Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 (NRSV)
The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, which he saw
concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and
Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you
rulers of Sodom!
Listen
to the teaching of our God,
you
people of Gomorrah!
11 What to me is the multitude of
your sacrifices?
says
the Lord;
I have
had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the
fat of fed beasts;
I do
not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of
lambs, or of goats.
12 When you come to appear before
me,
who
asked this from your hand?
Trample
my courts no more;
13 bringing offerings is futile;
incense
is an abomination to me.
New
moon and sabbath and calling of convocation—
I
cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity.
14 Your new moons and your appointed
festivals
my soul
hates;
they
have become a burden to me,
I am
weary of bearing them.
15 When you stretch out your hands,
I will
hide my eyes from you;
even
though you make many prayers,
I will
not listen;
your
hands are full of blood.
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves
clean;
remove
the evil of your doings
from
before my eyes;
cease
to do evil,
17 learn
to do good;
seek
justice,
rescue
the oppressed,
defend
the orphan,
plead
for the widow.
18 Come now, let us argue it out,
says
the Lord:
though
your sins are like scarlet,
they
shall be like snow;
though
they are red like crimson,
they
shall become like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you
shall eat the good of the land;
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you
shall be devoured by the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Year C
August 7-13
August 7, 2016
Cross~Wind
Introduction
We all know that the first defense
against that summer cold or some other funky disease involves keeping your
hands clean. We have hand sanitizers all around the church and in the church
office. We wash hands before serving communion.
New studies have shown that the
connection between cleanliness and godliness goes much deeper than having
everyone keep their germs to themselves. Dirty hands, in fact, seem to
correlate with a dirty soul.
We have an example of this in
English literature. In the play Macbeth,
Shakespeare offers psychological insights about guilt that remain powerful for
us today. In Act V, Scene 1, Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking and tries to rub her
hands to wash the imaginary bloodstains of her murdered husband from her hands.
She even ponders if her hands will ever be clean.[1]
Researchers Chen-Bo Zhong of the
University of Toronto and Katie Liljenquist of Northwestern University define
it as the “Macbeth Effect.” Guilty consciences, it seems, seek hygienic hands.
Says Zhong, “When people feel morally challenged, they literally feel as if
they are dirty.”
Zhong and Liljenquist conducted
several experiments with college students, separating volunteers into two
groups. In the first group, they asked students to recall times in the past
where they had acted unethically, while they asked the other group separately
to remember incidents where they had done the morally right thing. In one round
of experiments, they asked each group to fill in the blanks to complete words
such as W__ __H and S__ __P. The students who had been contemplating their bad
behavior were more disposed than the others were to spell out WASH and SOAP
rather than WISH and SOUP. The first group of students was also more likely to
pick an antiseptic wipe over a pencil when offered the choice of either as a
gift.
Zhong and Liljenquist realize that
they are not on to something new here. They are just confirming what people
across many cultures have known for centuries. Whether you are in Beijing or
Boston it is common to describe a person who commits a crime as having “dirty
hands.” Cleaning one’s hands is a kind of psychosomatic way of cleansing the
soul — a concept that has its roots in a wide variety of spiritual practices.
“All of the major religions of
the world incorporate physical cleansing at the core of their religious
ceremonies. To approach God, you have to cleanse yourself physically.” (Zhong)
Whether it is a
baptismal font in a medieval cathedral, a mikvah in the ruins of Qumran, or a
place for Muslims to perform ablution before entering a mosque, water has long
been the physical remedy for spiritual dirt.
Application
Interestingly, Zhong and Liljenquist
conducted another experiment to find out how people would react after they received
cleansing. They asked students to sit at a computer and type out a description
of a past moral error. When the students finished, they offered some an
antiseptic wipe under the guise that they had just used a public keyboard.
Every one of the students who received a towelette used it. Another group did
not receive towelettes after reflecting on their past misdeeds. The researchers
then told each student that one of their colleagues was desperately in need of
help in the form of unpaid volunteers for another unrelated research project.
The request was actually part of Zhong and Liljenquist’s study — a test to see
which of the now “cleansed” students would donate their time to someone in
need. The results were fascinating and telling at the same time. Seventy-five
percent of those in the “uncleansed” group immediately offered their help,
while just 41 percent of the “cleansed” group was willing to do so. We might
call this the “Pilate Principle” — the idea that once someone washes his or her
hands of a personal sin and that is where their obligation stops.
Here is what I want to consider.
How do we evaluate our worship?
How does God evaluate our worship?
God may well give us an “F,” but not
for the reasons we might give.
