Witness by Loving

Psalm 71:1-6                     Hebrews 12:18-29                             Luke 13:10-17

Witness by Loving

A friend recently sent me a video clip of a street preacher in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It was a disturbing video to watch. The red-faced, angry man was ranting and raving over a megaphone so loudly that his yelling was on the verge of distortion. But the most distressing part of his performance for me was the content of his message. With every sentence, he rained down on those who walked by, hellfire and brimstone, destruction and damnation, judgement and condemnation. 

Now, don’t get me wrong. I have absolutely nothing against street preachers. A good friend of mine is a street preacher…but his approach is ever so different. No megaphone…no shouting…no hell and damnation message. Instead, he loves on passers-by…he does not thrust himself on unsuspecting pedestrians…yes, he will attempt to engage them in conversation and if they have time, he will chat with them about whatever they want to talk about…he will offer to pray with folks…he loves on the homeless and the destitute and the marginalised. So many people have met Jesus through this man’s gentle, loving ministry. 

Both these street preachers would claim to be speaking for God, but their approach and their style and their message and, dare I say, their hearts are very different.

The man in Chattanooga reminded me of rather painful event in my childhood. When we were little, my brother and I would bathe together in our bathtub. This particular evening, as children will be children, we got a little too active in the water and soon some of it – well, quite a bit of it – was on the floor and slowly trickling out under the door. Our fun stopped quite abruptly when my father burst through the door, grabbed both of us by the hair, and literally dragged us by our hair to our bedroom. He ripped off his belt and proceeded to beat us on our naked bodies with the buckle. He beat and he beat and he beat until he could beat no more. He only stopped once he was completely exhausted. And then he left. But the saddest part of it all was that my father felt quite justified for what he had done. 

The funny thing is this traumatic event resurfaced in my mind while I was listening to the Chattanooga street preacher. I can’t help wondering if his words did not feel like being struck over and over and over again with a belt buckle. 

Now, as I read our Gospel lesson for today, I saw a similar contrast between two men both claiming to represent God. Luke tells us that while Jesus was teaching in a Synagogue on the Sabbath day, a crippled women who was so bent over that she could not stand up straight, was present. Jesus called her forward and then he healed her. In response, she gave glory to God.

What would your response have been had you witnessed this miracle? Would you be happy for her? Would you praise God with her? 

Surprisingly, the leader of synagogue responded in anger. Jesus had broken an unwritten cultural code of ethics. According to the Oral Law, you were not allowed to heal anyone on the Sabbath, unless the person’s life was threatened, which was clearly not the case with this woman. That was the way it had been done since the Jews returned from Exile and this leader was not about to allow things to change!

You know, it never ceases to amaze me how angry people can get when things are not done the way they have always been done! Even some of the most trivial things can become quite explosive and divisive. Nicky Gumbel once said that he had heard of one man who had been a churchwarden in the same church for forty-six years. Someone said to him: ‘Over those forty-six years you must have seen so many changes.’ ‘Yes, I have,’ the churchwarden replied, ‘and I have resisted every single one of them.’ Nicky then went on to tell another story of a vicar who wanted to move his piano from one side of the church to the other side, and he knew there’d be a lot of resistance. So, he decided to do it gradually. He moved it one foot every week until it was the other side of the church in a year’s time!

The leader of the synagogue was certainly not about to let Jesus change tradition, miracle or no miracle. His response was swift, angry, and accusing. Be healed on any other day, but not the Sabbath.

Now, I want you to try to imagine the woman’s thoughts at this point…Luke doesn’t tell us how she responded, but I think it is important for us to think about it. Her initial response was to praise God. Do you think she was still praising God after being yelled at? Can you imagine the self-doubt and the confusion in her mind? She hadn’t asked for this healing. Jesus had freely given it to her. But if what she had received was wrong in the eyes of God, according to the synagogue leader, then was her joy an appropriate response? Should she not perhaps have felt guilt and shame for breaking the tradition of the elders?

I don’t want to skip past this too quickly because I want you to make the connection between this synagogue leader and the Chattanooga street preacher. I think that both these men truly believed that their words and actions were righteous…that they were pleasing God in what they said and did. 

