ISAIAH 56:1-8

BACKGROUND

The Israelites have returned from Babylonian captivity.  They are rebuilding the temple, their homes, and their lives. They have learned their lesson well, that they were disobedient to God, and were sent into captivity.  Now, many want to focus on being really, really good, so that doesn’t happen again.  They were intent on keeping all the laws of Moses.  This eventually led to them isolating themselves from the rest of the world.  God sends Isaiah this message, to remind them that he has bigger plans for them.

DETAILS

Note: The text assigned for Sunday omits verses 2-5.  I’ve included these for our study, because they support the overall lesson.

• It starts out easy enough.  “Be good, maintain justice, keep the Sabbath.” They already knew this stuff.  But he’s just getting started.  (vv. 1-2)
• Through Isaiah, God tells his people that if foreigners have decided to follow Him, they are welcome to worship in the temple. The Jews just wanted to focus on themselves and their own behavior.  God is forcing them to think beyond themselves, and think about others-- let other people in!  (v. 3)
• Then, God says that even eunuchs who love the Lord are welcome.  Deuteronomy 23:1-8 make it crystal clear that eunuchs could not even enter the temple, let alone worship.  So, this message through Isaiah is something new; a change in policy.  How do you think the conservative Israelites might have felt about letting the eunuchs into the temple?  (vv. 4-5)
• The last part of this passage is key—God wants his house to be a house of prayer for “all peoples”.  Everybody is welcome.  The promise is that anyone who loves the Lord is accepted by God.  (vv. 6-7)
• And just in case they didn’t get the point, He says “remember that you were outcasts, and I gathered you in.  Now, I’m going to gather others!” (v. 8)

TAKEAWAY

Foreigners (non-Jews) are allowed to have a relationship with God. This is good news for me, since I am not Jewish.  I can take comfort in knowing that if I have “joined myself to the Lord”, then I am also welcomed.  My gifts and sacrifices are lovingly accepted by my Lord.

It is easy for us to simply “keep our own backyard clean”, and not get involved with other people’s troubles.  God tells us that we need to get involved.  We need to do more than “be good”.  We need to help the people who live on the margins of society, even if they aren’t exactly like us.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

In our churches, all too often people are shunned, if they aren’t exactly like us.  Maybe they’re having marital problems, mental problems, or they speak, act, or dress differently than us.  What sort of message would Isaiah have for us, if he were around today? 

ROMANS 11:1-2a, 29-32

BACKGROUND

Paul has been struggling with the Jews’ rejection of Jesus as their Messiah.  He has been agonizing over this since chapter 9:1. This will be the final installment on that subject. 

DETAILS

• For starters, he hits the nail on the head. Has God rejected the Jews?  Heck no! (v. 1)
• Paul states that God has not rejected His people (even though they rejected Jesus).  (v. 2a)
• God’s promises are forever.  They can’t be taken away, if His people misbehave. (This is good news for me, when I misbehave!  (v. 29)
• The next verses are a little confusing, so let me try to explain.  He uses the word “disobedient” to describe their rejection of Jesus.  In effect, Paul is saying that because the Jews rejected Jesus, it sort of opens the door for us Gentiles.  Now that we Gentiles have received mercy, it is the Jews’ turn to receive God’s mercy.  Once, we were on the outside looking in, but now the roles are reversed.  (vv. 30-31)
• The picture of God imprisoning us all is not a very attractive one to me.  If I may, I’d like to rephrase it like this: “Since he has given us a free will, and we know we’re going to stumble, he is waiting patiently to be merciful to all of us.” (v. 32)

TAKEAWAY

Over the centuries and even today, there are many Christians who hate the Jews for rejecting Christ.  We fail to remember these chapters from Romans, and all the irrevocable promises that God has made to them.  God still loves the Jews.  How can we not do the same?

MATTHEW 15:10-28

BACKGROUND

This passage is actually two separate stories.  The first is a lesson—Jesus is teaching the crowd.  The second takes place in a different location, and has a different lesson. Some churches will omit the first story, but we’ll look at both.

DETAILS

In the first story, the teaching, he says something very radical and controversial.  Jesus states that it doesn’t matter what you eat or drink. In effect, he has just nullified centuries of eating Kosher.  The disciples point this out to Jesus in verse 12, saying that “the Pharisees didn’t like it when you said…”  Jesus doesn’t care, of course.  Jesus’ point is clear—it is what we say or do that defiles us, or makes us unclean.  God doesn’t care what you eat or drink, as long as you behave in a loving and godly manner.  The Pharisees didn’t like this, because they were trying very, very hard to be good.  In the process, however, they weren’t acting in a loving way to their neighbor.

The second story is complicated.  A pastor friend of mine has a hard time with Jesus’ words, and so do I.  I will try to explain them as best I can.  A Canaanite woman (NOT a Jew) approaches Jesus, and asks for him, SHOUTS for him to cast out a demon from her daughter.  The disciples want to get rid of her because she was shouting.  Jesus’ answer is astonishing and troubling—basically, He says he only came for Jews, and not Gentiles!  Then, he insults her by calling her a dog.  NOTE: In Jesus’ day, dogs were not highly regarded.  Calling someone a dog would be a serious insult.  So this is a racial slur.  This is not my Jesus!  Why would he say this?  My belief is that Jesus was “messing with” the disciples, saying something about her that they might say or be thinking.  I believe that he was leading them along, before he shows them that true faith knows no boundaries.  The woman has unswerving faith in Jesus, he recognizes this faith, and Jesus heals her daughter.

TAKEAWAY

Rules are a good thing. They provide structure for our lives, and give us simple guidelines for daily living.  But sometimes, rules need to come second to human compassion. Jesus teaches us that the #1 rule is to love God and our neighbor.  Everything else hangs on this one rule. 

According the passage from Romans, and according to Jesus’ reaction to the loud woman, faith breaks down all barriers.  Rules are secondary.  Faith is number one.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I don’t know about you, but Jesus’ words about “what comes out of a person” ring true for me. I do the most harm with my words. Sometimes I say things I shouldn’t, and those words can’t be taken back.  Sometimes, being a follower of Jesus requires showing kindness when we really want to do something else.  That’s what Jesus did in this story.