Pr4eaching to the Remandant
Preaching to the Remnant
Text: Isaiah 56:1; 6-8
One of the biggest challenges of being the church today is that we no longer hold the social status we once did. To be honest, I don’t think that is such a bad thing, but at the same time there are many of us who have living memories of the church in its heyday. What’s more, fond memory is always better than living reality, so we do tend to tell the good stories, and downplay the bad. I think it’s human nature…
But at the same time, the type of thinking that “then” is somehow better than “now” can be crippling. Isaiah’s words were delivered to a people who had very much fallen into that kind of a trap… and I can’t help but think that we have a lot more in common
When this congregation was founded in 1957, Canada was in the midst of a population explosion, new communities were springing up, and new churches were appearing along with them. Churches were social community centers, and important places for networking and social interaction… It wasn’t a question of if you belonged to a church, it was simply “which one” no matter how often one attended.
Yet what many didn’t know in 1957 is that some forty years before, cracks were beginning to show in the foundation… cracks that nobody paid attention to.
What people didn’t realize is that over hundreds of years, the western church had become more a rallying point for national and imperial social interests rather than a genuine place to worship God. Sure, God was still present, the cross of Christ was a way to place a divine, and therefore legitimate spin on the policies of government. Most of us on the local level didn’t notice it, because there was still this venire of faith…
But in 1914, the cracks began to appear. The First World War erupted in Europe, and the western church showed how far it had fallen by being enthusiastic recruiters for the war effort. I saw pictures of Ministers of Word and Sacrament on a wagon marching up the streets recruiting young men to go and fight the “godless Huns.” Never mind the fact that Germans and Austrians were also Christians… One revivalist claimed that “Christianity and Patriotism are synonymous.” –in other words, if you question the government’s motives, you question your faith. The church had bought into the ideals of colonialism, imperialism, and suddenly there was this huge moral question about the western church’s support of what appeared to be a meaningless conflict.
It didn’t all come crashing down right away… but the cracks were there. It wouldn’t be until the mid-60’s that the extent of the damage started showing up, and in the decades that followed, the church’s role in society began to crumble rapidly...
Now, it is like we are a church in exile…
It’s one of the reasons why I personally find the witness from Isaiah particularly appropriate for the mood that I often encounter in churches today…
The words of Isaiah 56 are written to a tiny remnant of Israel, who for two full generations, more than 80 years, has been languishing in a life of exile. Israel had been destroyed, most of them had been scattered to the four winds. They had lost everything, including their own freedom… many of them had been brought to in exile near Babylon… by the time of the words we heard this morning, whole generations had been born in this foreign land, and most expected to die there. It was a very pessimistic time… and many did not feel hopeful about the future. Many of them had come to believe that God was either powerless to stop this misfortune, or had abandoned them.
Isaiah’s proclamation of hope was into this dark mood:
Isaiah 56:1; 6-8
The Covenant Extended to All Who Obey
56Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right,for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.
6And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants,all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant— 7these 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. 8Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel,I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.*
Isaiah not only proclaimed that God was in control, and that Jerusalem would be restored, he went much further to say that anyone… not just those of Israel… could receive the promise of God… Potentially even the very people who captured them. This is an incredibly powerful idea. It was radical, and went far beyond what anyone was thinking at the time. Why? Because God wasn’t just some limited local national deity, but the creator of all that is. As the children’s song goes, “he’s got the whole world in his hands.”
But think of the bravery of being able to say that, when everyone else saw doom and gloom… this prophet, living in exile amongst the captives in Babylon, is able to look beyond the walls of their circumstance. While everyone sees storm clouds, the prophet sees the single ray of light peeking out beyond all that thunder, lightning, rain and hail. Given the summer we’ve had, it’s a good metaphor!
For the church, particularly in North America, optimistic words like this remind us that the faithful have been in far worse positions throughout our history. Each time, God’s promise comes to light in a way that was far beyond the imagination of those to whom the promise was originally made saw it.
During the exile, the prophet saw that one day the exile would end, and the faithful who had been scattered to the four winds would once again return to Jerusalem… and not only would they come home to Jerusalem, but they would bring with them the people that they encountered and befriended during the exile. “Anyone who called upon the name of the Lord…” They would be all gathered together… a powerful image of hope in a very dark time.
As we know from history, the exile did end, the people did return to Jerusalem, but they also maintained communities in their new-found homes. Their faith post-exile was very different from what it was before, because they understood God in a profoundly different way. The return from Exile was a brand new exodus, a new opportunity, a new chance… and it would pave the way for the Gospel message in the life and work of Jesus Christ some 500 years later.
So what? Isaiah’s proclamation of hope was to a surviving remnant… that all would be restored… The exile was seen as God’s judgement of Israel… but not one that was permanent. God’s promise is still good… and God’s reach was far beyond what people even imagined. Why? Because the God they worshipped was the creator of the whole world… and not just some limited local deity.
The message is still the same today. As a church in North America, we find ourselves in exile… at least relative to what we remember. We no longer have the cosy relationship we once did with the state… something I think we had come to take for granted. We can’t anymore… but that’s not such a bad thing.
I remember at one General Assembly meeting a number of years ago, that amidst the worry and doom and gloom about the dwindling numbers in the denomination, one person got up and said, “well, there’s still a lot more than twelve of us…” and the mood of whole Assembly changed in an instant. We cannot forget the experience of the faithful in the past, that God is indeed faithful, the future is indeed in God’s hands, and that God calls each and every one of us to be a part of that ongoing eternal promise. It’s a much better alternative than despair, I think.
