortunes. Do what you did in days of old! Come do it again”
But God almost replies – I can’t. There’s a problem
Read Is 65:1-5
God says
_ I can’t do it. They won’t let me. You see, the problem is they’re
religious
Religion
These folks (Jews) look keen. They look zealous.
- offering sacrifices (v3)…burning incense on altars… keeping vigils (v4)
They look holy and devout
- in fact they actually SAY they are (v5- describe themselves as ‘sacred’)
So- outwardly, it’s all there.
- They dot every I and cross every t. They keep the letter of the law, it seems. They go to church, if you like. They have their rituals. They say their prayers. They believe in God. They believe in His laws. They believe He saves. They perform their ceremonies.
- but, in fact, they are just closed …. and inside, it’s a sham
Isaiah wants God to revive them, revive the land, nation
- but He says ‘I can’t’. They don’t want it! Outwardly they make out they do, but inwardly they don’t want me
- v2 “all day long I’ve ACTUALLY held out my hands to these people
o (the Jews…. But it could be any race, today)…
but really they say: (v5) : ‘No, keep your distance. Keep way. WE’RE actually too holy for YOU
- “keep away, God! We’re fine as we are. We’ve got the status quo. Got our religion. And we don’t want anything like YOU messing that up”
o actually, the religion they REALLY practice is hocus-pocus mixed with any bit that titillates them
v3 offer sacrifices
• but it’s in gardens (where they’d worship ‘life forces’)
• and it’s on brick altars (God had said ‘no stone of man’ because ‘no brickwork can nail me down, box me in’. ‘I’m the I AM’)
v4 keep vigils- but it’s mixed with contacting the dead (rather than God!)
v4b eat religious, special foods –but it’s the kind God told them not to (for health reasons)
… and yet tell God to keep His distance because they’ve got it all nailed down, sussed out
Maybe they didn’t actually do all these things… probably they did… certainly it’s God’s hyperbole for describing the reality of their hearts:
• they were religious
• inside they were actually unclean and unconcerned
Isaiah speaks for their hearts in 64: 5-7 (read)
Truth is- they were indifferent, thought they’d arrived…
- and all the ‘righteous acts’ they did were like ‘menstrual cloths’ (v6b)
- couldn’t really be bothered… and their hearts were closed to God
“Religion stinks”
What Kate is doing tonight is not out of religion. She doesn’t think she’s got it sussed, or is ‘practically perfect in every way’ (in fact you’ll find she’s not!). In fact she’s not religious at all.
She’s just open. Wanting to learn more. Wanting God to teach her.
- this is
o a SIGN of that… of what’s happened in her life
o a START to walking with Jesus and having Him lead and direct her for the rest of her life. Being a ‘follower’
- it’s not for those who are religious or think they have arrived.
- But rather, those who are OPEN…. to RELATIONSHIP with God through Jesus
Relationship
Isaiah cries out ‘revive these people!’. Come down!
God says ‘I can’t’, unless I force myself on them (won’t do)…
…. “I’m going to the gentiles” (65:1) (to us!)
- I’m going to those who outwardly don’t seem to be seeking me all the time
o In fact, don’t appear religious at all! (no church background!)
ISA 65:1 "I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me;
I was found by those who did not seek me.
To a nation that did not call on my name,
I said, `Here am I, here am I.’
Because God sees their heart and sees that they
- are OPEN
- want the real thing. Want a relationship with God that changes them…
o … or nothing at all!
- Won’t just settle for “religion” (which is the fashionable substitute for real belief… for life changing relationship)
God says of such people “I was found by them”
- in other words- they really WERE seeking. They just didn’t know it!
o God knew it and sought them out…and they found Him
(that’s many of our experiences!)
- It wasn’t until they saw the real McCoy that they recognised it as what they had been hungry and thirsty for for years!
-
Illustr: some of you feel you have rejected Jesus- and RIGHTLY so- because the Jesus/church/God you’ve rejected is not the real one
- he’s a distortion of Him! Not the real thing.
- You haven’t actually rejected God/Jesus at all
o When you see the real thing you’ll want it and accept it!
Because you’re OPEN
You’ll WANT the relationship with GOD that Jesus offers because He IS the way, the truth and the life. The way to the Father
And- don’t worry. Some of the Jews do, too
- 65:8 onwards talks about a REAL ‘righteous’ remnant of Jews who haven’t just got religion… they want the relationship, too
- those who have let God mould them, like clay in the potters hand
o those who have been open, too
You can shout, rant and rave, be as religious as you like
- but in the end God works with those open to Him, teachable and malleable. Who want an intimate relationship with Him (as Jesus gives)
Like those in ISA 64:8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
So- what’s happened with Kate
- this shows her RELATIONSHIP with Jesus. Not shows religion
o she’s decided to follow Him
o Jesus got baptised,….told us to do so as well- as a sign of our belief and obedience to Him
So- we do it.! It’s not magic. It’s about the miracle that he’s found us and saved us!
o In fact- this is identification with Jesus! (death, resurrection to new life)
o Those ‘filthy rags’ we all have… those things we’ve done wrong (mainly towards God by not putting Him #1)…., our religion, even- have been forgiven…. Washed away!!
That’s what the water symbolises
o And out we come- NEW. New person for God. New person for the world to see. New priorities. New openness. New relationship with others.
This stuff works!! ….
…. DON’T SETTLE FOR RELIGION, INSTEAD
* at the end of the service I’ll tell you how you can start journeying with Jesus, too.
