PROCLAIM GOD’S GLORY AMONG THE NATIONS
September 10, 2006 - PENTECOST 14 - Isaiah 66:18-24
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Dear Friends in Christ:
The text for our meditation this morning contains the final words of the prophet Isaiah. Verse 24 sounds pretty harsh, doesn’t it? "They will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind." Because it ends that way, tradition has it that the Israelites liked to go back to verse 23 and read that again as the ending for Isaiah: "They will all come and bow down and worship before me." Yet, it is fitting that Isaiah ends with a word of God’s judgment. God’s judgment also reveals God’s glory. God’s glory is something that is seen in all the acts that he does, even in his judgment. Today, we are going to look at the glory of God, even in his judgment.
In the middle of our verses this morning it says, "Proclaim my glory among the nations." Isaiah writes that to these people of Israel, because before this he already had told them that they were going to be a light to the Gentiles. They considered the Gentiles as untouchable and the nations as unclean and outside of God’s kingdom of grace. Yet, God told them they were going to be a light to the Gentiles. God had chosen them to proclaim his glory to the nations.
In the liturgy on page 15, we sing the words of Simeon the prophet. Simeon stayed in the temple of the Lord in the New Testament times waiting for the salvation of Israel to be revealed. When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus there, we have Simeon’s response in the Gospel of Luke: "For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for the glory to your people Israel" (Luke 2:30-32). Christ the Savior is a light for us and for the glory of the nation of Israel. This is the glory of God that Isaiah is referring to, the glory that he says we are to proclaim among the nations. Thus our theme:
PROCLAIM GOD’S GLORY AMONG THE NATIONS. We will examine God’s glory to proclaim.
I. The glory of judgment,
II. The glory of God’s grace,
III. The glory of God’s heaven
I. THE GLORY OF GOD’S JUDGMENT
We know that as Isaiah had foretold the judgment upon the children of Israel, it came to pass. As Israel rebelled against God and as they rejected God, they had to face that judgment. Verse 18 begins with ominous words: "And I, because of their actions and their imaginations, am about to come…." Reading the verses before these words, we realize the actions of the children of Israel were actions of rebellion. The imaginations were the imaginations of the sinfulness and the wickedness of their hearts. The Lord says, "I am about to come. Judgment is about to come." Then he describes for them that judgment that they are going to be rejected. He says, "And I, because of their actions and their imaginations, am about to come and gather all nations and tongues, and they will come and see my glory." The Lord is saying to them, "Since you are so wicked and evil, I am going to leave you behind; and I am going to gather all the other nations and peoples of the world to come and see my glory.
This judgment is bad news for Israel that they would finally be rejected. But this judgment is good news for the nations of Gentiles that they would be brought into God’s kingdom. Then he describes the judgment. This is judgment in verse 18 against Israel for not repenting and falling away from God. Isaiah also goes to the end of time and describes the judgment for all the wicked, whether Gentile, whether Israel, whoever. He says: "They will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind." Not a pleasant sight. Isaiah uses very, very descriptive language. Isaiah writes, "Their worm (or soul) will not die", but lives on in eternity. "The fire will not be quenched", the eternal fires of hell will be burning torment but never consuming nor destroying. Those rejected will be loathsome, despised, and unpleasant to mankind. God’s judgment reveals God’s glory.
In this world and in this lifetime it seems as if God’s judgment isn’t around much. The evil prosper, wickedness goes on, and the inhumanity of mankind continues endlessly. The world grows evil and wicked more and more with each passing day, year and generation. Sometimes the believer thinks: "Where is God’s judgment? When will he return? When will he come back?" God’s judgment is always around the corner. God’s judgment came upon Israel time after time as they forsook God. God’s judgment will come at the end of time with no one escaping it. In Ecclesiastes: "I thought in my heart, ’God will bring to judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time for every deed’" (Ecclesiastes 3:17).
God is just and fair. People like say God is a loving God. He is a loving God for all his creation. His judgment also reveals his glory. For just as God has spoken and as he has promised, so will it be fulfilled. Make no mistake, even though there are misguided people who think there isn’t a place like hell because God is so loving, there is. Isaiah describes it. Scripture describes it. It is a real place where the wicked will spend eternity. It is the place for those who forsake God and his word will spend the rest of eternal death. There is a time of judgment, and that time of judgment will come -- all to God’s glory. Matthew 13: "The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Matthew 13:41,42). Not a pleasant place! The judgment of God does not and cannot scare anyone into heaven.
