Pastor Craig Schill Lake Cities Community Church Series: Book of Isaiah March 4, 2012 Ouch! That Hurts! Isaiah 1:2 31 When Trevor was 5 he played with a boy who lived a few houses down named Drew. Drew was to say the least out of control. He would yell and scream at his parents. He would, if he didn t get his way, storm out of the house and go who knows where to hide and sulk. I remember once being at his house at a birthday party for him, where he got so angry he left the party and didn t return. And his parents did nothing to address the situation. This was confusing to me until later I was talking to Drew s Dad and learned that they subscribed to a pain free parenting philosophy. He told me Children learn best through positive reinforcement and not through shame or negative punishment. And so these parents rarely said no to their son; they set few rules, enforced even less, and were of course strongly against any type of spanking. Our neighbors were determined not to bring pain into the life of their child when it came to discipline. They were committed to the carrot and eschewed the stick. And this brings up an interesting discussion about the nature and purpose of pain. Is the administration of pain something that should be used or should it be avoided in any context in parenting, in managing employees or in running a church? Does it depend on the motivation of the one administering the pain? How does God feel about the use of pain 1
in teaching us to obey him? Do you feel that pain is part of the fall of man, or did pain exist before Adam and Eve ate the apple? What do you believe about pain? My theory is that in the most general terms we view pain as BAD and being painfree as GOOD. I would like to challenge that view this morning. As we move now into the first chapter of Isaiah we will hear the prophet address the question: What is God s purpose for Pain? Last week I mentioned that Isaiah is a book of conflict. Chapter one introduces that conflict and shows us how and why God is going to increase the pain on His people to achieve a desired effect. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 1. The chapter develops his argument, in three sections, (1) How things Stand, 2 9, (2) What God Wants 10 20, and (3) The Purpose of Pain 21 31. HOW THINGS STAND (2 9) Beginning with the state of affairs in Israel. Verse two: Is. 1:2 Listen, O heavens, and hear, O earth; for the LORD speaks, Sons I have reared and brought up, But they have revolted against Me. The setting for this opening dialogue is a legal proceeding being held in a heavenly courtroom, where the heavens and earth stand as witnesses. God is bringing charges against His people because they have broken their end of the covenant. And the main charge (which we looked at last week) is rebellion revolting against God. And so as a divine prosecutor the LORD continues with a stinging comparison: Is. 1:3 An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master s manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand. Oxes and donkeys were and are not known for their intelligence the phrase, dumb as an ox exists for a reason but God says, at least they are smart enough to know who their masters are and act accordingly. Interesting because 2
of this verse, ancient Christians often put the ox and the donkey at the manager when Jesus was born, because they did, know their master! They receive God s complement. But there is no complement for God s people: Is. 1:4 Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him. Is. 1:5a Where will you be stricken again, as you continue in your rebellion? In these four verses, Isaiah has used four different words for rebellion and they are instructive to us: 1) Verse 2: they have revolted against Me Hebrew Pesha. From the political sphere willful violations of an inferior against a superior open and brazen defiance of God by humans. 2) Verse 4a: They have abandoned the LORD. Hebrew Azah To leave something behind (KB). Used more than 100 times (in the O.T.) to denote the act of breaking the covenant. (NIDOTTE). 3) Verse 4b They have turned away from Him. Hebrew: Nazoru achor which is a word picture of presenting someone your backside: they turned themselves backwards, (Wildberger) or turned their backs on God. (NIV). 4) Verse 5a You continue in your rebellion. Hebrew Sara To turn aside physically from what one is doing has to do with the moral / spiritual direction someone is taking. (NIDOTTE). The people are in open and enthusiastic rebellion, and the consequences are devastating: Verse 5b: The whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint. Is. 1:6 From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it, Only bruises, welts and raw 3
wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil. Isaiah speaks here in metaphorical language to communicate that their sin has left their nation weak and sick. And in their vulnerability the enemies attacked bruising and wounding them. Verse seven: Is. 1:7 Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers. Verse seven is not a metaphor but probably the work of Assyria. They have scored military victories, people have died, villages have been burned and the harvest the food supply in what was devastatingly bad timing, is being consumed. Is. 1:8 The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, Like a watchman s hut in a cucumber field like a besieged city. Instead of being a fortified city Jerusalem is now like a temporary, lean to erected during harvest time by first year cub scouts. Weak and temporary Is. 1:9 Unless the LORD of hosts Had left us a few survivors, We would be like Sodom, We would be like Gomorrah. By God s grace a few survivors are let. Verse nine is a small glimmer of hope. The damage is bad, but it is not complete. The surviving people now have the chance to return to the Lord from their rebellious ways. In November 2010, NPR reporter Dr. Robert Krulwich did a really interesting report on the fact that human beings cannot walk in a straight line. Were you aware of this? Here is a picture of a person asked to walk ½ mile across a field in a heavy fog. All the time they thought they were walking in a straight line. This picture is of a person blindfolded and asked to swim straight across a lake. Summarizing dozens of tests over many years Krulwich concludes: There is apparently a profound inability in humans to stick to a 4
