Lamb of God, I come...
Today we are used to reading verses from chapters through the Bible – but up until something like 1000 years ago people were used to reading Bibles without any chapter and verse numbers – it’s interesting that when people came to put the chapters into the Book of the Prophet Isaiah they split it into 66 chapters - the exact number of books there are in the whole Bible – they also split up the two parts of the Book of Isaiah into 39 chapters and 27 chapters – a lot of numbers to take in so far, but you may not be surprised to know that the Old Testament has 39 books and the New Testament 27 books…
And Isaiah in the first 39 chapters summarizes the message of the Old Testament and in the next 27 chapters he summarizes exactly the message of the New Testament… The second part of Isaiah (chapter 40) begins with the words later used by John the Baptist, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’… It moves on to a servant anointed by the Holy Spirit, dying for the sins of his people, and being raised and exalted… It then moves on to the declaration, ‘you shall be my witnesses to the ends of the earth’ and it finishes with God saying, ‘I am making all things new. I create a new heaven and a new earth.’
Isaiah is a book of all kinds of things – it is a book to send fear into the hearts of those that are ignoring the call of God, a book to challenge those who are listening, a book to inspire and a book to encourage….
In the reading we heard this morning (51:1-6) the children of God are called to look backwards to their ancestors Abraham and Sarah… they are to remember the rich history and tradition they have as part of the family of God…
And for us too, looking back can sometimes be a good thing – we can look back at the blessings of the past, we can learn from mistakes of the past, or be inspired and encouraged by some task completed or challenge overcome…
It is in the same reading from Isaiah however, that the people were then called to look forward also. They are told to look upwards at the heavens, to wait for the time when God will bring his deliverance. And it is that positive sort of thinking that we are encouraged to follow – this reading comes from the second part of the Book of Isaiah, the part that summarizes the New Testament – that a Saviour has come offering freedom, redemption and hope…
Looking at the past is important. It is, after all, the past that has brought us to where we are today – however we also need to look forward, to continue to hope for glorious things, and to think of the promise that Jesus brings to be with us always.
In our day to day lives we are called to look forward to hope for better things to come, to pray for the glory of God to be evident in our lives and in the World around us. We are called to play our part in bringing the hope of the future, by helping to reveal the love and the light of Christ in the World by the way that we behave in our own lives...
And this is the plea that is being offered by Paul in his letter to the Romans – in the section we heard (12:1-8) he is literally appealing for people to accept the transformation of Christ in their lives – ‘present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God’ – and we can do that because as Paul tells us, Gods mercies extend far beyond anything we can expect or even hope for…
Just as Paul is appealing to his listeners to accept that spiritual transformation though, he is also telling them that each of them have gifts to offer – we are many members of the same body, the same family, everyone of us is important, everyone of us has a part to play as members of that family…
And perhaps today we are often a little too polite about encouraging people to follow Christ – Isaiah knew no such reluctance, neither did Paul, and neither did so many other faithful and committed advocates of the gospel message through the centuries…
Isaiah is painting a picture of a God who created the world, a God who suffered the rejection of his people, but a God who still cared enough about them to offer chance after chance… and Paul is reminding people that commitment was a necessity, but also that each person had gifts to bring to the family…
Today these two readings speak to us in language that is very clear – firstly, the lessons of the past are valuable lessons – good or bad… the past, as I said earlier, has brought us to where we are today. Our visions, our hopes and dreams, our worries and concerns are clouded by memories of the past…
For example, the fact that most of us have grown up in this country, a country which remains one of the richest in the world, and a country where even the poorest rank amongst the rich list in the world today overall, gives us so many expectations and hopes…
Those hopes and expectations are a product, though we so often forget it, of God’s blessings – we have been richly blessed by God in our lives in so many different ways, and as a response we are called not to be perfect, but to trust in Christ as our way forward for the future…
And we are to evaluate our hopes and our thoughts and our gifts as we try to see how best we can serve God in our lives… To coin a phrase often used today, we are to be part of a ‘Big Society’ turning our gifts into hopes and maybe opportunities for other people as well…
We are to recognise that as part of a worldwide family of God, our duties are not just to ourselves and our families, or even to our friends as well – our duties are to every person created in the image of God… every person….
A favourite phrase from the Book of Isaiah is again taken from the second part of the book (40:31) – it says, ‘Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.’
It is a reminder that just as our hope is found in God, so is our strength – weary we may be at times, but God is there to support us and sustain us; just as he is when we or a neighbour, whoever that neighbour may be, is hurting, is mourning, is sick or is broken by the strains of life… Just as he is for those living in the midst of conflict or poverty, or those suffering because of injustice…
In our readings this morning, Isaiah is offering us hope- he is telling us of the wonderful salvation that God has prepared for us – and Paul is asking us to respond to that salvation by offering our lives to God to be used by him, not as a slave but as a member of his family…
There is a wonderful hymn written back in 1835, ‘Just as I am, without one plea…’ Charlotte Elliot wrote this song about how to find salvation through Christ. It has been used by many as the call to the altar at the close of services, as it brings a quiet simple message of sin, forgiveness, and salvation to all that turn from sin and trust in Jesus.