Like a professor evaluating written
prayers, we will evaluate the quality of worship in our way. We evaluate the
quality of the music. Does it represent the best music? Did the soloist or
group perform precisely and perfectly? Did the service contain the style of
music I like? Did the preacher use proper English? All of these areas of evaluation are
important in their own way. We need to offer to God the best we have in us to
give. Yet, Isaiah does not refer to any of that in our text this morning.
What does God require? What does God
expect from us if our prayer and worship is to be right?
Put away the evil of your deeds.
Pursue justice and champion the oppressed, give orphans their rights, plead the
cause of the widow.
The test of worship is ethics.
Bad deeds can silence the most
eloquent of religious words. The test for what we do here Sunday morning is
what we do out there Monday through Saturday.
Chances are, no matter how religious or
irreligious a person's upbringing, most will acknowledge that they have seen
this painting.
William Holman Hunt's "The Light of the World" has
illustrated American evangelicalism since the artist completed it in 1853. This
is the classic picture of a graciously robed Jesus, standing in a garden,
gently reaching out to knock on a closed wooden door. It is getting dark. Jesus
carries a lantern, while stars start to twinkle in a blue-black sky. Notice the
door. Jesus is standing before a door partially covered with tendrils of
creeping ivy. Notice the hinges. The door's iron hardware and nails are
rusty. The person has not opened the
door in some time. Hunt painted doctrines, not pictures. Revelation 3:30
summarizes the doctrine Hunt portrays so successfully, "Listen! I am
standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will
come in to you and eat with you, and you with me." Hunt's portrait met with immediate and
enormous popularity. One author
commented, “What Bach did for Protestant music, that Hunt has done for
Protestant painting."[2]
Keble College in Oxford exhibits this painting today. Some have called it "the single most
important contemporary portrayal of Christ" in the 19th century. Like all
good icons, Hunt's "Light of the World" painting soon found itself
reproduced in stained glass, gilt-framed in small church chapels, pasted inside
prayer cards. This portrayal of Jesus became a part of popular culture,
inspiring hosts of hymns about Jesus "coming into my heart."
Hunt painted that closed door as a symbol of a "closed mind"
that needed to be opened to the redemptive message of Jesus. The message seems
to be clear: Jesus wants to come into our hearts. Nevertheless, I wonder if we
could interpret the painting in a different way for today. Maybe Jesus wants in so that he can bring us
out. Jesus is calling for us to "Come out, come out, wherever we
are."
Conclusion
A new look at Holman Hunt's painting
suggests Jesus knocking on a door -- gently urging those shut up within to open
and let him come inside. However, Jesus is not only knocking on the door to our
hearts. Another text says that Jesus is the door. He is the way out of the closed-up,
interior-focused, self-absorbed lives we lead. We do not invite Jesus into our
hearts simply to have him hang around our lives as a houseguest. As much as I
hope we have that type of familiarity with Jesus, we do not sit comfortably
behind the door for the rest of our lives. He makes it possible for us to walk
outside ourselves, walk outside the protective walls we have built around
ourselves. He invites us to step out
into a world that needs the message of compassion and redemption that Jesus has
given to us. In other words, Jesus comes in to get us out.
"Let me in," Jesus says, knocking on your soul. Then Jesus
says, "I am the Door, the way out from whatever is trapping you inside.
Follow me and come on out." Jesus says to us, as he said to Lazarus long
ago, "Come out."
Come out from the
seclusion of bitterness to risk forgiving those who have hurt you.
Come out from the
seclusion of elitism that pulls away from those who do not agree with you.
Come out from the
seclusion of fear that keeps you from trying anything new.
Come out from the
seclusion of self that keeps you from seeing the needs of others.
"Come out, come
out, wherever you are."
Bring healing,
liberation, and guidance into a world that desperately needs it.
"I am the Door
... an open door, which no one is able to shut."
Going deeper
Isaiah was one of the great prophets of Israel. He preached when the great temple and palace that Solomon built in Jerusalem still shined brilliantly on Mount Zion, the City of David, or Jerusalem. Israel divided between the northern 10 tribes and the southern two tribes, the latter called Judah. Isaiah preached primarily to Judah. The people and kings of Judah would often combine their worship of the Lord with worship of other gods. The kings and priests would often combine doing the sacrifices and rituals well with not treating each other justly and fairly. The ritual and worship in the Temple continued, even while kings and people had broken the covenant with God. Isaiah was one of those troublesome prophets who pointed to such problems. This particular prophecy comes from around 701 BC, the unsuccessful siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib of Assyria, and likely delivered near the Temple. I am sure king and priests thought the Lord ought to protect them from this siege, since they remained faithful to the sacrificial system. Isaiah is not so sure. In fact, the sacrifices are disgusting, in light of how the people are living. A religion of the heart will lead to true worship and faithful living. Yet, as bad of a picture Isaiah paints, this passage ends on a hopeful note. They can repent. The Lord is ready and eager to forgive them.
