Psalm 44; Isaiah 51:4-11; Romans 13:11-end
Our readings today show us how God’s actions in the past raise our faith for what He can do in the future.
Isaiah begins with the Lord saying “listen to me, and hear me”!
There are two things here – firstly to listen. It is easy to listen but not always so easy to hear. As we sit here this morning we hear the noise of service; we can hear voices speaking and singing; we might hear traffic on the road or the hum of the generator; we might hear dogs barking and goats bleating. What God is saying to the Israelites in Isaiah’s time and to us now, is to do more than that; He’s asking us to listen and to hear. To sift through everything that is said and to hear the message that He has for us – for you, and you, and you, and me, here, in this place, today. God wants to get our attention.
God rules with righteousness and justice. He is a loving father and he will discipline us, his children.
We have an advantage over those who first heard Isaiah’s words because we have the New Testament. We know that Jesus was born, lived on earth, was crucified, died, was buried and then was raised. We know that He has promised He will come again.
Isaiah here is prophesying the end times – when heaven and earth will pass away – when the things that are familiar to us will be gone.
BUT – the salvation of God will last forever, His righteousness will never fail.
We are nothing without God; we have nothing if we do not know Him.
God will not change His character – he is the same yesterday, today and forever. He will not change His mind about us – He who created each one of us, wants a relationship with each one of us. He does not force himself on us, but invites us to come closer to Him. He wants us to hear the invitation and to respond.
Again, in verse 7 He says, listen to me you who know me, you who hold my promises in your heart, do not be fearful of men, trust in me.
When we make a commitment to follow Jesus we are saved; we receive our salvation, we repent of our sins and we are forgiven. Until He comes again we live as foreigners on the earth. Our home is in heaven but for now our role is to work here on earth, to show others the way to Jesus. We will face opposition – even, sometimes, from those we love; from family members and from friends – when that happens we need to hold onto the promises that God has given us; we need to recall the things that He has done in the past. As we do that we are reminded that He has a plan for all of His children – in the same way that He was with Abraham, He is with us today. We do not need to fear those who disapprove or insult us – that’s not always easy to do, and is a way that the devil will try to get a foothold and pull us away from God. We need to cling to His promises.
There is a call for us to “awake and clothe ourselves with strength”. We should not make a commitment to follow Jesus and then go and sit under a tree waiting for Him to return.
In Romans, Paul picks up the theme for us to wake up. The day of the second coming is closer now than it was when we first believed.
It is possible to come to church every Sunday and not know Jesus. It is possible to be in the choir and not know Jesus. It is possible to be a church worker and not know Jesus. God wants to have a relationship with each one of us. The overflow of that relationship will be us wanting to share that with others. We should do that with an urgency, because none of us know when He will come again.
I have been trying to think of an way to describe that here in South Sudan. We know that market prices are rising – something more than once in a day. One day you go to the market to buy some onions, you ask at different shops and they cost 1000 SSP. The next day you go to the market, again looking for onions, you ask at one shop and they say the price is 1500 SSP, you go to other shops and many are charging 1500, but the last shop you come to has more onions than the other shops, and they look better, they’re bigger, you ask the price and are told they are 1000 SSP. So now we have found a shop which is charging less for something that looks better. When you have bought the onions that you need what do you do? You go and tell your friends – come, quickly, come to the stall at the end of the market, there you will find quality at a good price. You do that now, you don’t wait until tomorrow – tomorrow the onions will be getting older, they may begin rotting, they will not be such a good deal.
In the same way as Christians we have good news to share, and we want others to experience what we have experienced; we want others to know the love of God in their hearts; so we tell them! We don’t hide the good news, we don’t try and keep it just for ourselves, we share it. We wake up and share with others, so that they too can experience it before Jesus comes again.
As Christians we have the bible which is a guidebook for how to live. We need to live differently to those who don’t know Jesus. When we repent, when we turn around and follow Jesus, we lay down the things of the world and we clothe ourselves with Him. Paul tells us to put on the armour of light – the armour of God is detailed in Ephesians 6 verses 10 to 18. The armour protects us from the schemes of the enemy who lies and wants to spoil our relationship with God.
As Christians we live as an example of Jesus to those around us. When we pass others in the street, when we go shopping in the market, when we are in our offices, when we are sitting under a tree drinking tea, we show Jesus to those around us – we shine as a light pointing the way to Him so that others may know His salvation too. It isn’t always easy, but it is an adventure. We have to make an active decision to allow Him to live in us and work through us. To be able to do that we need to be awake!
People have walked in relationship with God since He created the earth. Our Psalm this morning talks of the things He did for our ancestors, in the same way that they have shared stories of what He has done so we too share what He is doing here and now with those around us and those who will come after us.
The victory that we have as Christians is not won through fighting with swords or guns, it is won through the death and resurrection of Jesus.
God’s love does not fail. His salvation will last forever. Are you awake? Have you met Jesus? Are you walking in step with Him, doing the things that He showed us how to do, pointing those around you to Him? If not, is today the day you want to wake up and invite Him to be Lord of your life?
Today is the first Sunday in Advent, and that marks the beginning of the Church year. Perhaps today is the day that you begin a new life with Jesus…