Their focus was on the principle.

But Jesus’ focus was on the person. 

So, which one of these men represented the biblical God? 

The glee that some folks like our synagogue leader and our Chattanooga street preacher feel when chiding, correcting, and condemning people to hell is in stark contrast with the God of the Scriptures, who does not wish one person to be lost. The message of the Old Testament is one of collective human failure. Even the best human being couldn’t live a godly and holy life…even the wisest of them all made some grave mistakes. As such, the Law by itself was terrifying. 

But God knew that and he wanted to make sure we knew that. We have 39 books all telling us the same thing…if God was not gracious, loving, kind, merciful, forgiving, and compassionate, we would be hopelessly lost as we are completely unable to measure up to our manufacturing standards.

All have sinned…all have fallen short…no one seeks after God…no one does what is right…no, not one…that is the message of the Scriptures. But for the mercy of God, but for the compassion of God, but for the forgiveness of God, but for the grace of God, there go I. An impenetrable wall stands between humanity and God – our sin has built a barrier between us and God – but God, in his infinite love, has come to break down that wall of separation.

God loves the world – he loves it enough to give his only Son to take the penalty for sin upon himself. And Jesus did not come into the world to condemn it – he came to save it. 

The author of the book of Hebrews tells us that we have a mediator whose shed blood cries out for reconciliation not for vengeance as did the blood of Abel. He has removed the wall, effectively opening to all who believe in him the very portals of heaven. Through him we can now enter the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. Through him we can stand in the presence of thousands of angels in the joyful assembly. Through him our names are written in heaven. 

Our method of witness should therefore not focus on the negative but on the positive. Jesus came to seek the lost, to heal the sick, to restore the rejected, and to welcome the discarded. He did not come to condemn but to save. Why do we think we…we who are as imperfect as the next person…why do we think that we are on a higher moral ground? Who are we to condemn fellow sinners? 

Now, before you label me a heretic, allow me to say that I do not hold to a universalist position. I do believe that Jesus is the only way, the only truth, and the only source of life and that no one can be saved except through him. I do believe that there is a literal hell and I weep with God for those who stubbornly resist his call to salvation. 

But what I am objecting to here is the method used when telling others about our faith. Like the cripple woman in the synagogue, most people are well aware that something is wrong with them. We know this because we see their unhappiness is spelled out in their behaviour…all seek to fill a void with something, be that something money, material things, a pursuit of pleasure or any other thing used in the quest for meaning and fulfilment. 

Augustine once admitted that he spent years looking for God in things outside of himself…that he threw himself upon the beautiful things that God had made…and yet his heart remained restless until it found its rest in God. People still do the same. They look for fulfilment because they know that they are empty. We don’t need to tell them that.

What we do need to tell them is that in spite of their refusal to turn to God, his love for them never changes. It was God’s love that brought me into the kingdom…not his anger. It was at a Youth for Christ rally where a man sang a song entitled “Rise Again”. The words of the second verse hit me like a freight train. “Go ahead and mock my name, my love for you is still the same.” I knew there was something wrong with my life. Life had screamed that into me. I was miserable and looking in all the wrong places for something to heal my fractured soul. Until someone dared to tell me that God loves me.

The man who sang the song and subsequently prayed with me and for me, knew who I was. People had already told him what I was and what I had done. I’d also met him earlier that day and had tried everything in my power to make him lose his temper. Once he shouted at me, I could easily write him off as a hypocrite. But he did not get angry with me, and I found this intriguing. I can imagine that this must have been the same kind of fascination that drew people like the tax-collectors, sinners, and other outcastes to Jesus. He was not like the other righteous people who shunned them, No, rather he accepted them…he talked to them…he touched them…he loved them…all the while never condoning their behaviour or dismissing their need for repentance and forgiveness. This ought to make us ask ourselves the question: “Why focus on the badness and sinfulness of humanity when there’s so much more one can talk about when it comes to the goodness and the greatness of God?”

There is a world of difference between the method used by the synagogue leader on the one hand and the method used by our Lord on the other. Just like there is a world of difference between the method used by the Chattanooga street preacher and my street preacher friend. The one attracts and the other repels. The one instils fear while the other invokes praise. 

