March 11, 2010

(sung to the tune of Jack Noble White's 'The First Song if Isaiah' ) 'Surely it is God who saves me. I will trust in Him and not be afraid. For the LORD is my stronghold and my sure defense, and He will be my Savior.'

Do you recognize that song? I imagine you've sung it a few times over the years. In fact, if my memory serves me correctly: the first time I ever heard you sing, when I was playing trumpet for your hymn-service last year, you sang this song. It's Jack Noble White's 'First Song of Isaiah.' The lyrics are tightly based on our Old Testament Lesson for this upcoming Sunday which comes from the 12th Chapter of Isaiah. I'll read Isaiah 12 now, it's not very long:

1 In that day you will say: "I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. 2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. 5 Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. 6 Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

Your unbelieving neighbors probably don't appreciate the words of this song from Isaiah as much as you or I do, in fact the words may even sound a little foolish to them. I Corinthians tells us that "the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing..." Your unbelieving neighbor, pumped full of the devil's lies, might even have a 'First Song' of their own: (also sung to the tune of Jack Noble White's 'The First Song of Isaiah') 'Surely I don't need God to save me. I will trust in myself and I'll be good. For I've done some good and I'm not that bad, so I don't really need a Savior.'

Imagine for a minute that you walked into a room, and on the back wall of the room hung 3 full-length mirrors. You approach the first mirror and have a look. You kind of like what you see, or at least you are able to convince yourself that you like what you see. You see someone who is pretty smart, after all, you weren't born yesterday. You see someone who really feels that they have control of their life, someone who's found a way to get a good balance, someone that has things figured out. You see someone who hasn't really done anything that bad, at least not recently; you're not perfect, but for sure you've done enough good to cancel out that bad. Overall, this mirror makes you look pretty good. This mirror reflects how many unbeliever see themselves. Sadly, the way that the unbeliever sees themselves in this mirror is NOT how the God of Justice sees them.

Next, you move over to the mirror in the middle. You take a look, but have to quickly turn your head away, because what you see is absolutely horrifying. You see yourself, but can barely even recognize yourself because of how filthy you look. Everything about what you see is absolutely disgusting. In Catechism class we learned that the Law has a 3-fold purpose, to curb, mirror and guide. This mirror follows that 2nd purpose as a mirror to S.O.S. us, to Show us Our Sins. This mirror shows us how filthy we really are. People affiliated with religions that are not Christian religions, see themselves in this mirror and they, like us, know they have to find a way to get themselves cleaned up. Sadly their method of cleansing will leave them dirty in the eyes of the 'Seperator' on that final day of separation between those who have been washed clean and those who remain filthy.

You have had enough of this 2nd mirror, and so you approach that third full-length mirror hanging from the wall. You have a look, and you really - really like what you see. What you see fills you, no, overflows you with joy. You see yourself all cleaned up and dressed in the whitest of robes. Because of what Jesus has done, what you are seeing in the mirror is exactly how God sees you - in perfect form. Later on in Isaiah (Isaiah 61) we find, "...my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness..." Or in the first chapter of Isaiah where we find "...Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow..." This mirror gives us another S.O.S. - this mirror is the Gospel - it Shows us Our Savior - our Savior who has cleaned up all the filth we saw in that 2nd mirror.

With the Law and the Gospel in proper perspective, we can't help but join Isaiah in this song of praise. We can trust and give thanks and shout aloud and sing for joy and not be afraid. And for the sake of a neighbor, a friend, maybe even a family member - for all who still view this song from Isaiah as foolishness, we need to make sure we (in the paraphrase of Jack Noble White) 'Make His deeds known among the people,' so that they too might share in our joy.

We pray:

Dear God,

We can't thank you enough for giving us a proper understanding of Law and Gospel. Thank you for showing us how filthy we are and how much we need you, and thank you for taking care of all our filth - for taking care of our greatest need. Thank you for Jesus. Next time we sing this song from Isaiah, fill us with an extra measure of fervor as we sing for joy, and praise Your name! Cause us to share our joy with those who don't have that joy, with those who don't know You.

Amen.