Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (OT)

Isaiah 65:1-10

I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me;

I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me.

       I said, “Here I am, here I am,”

to a nation that was not called by my name.

²    I spread out my hands all the day

to a rebellious people,

       who walk in a way that is not good,

following their own devices;

³    a people who provoke me

to my face continually,

       sacrificing in gardens

and making offerings on bricks;

⁴    who sit in tombs,

and spend the night in secret places;

       who eat pig’s flesh,

and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels;

⁵    who say, “Keep to yourself,

do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”

       These are a smoke in my nostrils,

a fire that burns all the day.

⁶    Behold, it is written before me:

“I will not keep silent, but I will repay;

       I will indeed repay into their lap

⁷        both your iniquities and your fathers’ iniquities together,

says the Lord;

       because they made offerings on the mountains

and insulted me on the hills,

       I will measure into their lap

payment for their former deeds.”

⁸    Thus says the Lord:

       “As the new wine is found in the cluster,

and they say, ‘Do not destroy it,

for there is a blessing in it,’

       so I will do for my servants’ sake,

and not destroy them all.

⁹    I will bring forth offspring from Jacob,

and from Judah possessors of my mountains;

       my chosen shall possess it,

and my servants shall dwell there.

¹⁰    Sharon shall become a pasture for flocks,

and the Valley of Achor a place for herds to lie down,

for my people who have sought me.

I think it makes me laugh every time I think of the beginning of Isaiah 65. We can remember, and likewise repeat Isaiah 6, when Isaiah himself cries out, "Here I am, Send Me!" This text is the exact opposite as God stands before the nations. The LORD says, "Here I am, Here I am." Just picture your classic image of God, whether that be Jesus or an Old man, jumping up and down calling for your attention.

God desires the Nations to hear and see what he has in store for them. He is reaching out to welcome people that will continue to spit in his face. He will continue to offer the blood of his son to cleanse and redeem all people. But he has to shoot for these people to even recognize, take notice of, the free gift that he is offering. These people rather frankly will say, "Keep it to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you."

Is this not what we tell God when we find more important things in our week than turning to his word? Is this not what it means to not celebrate his Sabbath? Note waht the LORD says about these people, "These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day." This sounds a lot like judgment to me. Do not think yourself to be holy, especially not too holy for something God requests of you!

God is going to leave a remnant of Israel, because through that remnant he will find a blessing. It is there in the remnant as well as in those he has grafted in that he will find his treasured possession. God  still stands and calls for people "Here I am, Here I am." He calls these people so that he can gather them, sanctify them, and grow them into a fruitful family. He calls you to give you this same gift.