So, tell me, how do you speak to others about God? Now I don’t think any of you would yell at people, or, at least, I would hope not, but one can also shout through your actions. A look, a glare, a turning away…our “body language”…there are many ways to show disapproval. 

Or do you model the living Word in a way that would encourage others to follow Jesus? Do you love those people around you that do not know Jesus? Do you love them enough to walk a journey with them and to show them the heart of the Father through the way you live your life? 

Yes, words are very helpful when we need to explain our faith to others…certain methods can also help us organise those words so that our presentation of the Gospel is comprehensive and clear. 

But there is nothing quite so powerful as a life that demonstrates both a love for God as well as a love for people. There’s nothing quite so attractive as a life that points people to the awesomeness of God.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes w H van der Bijl 2022

Very Dry Bones

Johann and Louise: Training Disciples to Make Disciples in the Netherlands Ezekiel. A Valley filled with dry bones. A great many bones that were very dry. “Son of man, can these bones lives?” This is the passage that comes to mind when I think about faith in the Netherlands. Deathly dry. With less than 10 % of the population attending any form of religious function, the Netherlands is no doubt the most secular country Louise and I have ever encountered. I remember the hostile resistance in India; the spiritual heaviness of Africa; the widely diverse religious fervour of North America…but this is the first time I have encountered such nothingness. For most non-believers here, followers of Jesus are either quaint artefacts of yesteryear or idiots. It is not uncommon to receive a patronising smile as if you are a child that believes in Santa Claus or the tooth-fairy, or perhaps even a remark like “he’s a Jesus person” that is designed to elicit understanding pity from the hearers. Poor thing. Not much upstairs, you know. If anything, people here have faith in the “process”. The Dutch are very practical and everything can be solved through human intervention…and that which cannot be solved? Ah well, that is life.  On the other side of this, there are the believers. There’s no middle ground for believers here. You are either a believer and follower of Jesus or you are not. I’ve been told that following Jesus could lead to social or vocational suicide as you can’t possibly be a serious or practical or sensible or logical person if you believe such fables. It can even block a promotion or lead to termination. But this is not malicious. Generally, the Dutch are not unkind. Rather, it is that biblical faith is simply not something rational people believe. The more serious you are in your walk with Jesus, the more irrelevant you become in this modern, technological, mechanical culture. This means that the usual methods of evangelism might not be quite as effective here as elsewhere in the world.  “Can these bones live?” Of course, we know the answer because we have read the text but try to stand in Ezekiel’s sandals for a moment. Look at these bones. Feel the dryness. Feel the deadness. Now, hear the Sovereign Lord’s question. “Can these bones live?” In our modern phraseology Ezekiel’s reply might be rewritten as, “Is that a trick question?”  Clearly, the answer is yes, these bones can live. If we believe that God is almighty and that nothing is impossible for him, then we cannot answer otherwise. But how? These bones are very dry. The solution then is the same as today. The Breath of God…the Ruach…the same breath that breathed life into Adam at creation, that breathed rebirth into the disciples in the Upper Room post-resurrection, that breathed power into the believers in Jerusalem at Pentecost and later in other places too. Through that breath and that breath alone, these dry bones will live. But what exactly does this mean for Louise and me and for our small chaplaincy in Heiloo? For one it means walking very closely in step with the Spirit, relying on him to break up the fallow ground of secular indifference and granting us wisdom to know when to sow the seed and when to refrain from sowing. This means prayer, prayer, and more prayer. It is only as Ezekiel prophesied for the Breath of God to breathe over and into the bones that they came to life. Declarative prophetic speech…a speech like that spoken by the Creator in the beginning. Let there be light…and there was light. This means learning carefully from the means and the methods of Jesus and the Early Church. This means preaching through modelling…living a life that makes people jealous.  Please pray for us. Pray that we learn to speak Dutch fluently as soon as possible. Pray for sweet understandable accents. Pray for open doors and open hearts. Pray for wise thoughts and wise words. Pray for divine boldness. Pray for the breath of God to move over and in and through us so that He might move over and in and through those we encounter every day. Pray that we might provide culturally appropriate guidance to our largely expat flock as they seek to live out their faith in their respective neighbourhoods and places of employment. Pray for the faithful believers in other churches and para-church organisations who labour here too. Pray against discouragement. In short, pray for a Pentecost experience for us all.  Pray also that Johann's books would bring many people into a more meaningful and life-changing relationship with Jesus. Pray that the Holy Spirit will enable him to write more. Pray for those at Langham Publishing as they edit, publish, and market the books. Thank you for your love, your kindness, your support, your prayers. You are our co-workers on so many levels and we are truly grateful.  Blessings Johann and Louise Support Us Johann and Louise spent two years helping to develop the St. Frumentius Seminary in Gambella, Ethiopia. They then worked in Southern Africa, serving in seven southern African countries, while continuing to work with the Diocese of Egypt, North Africa through engaging in a disciple making movement in order to grow the body of Christ. They are now serving in Heiloo, the Netherlands. We are sent  through the Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders, a missionary sending community, engaging in building relationships with the worldwide church to experience the broken restored, the wounded healed, the hungry fed, and the lost found through the love and power of Jesus Christ.  Support SAMS Copyright © 2016 Society of Anglican Missionaries and Senders, All rights reserved. www.sams-usa.org      Our mailing address is: PO Box 399 Ambridge PA 15003 Attention to: Johann and Louise van der Bijl Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