Isaiah tells us the spiritual story of the world in just one book – and as he outlines the story of creation, rebellion and rejection, and ultimately resurrection, he is surely pleading to all of us to say the last words of each verse of that hymn, ‘O Lamb of God, I come…’
May we all, recognising the blessings of the past, respond by living our lives transformed by the mercy and salvation of the God who created us and who loves us with a love that knows no limits…. AMEN
And Isaiah in the first 39 chapters summarizes the message of the Old Testament and in the next 27 chapters he summarizes exactly the message of the New Testament… The second part of Isaiah (chapter 40) begins with the words later used by John the Baptist, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’… It moves on to a servant anointed by the Holy Spirit, dying for the sins of his people, and being raised and exalted… It then moves on to the declaration, ‘you shall be my witnesses to the ends of the earth’ and it finishes with God saying, ‘I am making all things new. I create a new heaven and a new earth.’
Isaiah is a book of all kinds of things – it is a book to send fear into the hearts of those that are ignoring the call of God, a book to challenge those who are listening, a book to inspire and a book to encourage….
In the reading we heard this morning (51:1-6) the children of God are called to look backwards to their ancestors Abraham and Sarah… they are to remember the rich history and tradition they have as part of the family of God…
And for us too, looking back can sometimes be a good thing – we can look back at the blessings of the past, we can learn from mistakes of the past, or be inspired and encouraged by some task completed or challenge overcome…
It is in the same reading from Isaiah however, that the people were then called to look forward also. They are told to look upwards at the heavens, to wait for the time when God will bring his deliverance. And it is that positive sort of thinking that we are encouraged to follow – this reading comes from the second part of the Book of Isaiah, the part that summarizes the New Testament – that a Saviour has come offering freedom, redemption and hope…
Looking at the past is important. It is, after all, the past that has brought us to where we are today – however we also need to look forward, to continue to hope for glorious things, and to think of the promise that Jesus brings to be with us always.
In our day to day lives we are called to look forward to hope for better things to come, to pray for the glory of God to be evident in our lives and in the World around us. We are called to play our part in bringing the hope of the future, by helping to reveal the love and the light of Christ in the World by the way that we behave in our own lives...
And this is the plea that is being offered by Paul in his letter to the Romans – in the section we heard (12:1-8) he is literally appealing for people to accept the transformation of Christ in their lives – ‘present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God’ – and we can do that because as Paul tells us, Gods mercies extend far beyond anything we can expect or even hope for…
Just as Paul is appealing to his listeners to accept that spiritual transformation though, he is also telling them that each of them have gifts to offer – we are many members of the same body, the same family, everyone of us is important, everyone of us has a part to play as members of that family…
And perhaps today we are often a little too polite about encouraging people to follow Christ – Isaiah knew no such reluctance, neither did Paul, and neither did so many other faithful and committed advocates of the gospel message through the centuries…
Isaiah is painting a picture of a God who created the world, a God who suffered the rejection of his people, but a God who still cared enough about them to offer chance after chance… and Paul is reminding people that commitment was a necessity, but also that each person had gifts to bring to the family…
Today these two readings speak to us in language that is very clear – firstly, the lessons of the past are valuable lessons – good or bad… the past, as I said earlier, has brought us to where we are today. Our visions, our hopes and dreams, our worries and concerns are clouded by memories of the past…
For example, the fact that most of us have grown up in this country, a country which remains one of the richest in the world, and a country where even the poorest rank amongst the rich list in the world today overall, gives us so many expectations and hopes…
Those hopes and expectations are a product, though we so often forget it, of God’s blessings – we have been richly blessed by God in our lives in so many different ways, and as a response we are called not to be perfect, but to trust in Christ as our way forward for the future…
And we are to evaluate our hopes and our thoughts and our gifts as we try to see how best we can serve God in our lives… To coin a phrase often used today, we are to be part of a ‘Big Society’ turning our gifts into hopes and maybe opportunities for other people as well…
We are to recognise that as part of a worldwide family of God, our duties are not just to ourselves and our families, or even to our friends as well – our duties are to every person created in the image of God… every person….
A favourite phrase from the Book of Isaiah is again taken from the second part of the book (40:31) – it says, ‘Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint.’
It is a reminder that just as our hope is found in God, so is our strength – weary we may be at times, but God is there to support us and sustain us; just as he is when we or a neighbour, whoever that neighbour may be, is hurting, is mourning, is sick or is broken by the strains of life… Just as he is for those living in the midst of conflict or poverty, or those suffering because of injustice…
In our readings this morning, Isaiah is offering us hope- he is telling us of the wonderful salvation that God has prepared for us – and Paul is asking us to respond to that salvation by offering our lives to God to be used by him, not as a slave but as a member of his family…
There is a wonderful hymn written back in 1835, ‘Just as I am, without one plea…’ Charlotte Elliot wrote this song about how to find salvation through Christ. It has been used by many as the call to the altar at the close of services, as it brings a quiet simple message of sin, forgiveness, and salvation to all that turn from sin and trust in Jesus.
Isaiah tells us the spiritual story of the world in just one book – and as he outlines the story of creation, rebellion and rejection, and ultimately resurrection, he is surely pleading to all of us to say the last words of each verse of that hymn, ‘O Lamb of God, I come…’
May we all, recognising the blessings of the past, respond by living our lives transformed by the mercy and salvation of the God who created us and who loves us with a love that knows no limits…. AMEN
Comments