GLIMPSES OF LENT AND EASTER FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT: FORGIVENESS, AN INVITATION TO ABUNDANT LIFE Isaiah 55:1-9

Martin Niemoller, a German Lutheran bishop was called upon to negotiate with Hitler during WWII, in the attempt to save the Church of Germany from being closed down by the Nazi dictator. Toward the end of his life, Niemoller spoke of a recurring dream that he had in which he saw Hitler standing before Jesus on Judgment Day. Jesus got off his throne, put his arm around Hitler, and asked, “Adolph! Why did you do the ugly, evil things you did? Why were you so cruel?”

Hitler, with his head bent low, simply answered, “Because nobody ever told me how much you loved me.”

The bishop reported that at this point in the dream he would wake up in a cold sweat, remembering that during the many, many meetings he had had with Hitler, he had never once said, “By the way Fuhrer, Jesus loves you! He loves you more than you will ever know. Do you know that?”

It is something to ponder it isn’t it. It makes one wonder how much of a difference it would have made in terms of world history is somewhere along the line someone could have gotten through to Hitler with the message of God’s love and God’s powerful forgiveness leading to abundant life.

Often the Old Testament isn’t a place where we think God’s love, sin and forgiveness of sins is talked about or addressed. Too many believe that only the New Testament talks about that subject.

This sermon series “Glimpses of Lent and Easter From the Old Testament,” we will get a glimpse of forgiveness and the abundant life that flows from that from an Old Testament perspective.

In this scripture passage the prophet Isaiah talks about the absolute “otherness of God.” Isaiah is led by God to say that God doesn’t, “….. think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” That’s a hint folks to those of us who think that we know God well enough to speak for God by way of politics or social programs. There really is no such thing as our words being identical with God’s. God’s thoughts and ways are always higher and purer than ours. Apart from Biblical revelation we do not know God’s ways and will for us.

But the prophet also talks about the very specific character of God which is emphasized in verses 8 and 9 of this passage. Here Isaiah shares God’s message for the people at this time of their lives. God may at times be mysterious and foreign to us but at other times God’s specific character is all about his incredible, forgiving mercy.

We humans do not forgive very readily. Why, if someone has slighted us in the least little way we have it in for them from then on. If we don’t get our way it is on. If we differ from people’s notions of what is correct politically or socially or religiously even they are at the top of one list and at the bottom of another. We can’t even differ politically without demonizing one another. If we have ever made a mistake well…… If we hear that someone has said something about us we quickly eliminate them from our list and treat them with indifference. Even in the church, or should I say especially in the church forgiveness doesn’t reign.

In Billy Graham’s column the other day a person wrote in asking why the church ignores some people especially the ones who need help the most. Why can’t people in the church stay in touch with one of their members when things go bad…like going to prison or going through a divorce? It is because while we give lip service to forgiveness when the chips are down we lose sight of the very thing God is most interested in.

That may be the way we deal with forgiveness and mercy but that is not God’s. “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways,” says the Lord.

The people of Israel, languishing in Babylonian exile after 587 BC, were there because they had repeatedly ignored God and run after false gods. They had blasphemed God’s holy name. And now, what does God say to her through his prophet in Second Isaiah?

What would you have said? I might have said, “Folks, you’ve made your bed now you have to sleep in it.” What does God say?

God says, “…….come back to God, who is merciful, come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.” Msg. The NRSV puts it this way, “return to me, for I will have mercy on you and will abundantly pardon.”

It reminds you of the words of our Lord on the cross when the nails were tearing at his flesh. He was still able to say, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Lk. 23: 34) Talk about words that leave an impression. Despite all the indifference and wrong with which we have treated our Lord, he still holds out to us the invitation to return and be forgiven and in the process experience abundant life. Surely God’s thoughts are not our thoughts and our ways are not God’s.

There are other notes that enter into that gracious invitation in our scripture lesson.

First, the prophet tells us, “Seek God while he is here to be found, pray to him while he is close at hand.” (vs. 6) It seems that Isaiah is telling us that we just can’t return to fellowship with our God any old time we feel like it. We can’t just willfully break a commandment and then decide, “Okay, I’ll find God now.” We can’t just glibly gossip about a fellow church member and then make ourselves feel better by thinking that God will forgive us and accept us back. No. The initiative always lies with God, and unless God draws near to us and says, “Come on back,” “Return,” we cannot go back.

At a specific time in the sixth century BC God drew near to the exiled Israelites, through the word of his prophet, and offered them his forgiveness. And at specific times, God in Christ draws near to us and offers us his mercy. The church has always called those times “the means of grace.” And they come to us when the scripture is read or spoken in the church, revealing God’s mercy; when the sermon is preached, inviting our return; and when the Lord’s Supper is celebrated, offering us the forgiveness of Christ on the cross. At those times, through Word, written and spoken, and through sacrament, symbolized by water and bread and cup, God draws near to us and invites us back to himself.