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When is a Church not a Church?

Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19 Isaiah 5:1-7 John 15:1-10

When is a Church not a Church?

In English, we have a saying: If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck. What we mean when we use this saying is that something can be identified by observing its characteristics. Stated negatively, the saying would indicate that something may not be what it appears or claims to be. In other words, the duck that claims to be a duck, but does not look like a duck, does not swim like a duck, or does not quack like a duck, may not be a duck after all. 

Jesus, however, did not use the image of a duck. He used the image of a Vine, radically reinterpreting a well-known Old Testament symbol of God’s covenant community. Jesus might have said something like this: If it looks like a vine, grows like a vine, and produces fruit like a vine, then it is more than likely because it is a vine. Again stated negatively, this might mean that a vine that does not look like a vine, grow like a vine, or produce fruit like a vine may not be a vine after all.

The cultivation of vines is first mentioned in the Scriptures in Genesis 9:20 where we are told that Noah planted a vine and made wine from the grapes. The fact that Noah knew about the process involved in winemaking suggests that the technology more than likely predates the flood. 

Ancient Near Eastern vineyards were surrounded with protective stone walls to keep out would be thieves and destructive animals (Numbers 22:24; Psalm 80:8-13 etc). There was also a watchtower for a watchman, a winepress, vats, and new goatskin bags or large pottery containers to store the juice for fermentation. Some vineyards were terraced, with the vine branches trailing on the ground and tumbling over the raised terraces, while other vines were elevated with supportive poles. 

Preparing and maintaining a vineyard was hard work. The ground had to be prepared, a wall, a tower, and a winepress needed to be built, the best vines had to be acquired and planted, and the vine itself needed to be tended and nurtured constantly. The branches were pruned every spring and the cut-off branches were gathered to be used for fuel in fires. The harvest season was a happy occasion with singing and dancing and general merrymaking activities. Every seventh year, the vineyards were to be left to lie fallow for the year according to the law (Ex 23:11; Lev 25:3). 

Now, the three texts we read from today all tell us about the preparatory work, the labour-intensive cultivation of the plants, and the clear expectation of the farmer. Digging, clearing, building, planting…all with a view to receiving a good crop. In Jesus’ parable in Mark 12:1-12, where he used the image of a vineyard to describe Israel and the leaseholders as their leaders, Jesus said the owner of the vineyard sent servants to the tenants to collect some of the anticipated fruit…all of whom were either beaten or killed, including the owner’s only son and heir. But my point here is that the goal of planting the vines, or any other sort of fruit or seed-bearing plant for that matter, was to harvest a crop. 