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 (NRSV)
Verse 1 is a heading for the
book. [The long, complex
scroll of Isaiah begins with the simple introduction. The very fact that this
first verse is exhaustive and conclusive suggests that it is a later redactor's
attempt to encapsulate the scope of Isaiah's prophetic task into one brief statement.]
The vision [refers to prophetic messages of all kinds. One should understand it as a “word of
revelation” [HALOT]. It appears in titles of other prophetic materials. Isaiah
speaks the word of the Lord. If Isaiah 6:1 ff. indicates the initiation of his
prophetic ministry, then it began in 740 B.C. (the year of Uzziah’s death);
Hezekiah ruled from 715 to 686.] of
Isaiah ["Yahweh
saves] son of Amoz, [unknown]
which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham,
Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. [He offers prophecy only during
reigns of Ahaz and Hezekiah. It does not
refer to kings of the Northern kingdom because the verse is post-exilic.]
[Isaiah 1:2-8, 10-26 describes the sins of Israel. The scene of
this pronouncement is obviously cultic. Chapter
1 has its reference point in the ultimately unsuccessful siege of Jerusalem in
701 B.C. by Sennacherib of Assyria. Isaiah directed his prophecy primarily
to the Southern Kingdom of Judah, with a focus on Jerusalem (called Zion in 1:8
and 47 other times in Isaiah). The all-encompassing appeal to the heavens and
the earth in verse 2 suggests that Isaiah chose none other than the temple in
Jerusalem as the site of this diatribe. The destruction described by Isaiah in
verses 7-9 suggests that Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem was already under way
and that much of the southern kingdom had already felt the effects of the
Assyrian invasion.]
[Imagine the shock Isaiah's message
must have elicited from the dignitaries and pious potentates gathered in this
solemn assembly. From the perspective of those devoted to the Temple, the
people of the southern kingdom stand in the temple as a wronged people. According to the letter of the law -- though
certainly not the spirit -- they have been obedient to a fault. Canaanite
syncretism and politically expedient but morally questionable military
alliances had steadily been eroding the divine covenant foundation that
supposedly made Judah different from all her neighbors. Yet the cultic
sacrificial system based in the Jerusalem temple remained in full flower. Thus,
as the rulers and powerful citizens of
Judah stand gathered in the temple, once again offering the required sacrifices
to Yahweh as established long ago, they might have gazed out at the destruction
wrought by Sennacherib and asked, "What have we done wrong?" Isaiah
did not hesitate to tell them.]
[The Lord has grown weary
carrying the burden of enduring their religious sacrifices, observances, and
ceremonies. The depth of the divine distaste is evident by the strength of the
negatives Isaiah voices:
"I have had enough
..." (v.11);
"I do not delight
..." (v.11);
" ... is an abomination to
me ..." (v.13, a word reserved for pagan practices);
"I cannot endure ..."
(v.13);
" ... my soul hates ...
" (v.14);
" ... a burden to me
..." (v.14);
"I am weary of ...
them" (v.14);
"I will hide my eyes
..." (v.15);
"I will not listen
..." (v.15).
Pastors and teachers may be mystified by the LORD’s refusal to pay
attention to the very things that the same LORD had mandated in portions of the
Torah/Pentateuch (Genesis — Deuteronomy) as a way of honoring God or of
receiving forgiveness of sin. Different possibilities exist for resolving this
dilemma. Some would say that there is an historical and/or intra-biblical
conflict between emphases of prophet and priest. Others would say that it was
only during the Exile (after the period of many prophets) that the biblical
materials authorizing/mandating certain religious observances took final shape.
Something else is actually going on — a combination of ironic language and a
corresponding call to return to a form of religious expression that does not
use even proper religious observances as a knowing or ignorant cover-up for
unrighteousness, especially injustice. A
religion of the heart (see Deuteronomy, etc., for the concept of
heart-circumcision) will lead its observers not only to observe ceremonial
practices, but also to live a righteous and just life in society that shows
love for God and neighbor.]
[The language in some of the
passages that says that the LORD never asked that sacrifices be offered is
likely ironic language, used to force the listener to seek the deeper meaning
of sacrifice and other obedience to God. Prophets are calling the people of God to the undergirding
heart-religion/obedience emphasized by Deuteronomy, which leads to living out a
life of justice in society, as called for in other portions of the
Torah/Pentateuch.]