The judgment of God displays the glory of the Lord in his Law that reminds us about our own failures and shortcomings, which reminds us about rejecting God. But we also proclaim God’s glory, not just the law of his judgment, but the glory of God’s grace, his gospel. Isaiah finishes up this book of prophecy and judgment with the words of promise and hope for God’s people. For even in his judgment we see God’s grace.
II. THE GLORY OF GOD’S GRACE
God is going to judge Israel. He says: "I am going to bring all nations and they will come and see my glory." Verse 19: "I will set a sign among them, and I will send some of those who survive to the nations." Not all of Israel was going to be destroyed. Some would survive, and they would have a specific purpose to proclaim God’s glory. Even in the face of judgment they would proclaim God’s glory. He lists these towns and regions: "To Tarshish, to the Libyans, and Lydians, to Tubal and Greece." Picture for yourself Egypt and he goes west and makes a circle to come back to the Promised Land. "To the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory." Their enemies will take the children of Israel captive. These enemies did not acknowledge God. They did not know God’s fame or glory. Yet, what would happen? "They will proclaim my glory among the nations." The one who survives God’s judgment, the remnant, the small part of the children of Israel, will go to foreign nations as captives and slaves; where they would still be able to proclaim God’s glory.
Turn to Daniel and Ezekiel and see the prophets there who live in captivity. Yet, by the display of their faith kings come to acknowledge that the Lord God of Israel is the true God and the Lord God Almighty. These captive prophets and people would proclaim God’s grace. Isaiah describes the result: "’And they will bring all your brothers from all nation to my holy mountain in Jerusalem as an offering to the LORD--on horses, in chariots and wagons, and on mules and camels,’ says the LORD." They would come as offerings. "They will bring them, as Israelites bring their grain offerings, to the temple of the LORD in ceremonially clean vessels." Those who had been unclean are now clean by the blood of Christ, Jews and Gentiles alike in great numbers. He says: "’I will select some of them also to be priests and Levites,’ says the LORD." The Gentiles would have full rights and standing before God as his children, his elect, his chosen. Before this God’s choice had been reserved just for Israel. God’s gospel of grace, a message of salvation comes now and is received by all who believe.
You and I have heard about God’s grace from very early on. Because we hear it and know it and believe it in our hearts, it almost becomes second nature to us. This faith-knowledge of grace is a good thing. We understand God’s grace, his forgiveness. But for the people around us it is hard for them to grasp the divine things of God. Their minds are set on earthly things of man. God’s grace then needs to be proclaimed boldly and loudly, not only with our words but also, especially with our actions. In order to proclaim God’s grace we need to understand God’s grace as described for us in different parts of Scripture. In Ephesians (2:8): "We are saved by grace through faith, not by works." Psalm 103 puts it in another way: "The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities" (Psalm 103:8-10). This is grace. God forgives. He doesn’t keep track of our sins or pay us back as we deserve. He doesn’t send us to eternal destruction of hell, but he takes us by his grace, his love into the gates and majesty of heaven forever.
This is God’s grace. Each day as we consider God’s grace we can be like the prophets of God. As people of God we wonder in amazement why God has chosen us to see his grace. Why has he chosen us to see into the home of heaven he has prepared for each of us? We could be like the rest of the world running around, frightened, worried, and troubled by what might happen or what might not happen. Instead God gives us comfort and encouragement with his grace. The prophet Micah describes our awe and wonder at God’s grace. "Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy" (Micah 7:18). This is God’s grace, our God. God is almost the opposite of us, isn’t he? He doesn’t stay angry forever. He forgives and forgets in the same instant. God delights to show mercy. By our sinful nature we only delight to get even and show revenge and hold a grudge. That is not grace. God’s grace is just the opposite. So we wonder, "Who is a God like that would love us who are so unlovable? What kind of God would show us mercy when we are so unmerciful?" That is truly glory of our God’s grace.
We are privileged and blessed to proclaim God’s glory among the nations, his judgment: yes, the law; his grace, his gospel. Then as an added bonus, we are to proclaim the glory of God’s heaven.