It is interesting to note that just before Isaiah sang his song of judgement regarding the vineyard representing Israel, he spoke about a “Branch of the Lord” that would come in the future to cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and fire. Jeremiah said something similar in chapter 23 verse 5, “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” Now, keep in mind that John the Baptist announced that Jesus would baptize (no doubt referring to baptism as an act of cleansing as would have been understood by his 1st Century audience) with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Unfortunately, we don’t have the time to examine these prophecies and others like them in the light of what happened with the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, and the coming of God’s judgement on apostate Israel at the Fall of Jerusalem in AD 70…but I would encourage you to be like the Bereans and go study the Word to see how beautifully all these things fit together.

In Isaiah the blame of the bad harvest appears to have fallen on the vine itself. It was the vine that yielded bad fruit. Hosea echoed this focus on Israel as an apostate nation in chapter 10 verses 1-2a: “Israel was a spreading vine; he brought forth fruit for himself. As his fruit increased, he built more altars; as his land prospered, he adorned his sacred stone. Their heart is deceitful, and now they must bear their guilt.” 

In similar vein, Jesus also used the image of a fig tree bearing no fruit…once in a word parable and another time in an acted-out parable where the fig tree was cursed…in both cases he clearly linked the judgement with the Temple and Jerusalem as a whole. 

Be that as it may, in all these prophetic utterances, the consequence of the vine’s bad yield is destruction…walls are broken down, the vineyard is trampled, and the land is left desolate. I hope you can recall Jesus’ words of judgement in the Gospels describing the destruction of Jerusalem…not one stone of the walls would be left upon another, the city would be left desolate, and would be trampled upon by the Gentiles…using the same words as the propets. Just by the by, the fulfilment of these prophetic statements is described in horrifying detail by an eyewitness of the event, the 1st Century historian, Flavius Josephus. 

Now, Jesus’ statements in John’s Gospel, appeared to change Isaiah’s prophecy somewhat, laying the blame of fruitlessness on the vine branches for neglecting to abide in the True Vine. In other words, it was the branches that did not bear fruit that were removed…cut off from the vine as surely those who did not obey God were cut off from Israel in Old Testament terminology. There is a slight variation on the theme of judgement here in that in this case it is not the entire vineyard that is destroyed, but only individual non-fruit-bearing branches. Of course, it might be argued that the True Vine was, in fact, judged on the cross, and that he emerged from destruction unscathed because of the absence of sin. What remained therefore was not for the whole vine to be destroyed but only those parts of the vine that were not connected to it.

But in singling out the non-fruit-bearing branches for judgement, Jesus was echoing the prophetic statement of Jeremiah. In chapter 12 verses 10-11, Jeremiah said, “Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard and trample down my field; they will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland. It will be made a wasteland, parched and desolate before me; the whole land will be laid waste because there is no one who cares.” In this prophecy, it was the leaders of Israel who were singled out for judgment. 

But in as much as the people followed their leaders despite the warnings of the prophets and the Early Church, they too would share in their leaders’ demise. Ezekiel said clearly in chapter 15 verses 6 -8, “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I have set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord.” Jesus clearly warned the Sanhedrin at his trial – that they would see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the power (as Judge) and coming on the clouds of heaven (in judgement)…or as John later stated in the Revelation, every eye would see him coming in judgment, even those who pierced him. 

But by calling himself the True Vine in the context of devastating and destructive judgment on Israel and, more particularly, the Temple and the city of Jerusalem, and by calling his followers, those who were ‘in’ Him, the branches abiding in this True Vine, Jesus was unequivocally stating that he and those in him were the true Israel of God. Paul would develop this later in his Epistle to the Romans with yet another agricultural image – this time of an Olive Tree…as well as in his Epistle to the Galatians where he stated that all who are united in Jesus, both Jew and Gentile alike, are the true Israel of God (see Galatians 6:16).

Therefore, what Jesus was saying in John was that he was not simply part of the vine, but, more specifically, he was the one and only true Vine. The implication is that in contrast to unfaithful Israel, Jesus remained faithful and thus fulfilled Israel's calling to be the vine of God. Consequently, all who are in him and abide in him, bear fruit because of that connection…because they are in the True Vine. 

Here Jesus might have been alluding to a more positive statement of Isaiah’s prophecy in chapter 27 verses 2-6. “In that day, “Sing about a fruitful vineyard; I the Lord watch over it; I water it continually. I guard it day and night so that no one may harm it…in days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill the world with fruit.”