[The Lord says that he reared
children, but they have rebelled. The ox and donkey know their masters, but
Israel does not know its master. They are sinful nation and a people full of
iniquity, doing evil and dealing corruptly. They have forsaken the Lord and despised the Holy One of Israel,
reflecting the holy zeal of the Lord that can turn against the chosen people
when they become apostate.[3]
They are utterly estranged. They seek further beatings. They continue to rebel.
The head is sick and the heart faint. As a body of people, they are full of
bruises, sores, and wounds. The country is desolate.]
[In verses 10-20,
he describes the Way of Deliverance From Sin, or The Way of True Religion. He adopts a priestly style of
speech indicating the way to true obedience and repentance. The passage is
classical prophetic teaching.]
10 Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom!
Listen to the teaching of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
[He
includes part of the accusation that Isaiah makes toward the leaders of Judah.
Far from congratulating this remnant of the country's leadership, Isaiah
equates them with some of the foulest examples of disobedience and
self-destructive self-absorption he can recall from his people's history. The
city leadership Isaiah likens to "rulers of Sodom."]
11 What to me is the multitude of your
sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of
rams
and the fat of fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.
12 When you come to appear before me,
who asked this from your hand?
Trample my courts no more;
13 bringing offerings is futile;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and sabbath and calling of
convocation—
I cannot endure solemn assemblies with
iniquity.
14 Your new moons and your appointed
festivals
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me,
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you stretch out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
[There is little evidence to
suggest that Isaiah's rejection of the sacrifices and cultic observations
itemized in verses 11-15 are a rejection of the temple system in general. The
power of the prophetic voice was that it spoke to a specific people in specific
circumstances. It is the spiritually polluted atmosphere that Yahweh finds so repugnant
in the temple. In spite of all the sacrifices offered, these faithless
followers have failed to understand and live according to the spirit of justice
and compassion that would make them genuine people of the covenant. The Lord
condemns the people of Judah for using religion as a cover for unrighteousness,
specifically injustice. She was full of justice, but now is full of murderers.
Their silver has become dross. Their princes are rebels and companions of
thieves. They like bribes. They do not defend the orphan or widow. The Mighty
One of Israel will pour out wrath on enemies. The Lord will turn against them.
The Lord restore the judges as at the first and counselors as at the beginning.
Then, the Lord will call them the city of righteousness, the faithful city.
Isaiah enumerates the moral bankruptcy that precipitates such a complete
rejection of the sacrifices and prayers brought to Yahweh. By listing what they
should do, the prophet suggests that these are in fact the actions and
attitudes that are missing from this cultic scene.]
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings
from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
17 learn to
do good;
seek justice,
rescue the oppressed,
defend the orphan,
plead for the widow.
18 Come now, let us argue it out,
says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be like snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
[They must change their whole way of
life. They must cleanse themselves not of the sacrificial blood that has been
spilled but of the bloodstains that they have accumulated on their hands and
souls because of their evil behavior. The
faithful city has become a whore. Thus, the presence of this gathered assembly
evokes the prophet's sharp words.]
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be devoured by the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
[Isaiah enumerates
the moral bankruptcy that precipitates such a complete rejection of the
sacrifices and prayers brought to Yahweh. By listing what they should do, the
prophet suggests that these are in fact the actions and attitudes that are
missing from this cultic scene.]
[1] It begins with knowing Lady Macbeth. In the play Macbeth, Lady
Macbeth has conspired with her husband to commit murder. Throughout the play,
Shakespeare offers psychological insights about guilt that remain powerful for
us today. She awakens during the night. In Act V, Scene 1, Lady Macbeth becomes
wracked with guilt from the crimes she and her husband have committed. In a
famous scene, she sleepwalks and tries to wash imaginary bloodstains from her
hands, all the while speaking of the terrible things she knows.
Doctor
What is it she does now? Look, how she rubs her hands.
Gentlewoman
It is an accustomed action with her, to seem thus
washing her hands: I have known her continue in
this a quarter of an hour.
LADY MACBETH
Yet here's a spot.
Doctor
Hark! she speaks: I will set down what comes from
her, to satisfy my remembrance the more strongly.
LADY MACBETH
Out, damned spot! out, I say!--One: two: why,
then, 'tis time to do't.--Hell is murky!--Fie, my
lord, fie! a soldier, and afeard? What need we
fear who knows it, when none can call our power to
account?--Yet who would have thought the old man
to have had so much blood in him.
Doctor
Do you mark that?
LADY MACBETH
The thane of Fife had a wife: where is she now?--
What, will these hands ne'er be clean?--No more o'
that, my lord, no more o' that: you mar all with
this starting.
[2] P. T.
Forsythe, Religion in Recent Art ([London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1905], 154).
[3]
Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume
1, 399
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