III. THE GLORY OF GOD’S HEAVEN
Isaiah makes mention that he talks about eternal things. He needed to because Israel would face difficult and trying times. They would rebel against God and finally even reject God. Then God would reject them. The kings of foreign nations would come and take them as prisoners. They would have miserable lives, and there would be very few people left, even in Jerusalem, the Promised Land. The temple would be torn down. Jerusalem would be destroyed. It seemed there was nothing for them to look forward to. We might call this the original terrorism the Israelites had to face. But what is the promise? They would not be extinguished. They would not be forgotten or eternally forsaken.
Verse 22: "’As the new heavens and the new earth that I make will endure before me,’ declares the LORD, ’so will your name and descendants endure.’" Hopefully, we hear once again those words re-echoing "declares the Lord." These are not just the thoughts or opinions or hopes of Isaiah. These are the very words of God. God says their name would endure. Their descendants would endure just as the heavens and the earth would endure because of God’s care and concern. The nation of Israel would get smaller and some of the tribes would even disappear. God’s faithful promises would endure. In verse 23: "’From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me’ says the LORD.’" The Lord has abolished just one day for worship. The Lord has abolished just one festival for worship. He says, "From one Sabbath to another people will worship. From one New Moon to another (or one month to another) they would worship everyday. All nations will come and bow down." Eternal worship that the Lord describes here is in heaven. That is the point of Isaiah. Yes, the earthly life of these Israelites would be challenging; but they had heaven to look forward to.
Our earthy life is also challenging, but we have heaven to look forward to. Our earthly life is challenging because of the challenges that the Lord places before us. It is challenging because of all the bad news that is always emphasized rather than the good news. This present despair and troubles is an opportunity for us to proclaim God’s glory with God’s heaven. There are many in this world that live frightened lives. Many people live behind closed, locked doors; because the world has painted such a dismal picture. There are all kinds of scares: terrorism, biological warfare, and bird flu. People without the knowledge of God are fearful. They have no place to turn. The have a feeling that there is no future for them. Maybe sometimes we have felt afraid. We will hear about the 5th anniversary of an event that changed the history of the world and the history of the nation. September 11th has changed everyone’s lives. How do we overcome all the fear, the despair, and the terror? We are told in Hebrews: "Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess" (Hebrews 3:1). It can be very easy for us to focus our attention on just one thing. We can become so involved in that one thing that we get upset and distressed, troubled and worried. We fail to look at the whole picture. We can even become fearful of what might happen next. The Lord reminds us to fix our thoughts on Jesus who has called us to share in the heavenly calling. God has called us to look beyond things of this life into eternity itself. That is proclaiming God’s glory of heaven.
We can live in this world looking forward to the next with joyful and hopeful anticipation. We live a joyful and hopeful life that others in this world may see that, too. The Apostle Paul, coming to the end of his life in prison was not overly concerned about being in prison or that his life might end. Paul writes these words of encouragement for us: "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). This is God’s advice for us. God has called us heavenward; and by his grace day after day we come to see that, to know that, and believe that evermore firmly in our hearts and lives.
It is the glory of God that is alive in us: the glory of the Lord that he does not keep for himself, but shares with us to show to others in this world. We live in a world that likes to display the glory of mankind, the glory of their own accomplishments. We have the opportunity to show the glory of the Lord, to proclaim his glory. Yes, even the glory of God’s judgment, which says, "All men will face the Lord." They will be judged and that is God’s glory also. The glory of God’s judgment is seen in the glory of God’s grace. We deserve to be judged; but instead, even as undeserving sinners, his grace has saved us. We are saved from that judgment. As we walk day by day in this life realizing we are saved, we are saved for eternity. Heaven is always a better place to look forward to, a greater future for every believer. The Lord has called us among all nations to share in his holy word, and to share his holy word.
In Revelation 5 John writes about the multitudes upon multitudes, thousands upon thousands, (more than 144,00,) actually countless numbers from every tribe and language and nation and tongue. Hear what these multitudes sing: "In a loud voice they sang: ’Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise! ’" (Revelation 5:12). May our lives always show the same glory in this world that "worthy is the Lamb worthy to receive our honor and praise and glory." Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
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Pentecost 14 readings: JOSHUA 24:1-2a, 14-18; EPHESIANS 5:21-31; JOHN 6:60-69