Now, there are two things I would like to address here as part of an application. The first is not what most folks want to hear in these days since all they really desire is to have their itching ears tickled. Nevertheless, I believe it must be said. 

If God was that concerned with the state of the vine in Israel’s day, would, or indeed should, he not be concerned today? If we who say we are the followers of Jesus do not look like Jesus, walk like Jesus, or talk like Jesus, are we truly followers of Jesus? When is a Church not a Church? If we deny the basic tenets of the faith…if we reinterpret the Word of God and reshape it to fit in with the post-modern and post-Christian ideologies of the world…if we speak words contrary to what the Scriptures teach…are we not liable to be cut-off as non-fruit-bearing branches? This may sound harsh, but think of the damage being done today by the revisionist leaders of churches who blatantly contradict the teaching of the Scriptures by both word and deed? Should God not judge us for the sake of and for the life of the world? Or has God ceased to be God?

The second thing I would like to say is more positive. In spite of an all-out attack on the Church from within the Church as well as from outside the Church, there are still many fruitful vineyards throughout the world who faithfully bud and blossom and bear fruit in abundance. Wherever the word of God is clearly taught…wherever branches loyally abide in the True Vine, the Lord watches over it, waters it continually, guards it day and night so that no one may harm it. And this is our calling as followers of Jesus…as branches in the True Vine…as members of the Israel of God. In Jesus, through the powerful “sap” of the Holy Spirit flowing in and through us, we are to bud and blossom and fill the world with fruit to the glory of the Father.

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl August 2022

The Loving Anger of God

Psalm 50:1-15          Isaiah 1:1; 10-20          Luke 12:35-40

The Loving Anger of God

Many years ago, on a hot summer day in rural south Florida, a young boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. 

He ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He jumped into the water and began to swim, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming towards him.

His mother in the house was looking out the window and saw the two as they got closer and closer to each other. Horrified, she ran outside toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother. But it was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him.

From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his leg. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. While the alligator appeared to be stronger than the mother, the mother was much too passionate to let go and eventually, after what felt like an eternity, the alligator let go. 

Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His leg was severely scarred by the vicious attack of the alligator. But also, on his arms and his torso, were thick, deep scratches where his mother's fingernails had dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy showed him, but then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms and my chest and, look! I have scars on my back, too! I have these scars because my mum wouldn't let go." 

Now, if we were to focus only on the upper body of this boy, we would think his mother a monster. How could she have ripped his arms and torso like that? Charge her with extreme abusive behaviour! Shun her, scorn, her, spit on her, and shut her away for life! How could a loving mother do that to her child?

But when we view the scars on the lower part of the boy’s body, our indignation subsides, doesn’t it? In fact, we are rather embarrassed by our hasty conclusions. You see, when we look at the boy’s body as a whole, we realise that the mother is no monster. No, now we see her in a different light…we see her as her son saw her…a loving mother who wouldn’t let go. 

The prophet Isaiah wrote during a time of great upheaval in and around the Ancient Near East, roughly around 740-700 BC. Assyria was the dominant empire at the time and as it expanded, it threatened the very existence of the northern kingdom of Israel. And sure enough, in 722 BC, Israel was overrun, and its inhabitants sent into exile. The southern kingdom of Judah was also threatened, and Isaiah, together with his contemporary prophets, warned them that if they did not turn from their rebellious ways, they too would be destroyed and exiled.

You see, for Isaiah, God was the “Holy One”. In the Scriptures, God's holiness is shown to be his defining characteristic. It's a term used in the Scriptures to describe both God’s goodness and his justice…or, more pointedly, both his love and his anger. As such, when the Covenant People turned their backs on their God, he was obligated by his very nature to punish them for their rebellion and sinfulness. But…and here is the other side of the same picture…by that same nature, he was also obligated to love them, have compassion on them, forgive them, redeem them, and restore them. 

Like with the scars on the young boy from Florida…if you only looked at the upper part of his body, we would conclude that his mother was evil and cruel. So too with the anger of God. If we only look at his anger, we may conclude that God is evil and cruel. We must look at the whole if we are to establish the truth.