Second, what God says to us at those times, however, is “Let the wicked abandon their way of life and the evil their way of thinking.” (V.7) In short God says to us in his invitation of forgiveness, “Repent. Change your ways. Turn around. Direct your life in the opposite direction toward good. Vow to become a new person in Jesus Christ.” No person can truthfully accept the forgiveness of Almighty God, unless that acceptance is accompanied by a sincere desire to walk in newness of life. Now that is according to God’s word by way of commandment.

You can see that in the classic way the Lord’s Supper used to be introduced was with the words: “Ye who truly repent and earnestly repent of your sins….and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways: Draw near with faith and take this holy sacrament…….” True and earnest repentance, the intention to turn around, to lead a new life and to follow the commandments of God---in that attitude alone can we accept God’s offer of forgiveness and mercy. Anything less than that results in God’s grace so costly offered us through the life death and resurrection of Christ is cheapened and it becomes a mockery, blasphemy.

The lesson in that for us is don’t dare come for forgiveness unless you mean it and are dead serious.

Don’t play with God’s mercy and forgiveness.

Third, the mercy that God holds out to us in his forgiveness is wondrous indeed. Listen to what God offers us in our scripture lesson for this morning: “Hey there! All who are thirsty, come to the water! Are you penniless? Come anyway---buy and eat! Come, buy your drinks, and buy wine and milk. Buy without money---everything’s free. God offers us the water that will quench every thirst for meaning and peace that we have ever had. And he offers us the bread that will satisfy every hunger for God and his will. Do you remember when Jesus said…… “I am the bread of life; those who come to me shall not hunger, and those who believe in me shall never thirst.” (Jn. 6:35)

I need that bread of life and I believe you do too. As our scripture lesson says, we have for, too many days, spent our money for that which does not feed our hunger for goodness and our labor for that which does not satisfy our longings. Buying and selling, laboring and longing, the world’s rewards have not fed our souls, and there remains with us a restless desire….for what? Surely for God who created us to live in fellowship with Him always. Surely for an abundant life which is to be found only in a relationship with the One who created us….and the one who has redeemed us through Jesus Christ.

Try as we might to find it apart from Him we will not. God offers us that loving fellowship, that deep sense that we are finally home, returned to the family of God, where there is joy and laughter, honor and goodness, and the peace that the world cannot give. God offers us nothing less than life abundant in his company. “Pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life giving, life nourishing words.” (v.3) And more than that, he tells us that he will never abandon us. “I’m making an everlasting covenant commitment with you,” he promises. Not even death itself will separate us from him.

Some years ago I came to know a man who would in time prove to be an extraordinary man. His life had become unmanageable. He found his way back to church and began to understand what it was like to be home. He came wounded and badly mangled by what life apart from God had done. He began to grow in his faith as he dealt with the issues and challenges which his time away from God had produced. Time passed. Life settled down. Then a tragedy of unimaginable proportions unfolded in his life. He met a person who became the love of his life. They were headed for a bright future together. His church family shared their joy. They had found each other after spending many years in the far country but each had “come to themselves.” They were happy with their new start. They were very much in love. One evening while on the way to a restaurant they had a head on collision with another car which was driven by a teenaged member of his church. The teenagers in the other car were hurt very badly. His beloved was killed instantly. He was hurt badly himself. She was laid to rest in her home town. He was left to try and recover. He was left maimed but that was small compared to recovering from a broken heart.

It was then that the extraordinary character and faith of this man became evident. When he was able he contacted the teenaged driver of the other vehicle because you see he wanted to let him know he had forgiven him. How could a man do that when the love of his life had been taken from him…after all those years of looking and hoping for someone like her to come along. How? But he was able….able forgive when others wouldn’t have or perhaps couldn’t have. How? Why?

I think because he knew that forgiving is the thing you do that is if you are a serious disciple of Jesus Christ. I think also because this man knew that he would never have any peace or be able to have any kind of abundant life until he forgave. An inability or unwillingness to forgive breeds all kinds of trouble for all concerned. He also knew that the teenaged driver would never have any chance for an abundant life without that forgiveness. And then, perhaps most profoundly he was able to forgive because he had been forgiven. Once you have been forgiven, you see, once you have had your slate wiped clean, when that happens ……when you wonder if ever you could be forgiven, be given a new start and then have it happen….well that changes everything and you have to become a forgiver….. and so he forgave and received an invitation to abundant life. Think about that during this season of Lent. Amen.

This sermon was written and preached by Dr. Jerry D. Bron at the Southminster Presbyterian Church of Gastonia, NC on the second Sunday of Lent, February 28, 2010. This sermon manuscript does not give credit for sources used so please do not use this material for any other purpose.

Glimpses of Lent and Easter from the Old Testament: Forgiveness, An Invitation to Abundant Life #3

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