Amen.
Text: Isaiah 56:1; 6-8
One of the biggest challenges of being the church today is that we no longer hold the social status we once did. To be honest, I don’t think that is such a bad thing, but at the same time there are many of us who have living memories of the church in its heyday. What’s more, fond memory is always better than living reality, so we do tend to tell the good stories, and downplay the bad. I think it’s human nature…
But at the same time, the type of thinking that “then” is somehow better than “now” can be crippling. Isaiah’s words were delivered to a people who had very much fallen into that kind of a trap… and I can’t help but think that we have a lot more in common
When this congregation was founded in 1957, Canada was in the midst of a population explosion, new communities were springing up, and new churches were appearing along with them. Churches were social community centers, and important places for networking and social interaction… It wasn’t a question of if you belonged to a church, it was simply “which one” no matter how often one attended.
Yet what many didn’t know in 1957 is that some forty years before, cracks were beginning to show in the foundation… cracks that nobody paid attention to.
What people didn’t realize is that over hundreds of years, the western church had become more a rallying point for national and imperial social interests rather than a genuine place to worship God. Sure, God was still present, the cross of Christ was a way to place a divine, and therefore legitimate spin on the policies of government. Most of us on the local level didn’t notice it, because there was still this venire of faith…
But in 1914, the cracks began to appear. The First World War erupted in Europe, and the western church showed how far it had fallen by being enthusiastic recruiters for the war effort. I saw pictures of Ministers of Word and Sacrament on a wagon marching up the streets recruiting young men to go and fight the “godless Huns.” Never mind the fact that Germans and Austrians were also Christians… One revivalist claimed that “Christianity and Patriotism are synonymous.” –in other words, if you question the government’s motives, you question your faith. The church had bought into the ideals of colonialism, imperialism, and suddenly there was this huge moral question about the western church’s support of what appeared to be a meaningless conflict.
It didn’t all come crashing down right away… but the cracks were there. It wouldn’t be until the mid-60’s that the extent of the damage started showing up, and in the decades that followed, the church’s role in society began to crumble rapidly...
Now, it is like we are a church in exile…
It’s one of the reasons why I personally find the witness from Isaiah particularly appropriate for the mood that I often encounter in churches today…
The words of Isaiah 56 are written to a tiny remnant of Israel, who for two full generations, more than 80 years, has been languishing in a life of exile. Israel had been destroyed, most of them had been scattered to the four winds. They had lost everything, including their own freedom… many of them had been brought to in exile near Babylon… by the time of the words we heard this morning, whole generations had been born in this foreign land, and most expected to die there. It was a very pessimistic time… and many did not feel hopeful about the future. Many of them had come to believe that God was either powerless to stop this misfortune, or had abandoned them.
Isaiah’s proclamation of hope was into this dark mood:
Isaiah 56:1; 6-8
The Covenant Extended to All Who Obey
56Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right,for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed.
6And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants,all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant— 7these 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. 8Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel,I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.*
Isaiah not only proclaimed that God was in control, and that Jerusalem would be restored, he went much further to say that anyone… not just those of Israel… could receive the promise of God… Potentially even the very people who captured them. This is an incredibly powerful idea. It was radical, and went far beyond what anyone was thinking at the time. Why? Because God wasn’t just some limited local national deity, but the creator of all that is. As the children’s song goes, “he’s got the whole world in his hands.”
But think of the bravery of being able to say that, when everyone else saw doom and gloom… this prophet, living in exile amongst the captives in Babylon, is able to look beyond the walls of their circumstance. While everyone sees storm clouds, the prophet sees the single ray of light peeking out beyond all that thunder, lightning, rain and hail. Given the summer we’ve had, it’s a good metaphor!
For the church, particularly in North America, optimistic words like this remind us that the faithful have been in far worse positions throughout our history. Each time, God’s promise comes to light in a way that was far beyond the imagination of those to whom the promise was originally made saw it.
During the exile, the prophet saw that one day the exile would end, and the faithful who had been scattered to the four winds would once again return to Jerusalem… and not only would they come home to Jerusalem, but they would bring with them the people that they encountered and befriended during the exile. “Anyone who called upon the name of the Lord…” They would be all gathered together… a powerful image of hope in a very dark time.
As we know from history, the exile did end, the people did return to Jerusalem, but they also maintained communities in their new-found homes. Their faith post-exile was very different from what it was before, because they understood God in a profoundly different way. The return from Exile was a brand new exodus, a new opportunity, a new chance… and it would pave the way for the Gospel message in the life and work of Jesus Christ some 500 years later.
So what? Isaiah’s proclamation of hope was to a surviving remnant… that all would be restored… The exile was seen as God’s judgement of Israel… but not one that was permanent. God’s promise is still good… and God’s reach was far beyond what people even imagined. Why? Because the God they worshipped was the creator of the whole world… and not just some limited local deity.
The message is still the same today. As a church in North America, we find ourselves in exile… at least relative to what we remember. We no longer have the cosy relationship we once did with the state… something I think we had come to take for granted. We can’t anymore… but that’s not such a bad thing.
I remember at one General Assembly meeting a number of years ago, that amidst the worry and doom and gloom about the dwindling numbers in the denomination, one person got up and said, “well, there’s still a lot more than twelve of us…” and the mood of whole Assembly changed in an instant. We cannot forget the experience of the faithful in the past, that God is indeed faithful, the future is indeed in God’s hands, and that God calls each and every one of us to be a part of that ongoing eternal promise. It’s a much better alternative than despair, I think.
Amen.
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