“The Good News is: God is Merciful”
Isaiah 57: 14-21

Today’s Scripture is a direct contrast to the first part of this chapter. The beginning focused on how humans fail in their attempt to live a righteous life. Today’s Scripture focuses on God and His willingness to “revive,” verse 15 and “heal,” verse 18-19, when we do. As Isaiah continues in chapter 57, he reminds us that God chooses to do for His people, what we cannot do for ourselves. 

Last week we ended with verse 13 of chapter 57 where the prophet wrote, But whoever takes refuge in me (instead of idols) will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.” Isaiah reminds the Israelites the righteousness that is expected, comes from taking refuge in God, not from within. 
 

We learn how to live righteously when 
we take refuge in God, and not in the world,
when we choose God, over worldly treasures. 
When we turn to God, He will deliver us from our sins, just as He delivered the Israelites from the consequences of their sins, when He brought them out of captivity.

Today’s Scripture takes us back to the idea of the highway. Isaiah talked about this back in chapter 35, 
verse 8, 

And a highway will be there;
    it will be called the Way of Holiness;
    it will be for those who walk on that Way.

We read in verse 15, that this highway is for the “contrite,” for those who return to God, admitting they are unable to do what is right without Him. Notice also, that we have a God who lives in a “high and holy place,” but He has a desire to live with those who are “contrite and lowly in spirit.”
Did you also notice that God gets angry? 

But He does not stay that way, because He realizes that would cause “the spirit of man to grow faint before me.” What a good, good Father. Any good parenting course will teach you that getting angry with your child and staying that way, only reinforces the idea of uselessness for the child. The child learns that no matter what they do, the parent remains angry, so they give up. They lose the spirit to do differently. God realizes our limitations and releases His anger, through His love, He goes beyond punishment and gives them a changed nature. God will heal them and change their rebellion and pride into “praise” and “peace.”

God does all of this for the “mourners in Israel.” 

What does a mourner look like? 

A mourner is the one who has not only asked for forgiveness but aches for the fact that we are all sinners. They mourn over the absence of righteousness in their own lives, they mourn over the absence of righteousness in their community. A mourner is the exact opposite of one who is, “wicked.” 

Think about it, the wicked not only refuse to recognize their own sinfulness, they could care less about anyone else’s righteousness. And because of this, the wicked cannot experience the “peace” God promises. 

Humans continue to create their own righteousness and when they do, well it isn’t pretty. Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector illustrates this well. The Pharisee boasted proudly to God of all his achievements, while the tax collector came to God in humility and contrition, acknowledging his failures and his needs. 

What if the Pharisee was telling the truth? 
What if he didn’t have any major failures or any significant needs? 
He was by the way, one of the top religious guys. He earned what money or food he had through the tithes of the temple. If the temple was doing things correctly, he wasn’t supposed to have any to have any issues, why he was there to help everyone else with their problems and failures. 

I contend this parable isn’t focusing on what the men did, whether they failed or not, but “how” they dealt with it. Proudly, on the side of the Pharisee, and humbly on the side of the tax collector. 

Isaiah is reminding us that if humans are to be healed of their sinful behavior, the healing needs to come from God, and He will heal those who are humbly reliant on Him. It is in that healing we receive righteousness. And righteousness is not an end in itself. If it were, we would be right back where we started, it would become another idol, a device used to earn favor and blessing. 

Righteousness that is beneficial, 
the kind of righteousness that God wants 
is actually a by-product 
of our close relationship with God, 
of our taking refuge in Him. 

Remember, today’s Scripture started out by stating how God, the high and lofty One, desires to be in a close relationship with low and meek humans, like you and me. Suffice it to say, righteousness is only possible by means of God’s persistent grace. 

Today, in the 21st Century, America is suffering from a failure of the evangelical theology that made its mark in the 1970’s and 1980’s. This was also the time when moral decay in our nation was prevalent. The generation of that time wanted to “feel good” and was willing to do so at any cost. 

So, evangelicals declared a feel-good religion. 

You have all heard the message, if you want to experience heavenly bliss and an earthly life of abundance, just say “yes” to Jesus and He will give you a wonderful plan for your life. Deciding to say “yes” to Jesus didn’t have any bearing on your personal behavior. Jesus loves you just the way you are. 

How well has that been working out for us? 

I was in high school in the 70’s and college in the 80’s and I have personal experiences of evangelical influences. I also had real personal experiences that made it difficult for me to reconcile the two. 
How could Jesus love me, if so many terrible things were happening to me? 
I remember thinking, 
maybe I didn’t ask Jesus into my heart the right way, what if I try saying it a different way, maybe then life will be wonderful? 

The fact is, my saying “yes” to Jesus merely moved my residence from one family to another. Everyone around me, including myself, continued to sin. Barna even proved it by taking a national poll in 2001 showing that the lives of evangelical Christians are indistinguishable from the world around us.  

Just like what we have read in Isaiah, that birthright in itself doesn’t mean a thing, it did not matter if you were a descendant of Jacob, neither does it matter if you have a profession of faith. James writes in 2:19,
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

Then what does matter? 

God wants to see evidence of His behavior, 
His attitudes, 
His passions, 
being demonstrated in the lives of those that know Him. 

Remember Saul, 
God had initially made him king, 
but then listen to what the prophet Samuel had to say to him in , 1 Samuel 13:13-14
“You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

Saul had lost his first love. God replaced him with “a man after his own heart.” 

Therefore, we evangelicals need to return to God, 
with repentance, repentance:
 
for spiritual pride
for our arrogant dependence on accepting Christ as a magical act
for our unwillingness to fully surrender to God
for our “standing” before God becoming more important to us than our relationship with Him
Repentance for…… you finish the sentence
The good news is: God is merciful!

God wants to live with us. 
God wants to heal us. 
Today’s Scripture reminds us that even though God expects real righteousness and justice in our lives…. 
He also expects to be in us so we can achieve it. Real righteousness becomes the by-product of our loving relationship with Him. And it all begins with the gift of love, the laying down of Christ’s life, so that we may live righteously, not only in heaven, but here, today. 
Let’s pray.