straight line when blindfolded, or when there is no fixed point, no sun, no moon, no mountain top to guide them nobody has figured out why we can t go straight! (NPR, Robert Krulwich: Why Can't We Walk Straight? YouTube.) I don t know about walking physically straight but the reason we can t walk spiritually straight is because when we take our eyes off of the Lord we turn to our own way and we wander into all kinds of trouble. But if we fix our eyes on the Lord we can walk straight in his will. What God Wants (10 2) And that leads us to the second section of our text, verses 10 20 where Isaiah s argument is further developed. Now, given the fact of Israel s rebellion how should they respond? Isaiah here gives two possible ways to respond one bad and the other good. First what God does NOT want: Is. 1:10 Hear the word of the LORD, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the instruction of our God, You people of Gomorrah. Is. 1:11 What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me? Says the LORD. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle; And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs or goats. Is. 1:12 When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? Is. 1:13 Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. The same idea goes on but for the sake of time, let s stop there. God is very clear in what he does not want. He does not want empty religious ritual. Empty religious ritual is an abomination to God. The sacrifices, the prayers and services while you are sinning? Come on! 5
But I find something fascinating! For God s people even though they were living in open rebellion they still came to worship to church on Sunday! They opened their hymnbooks and sang in beautiful harmony. They took communion and put money in the offering. And then they went back to their rebellion. Why would they do this? Two possible reasons I can think of. First is because of habit. For the past 700 years since they left Egypt and received the Law Israel s culture had been marked by feasts, sacrifices and prayers. They had a rich culture of worship that kept chugging along, even though there was no heart left in it. Perhaps you can you think of another nation that has a rich history of religious freedom and worship of God that continues chugging along in spite of continued and ever greater sin? This is something we all need to be careful of worshiping for the sake of worshiping, completely disconnected from belief and lifestyle. Second, I think they may have continued to worship to cover their spiritual behinds. They believed in many gods at this point and wanted to make sure their old god Yahweh was placated. Throw him a few doves and sacrificial lambs. Keep the Levites employed and we should be fine. In our day many people go to church in hopes that when they die, their good deeds will outweigh their bad deeds they are trying to cover their spiritual bets. And regardless of our reason, God s reason for rejecting this response of his rebellion people is stated in verse 13: I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. You can t sin on the one hand and praise on the other. A congressman addressed the House of Representatives saying: "Never before have I heard such ill informed, wimpy, back 6
stabbing drivel as that just uttered by my respected colleague, the distinguished gentleman from Ohio." In God s economy, you can t sing praises on one hand and curse on the other! God does not want empty religious compliance What does God want then? He is very clear: Is. 1:16 Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, Is. 1:17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless, Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow. God wants his people to first repent of their sin and then, second, put their hands to good purposes such as bringing a measure of justice into the world. Care for the widow and orphan, rather than abusing them. Someone in church e mailed me this week a rap they heard back in their College days which helped them remember this admonition maybe you will remember it, too. Take your evil deeds Out of my sight. Stop doing wrong. Learn to do right. Speak justice. Encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fa ther less! And this leads to salvation! Is. 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, Says the LORD, Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool. Is. 1:19 If you consent and obey, You will eat the best of the land; Is. 1:20 But if you refuse and rebel, You will be devoured by the sword. Truly, the mouth of the LORD has spoken. Repent of your sins and return to God and He will forgive your sins and bless you! But if you persist in rebellion more pain will come. 7