In the opening chapter of the book of Isaiah, God likened His Covenant People to the rulers of Sodom and the people of Gomorrah. This was not meant to be a compliment. The recipients of this message knew the story of Sodom and Gomorrah very well and would not take kindly to the comparison. However, the sexual deviation of the people of Sodom and of Gomorrah was a good description of the spiritual reality of God’s people at the time Isaiah was prophesying. Just as with the two cities in Abraham’s day, so too now in Isaiah’s day, deviation had become the normal and acceptable practice. Archaeological discoveries support the biblical view that Judah’s religion had become syncretistic…while they continued to celebrate the feasts and festivals and new moons and sabbaths as outlined in the Law, they had included various Canaanite and pagan rites, rituals, and practices, some even claiming that God had a partner or a consort! 

As such, their entire religious system was unacceptable and dangerously deviant. By adding and mixing in the belief systems of the pagans, they produced a totally foreign god. And so, the masses thought they were doing right while doing wrong…going through the religious motions, multitudes of sacrifices and burnt offerings, incense, feasts and festivals…thinking that they were pleasing God and yet, God bluntly stated that none of what they were doing was acceptable to him. “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen.” 

Ouch. Like Sodom and Gomorrah Judah was doomed to destruction, unless they stopped doing what was wrong. They could bring burnt offerings and pray until they were blue in the face, but God would not listen. What a nasty god…how unkind and unloving. Afterall, they were really trying their best. Did a little deviation from the law matter that much? After all, why couldn’t they do what the other nations were doing? Why was God so angry?

Well…because an alligator had them by the leg. If they continued to live the way they were living, they would cease to be the nation they were called to be…they would cease to be a light to the nations. They would cease to be a holy nation. They would cease to be distinctive, and they would simply sink into the mire of global assimilation and accommodation. There they would steadily be ripped apart by Satan and be slowly drowned in their sin. The thief of all things would break in and plunder and kill them. A warning we would do well to heed in our own day!

But God’s love would not and will not allow him to let go even if it meant scarring his people deeply.

Throughout the book of Isaiah, we find the terrible predictions of destruction interspersed with intensely beautiful promises of deliverance. “Though your sins are like scarlet,” God said, “they shall be white as snow; though they be red as crimson, they shall be like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land.” It is God’s love that drives him to passionately judge his people…he knows that left in the jaws of the proverbial alligator we will die. And God does not want us to die. God wants all to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4) He does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

If God did not care, he would let go…but that would not be a loving thing to do, would it?

Let me state this differently. Petrol prices are rising. True, in the Netherlands, we have options. If we do not need to travel far, we can walk or use a bicycle. Or, should our destination be further away, we can use a train, or a bus, or a tram to get where we need to be. But in other countries where there is no good public transport system in place, people may begin to get desperate. So, as diesel is cheaper than petrol (at least at the moment), what if I try to use diesel in my petrol engine instead? No? Well, what about water? Water is cheaper than petrol and diesel. Let me pour water into my tank. 

What’s going to happen? I will be walking everywhere pretty soon, won’t I? Nasty, unkind, unloving, evil manufacturers…

Now this may appear to be silly and oversimplistic, but here’s the parallel. God designed us. He made each and every single cell that makes us who and what we are. He knows how we need to operate if we are to function properly. Deviate from his operating instructions and something is going to breakdown somewhere. 

Subsequently, we may reason then that when we stray away from his operating instructions, God’s anger, demonstrated in judgement, is the most loving thing he can do.

But the bottom line is simply this: God is God…he is the mighty one, he is the Lord, he is the Holy One. He made all things, and he owns all things…including you and me. And he loves us enough to wrench us out of the jaws of death, even if that means causing us great pain and anguish. 

Or perhaps, it may mean that he causes himself great pain and anguish…

You see, God loves us…and he bears the scars that prove it. 

Today, we will be partaking of the sacrament by which we are to remember that love…that love demonstrated once so graphically upon the cross. 

As we take the symbol of his body broken and his blood shed, see the hands of the Father holding on to us through his Son. Behold those scars and gaze on his wounds…here at his table, we see the loving anger of God most clearly. 

Let us pray.

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2022