21 31 PURPOSE OF PAIN What now do you think will happen? Will they repent and return? Or will they continue on their crooked path turning father away from God. The story is told of a chaotic Sunday School class whose rebellious children overwhelmed the teacher who literally had to leave the room to get the deacon in charge who she hoped they kids would listen to. The stern deacon came into the class and said, Simmer down. Be quiet. What is going on? And one of the children said to him: We re being bad, and we don t know how to stop. Kathleen Norris, Acedia & Me (Riverhead Hardcover, 2008), p. 16; submitted by Lee Eclov, Vernon Hills, Illinois That describes God s people they are being bad, and they don t know how to stop. Well, like the boy they really do know, but they don t want to and so we move to our third and final section of chapter one where God promises more pain on His people. Listen to the beautiful but tragic poetry. Is. 1:21 How the faithful city has become a harlot, She who was full of justice! Righteousness once lodged in her, but now murderers. Is. 1:22 Your silver has become dross, your drink diluted with water. Is. 1:23 Your rulers are rebels And companions of thieves; everyone loves a bribe and chases after rewards. They do not defend the orphan, Nor does the widow s plea come before them. Is. 1:24 Therefore the Lord GOD of hosts, The Mighty One of Israel, declares, Ah, I will be relieved of My adversaries And avenge Myself on My foes. Jump to verse 28. Is. 1:28 But transgressors and sinners will be crushed together, And those who forsake the LORD will come to an end. Is. 1:29 Surely you will be ashamed of the oaks which you have 8
desired, and you will be embarrassed at the gardens which you have chosen. Is. 1:30 For you will be like an oak whose leaf fades away or as a garden that has no water. Is. 1:31 The strong man will become tinder, His work also a spark. Thus they shall both burn together And there will be none to quench them. We don t have time to unpack everything that is going on here. But basically God is going to move the pain meter to high. Have you seen those scales in the doctor s office for children to indicate their pain? God is now adding pain upon pain, through punishment on his children, intentionally. At this point in the story we wince at the sight of the LORD of Hosts the Mighty One of Israel fighting and bringing suffering to his own people. We wish there was another way. Like Drew s father we d rather they respond to the carrot of blessing, but sometime the pain of chastisement is necessary. And now we come back to the question we started with What is God s purpose for pain? Why would a good and loving God bring pain into the lives of his children? The answer is in the verses I skipped look now at verses 25 27: Is. 1:25 I will also turn My hand against you, and will smelt away your dross as with lye and will remove all your alloy. As a result of God s punishment, their impurity and sin will be removed. Is. 1:26 Then I will restore your judges as at the first, and your counselors as at the beginning; after that you will be called the city of righteousness, A faithful city. Is. 1:27 Zion will be redeemed with justice and her repentant ones with righteousness. God s pain is not without purpose. The pain will result in the dross or the sin being removed. The pain will purify the people and then God will restore his people to a place of blessing. John Oswalt in his commentary said: God s final purpose is not destruction. His 9
final purpose is blessing achieved through purification. Yes, he will avenge himself upon his enemies and it is true that those enemies are his own people, but it is all in order that Zion might be redeemed. (Oswalt, 103) And so here we see that God s pain is God s grace. Without God s punishment and increasing pain, there would be no repentance and restoration of relationship. Drew s parents were wrong. Pain free parenting doesn t work. It is because of love that parents discipline their children so that they will be established in wisdom and ultimately in their salvation. Application and Conclusion There are many possible lessons from this chapter but let me focus just on one the one Isaiah ends with that God uses pain to refine us and make us more mature followers of Him. Here is my exhortation to us: Thank God for the pain He uses to remove sin from your life and draw you to Himself. Maybe that is pain you are going through right now will you thank God for it? Maybe it is pain in your past you still are angry about will you consider replacing that anger with thanks, based on your trust in a sovereign God who knows what he is doing. I started with an image of a parent who intentionally kept pain out of his child s life, let me end with a story of a parent who wished for just the opposite. This is a very rare disease called Anhidrosis or CIPA only 35 people in the world have it only 17 in the United States. This a rare genetic disorder that turns off the nerve endings in the body that sense pain. People with this condition have no pain sensation in their body. They feel no physical pain. 10
A little girl named Ashlyn Blocker lives in Patterson Georgia and has the disease. The condition was discovered when she was 8 months old and suffered a serious eye injury that should have been extremely painful, but when she didn t cry and kept playing, her parents knew something was wrong. Ashlyn is a fearless, risk taking girl who loved to run and play at full speed just like other children and this terrifies the parents, because without pain their daughter is continually in danger of hurting herself. Listen to what Tara Blocker, Ashlyns mom said in an article about her daughter s condition: Some people would say that s a good thing. But no, it s not. Pain s there for a reason. It lets your body know something s wrong and it needs to be fixed. I d give anything for her to feel pain. Don t wish for a pain free life but rather thank God for the pain He introduces, out of love, to tell us something is wrong, so we can fix it and be strengthened as a result. Father, Forgive us for our rebellion and in so many ways turning away form you showing you our back. Forgive us when we come to church with religious sin partaking in worship while our hearts are far from you. Thank you for your son Jesus in whom our sin though scarlet are now rendered white as snow. Thank you that He took your wrath upon Himself. Thank you that you still discipline us as a loving parent and you use pain to draw us back to you thank you for the grace of pain will be result in rich in rewards for all eternity. Amen 11