Peter Misselbrook's Blog

Oct 24 2019 - Isaiah 56 – Salvation for many

Salvation is free – we are invited to come to a feast for which we have no ability to pay. But our response to God's saving goodness must reach into every part of our lives. The Lord calls upon his people to prepare for his coming by maintaining justice and doing what is right (v. 1); they are to reflect the character of God their Saviour.

The Lord reassures those who are not natural born children of Abraham that they too have a place among his people; they should not fear that they will be excluded (v. 3). In Deuteronomy 23:1 it was written that "No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord." This rule is now abolished; the eunuchs who devote themselves to the Lord will find a ready welcome with him:

To them I will give within my temple and its walls
    a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name that will endure for ever. (v. 5)

All the ancient restrictions on who may or may not approach God are cast aside. All who answer his call to "Come" will find a ready welcome with him. The Lord will give all of them joy in his house of prayer; it will be "a house of prayer for all nations" (v. 7; words quoted by Jesus in Matthew 21:13). I am reminded of the Apostle Paul's words concerning the gospel:

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:28-29)

The chapter closes with God's words of judgment on the dissolute leaders of his people who have led the people astray rather than leading them in paths of righteousness:

They are shepherds who lack understanding;
    they all turn to their own way, they seek their own gain. (v. 11)

We have heard this description before from Ezekiel.

In closing, I want to pick up the way in which keeping the Sabbath is here used as a mark of God's faithful people, whether Jew of Gentile (vv. 2,4,6). We often think of the Sabbath in terms of prohibitions – things which God says his people should not do. We may even go so far as to look at the Sabbath through the eyes of our Puritan forefathers and think that the day devoted to God must be a day without fun or enjoyment. Nothing could be further from the truth.

God called his people to remember that he is the creator of heaven and earth. All that he has made was to reflect his glory and to be enjoyed by those whom he had made in his image. But God's world is no longer as he created it to be. Stewardship of God's world often becomes painful labour – a battle against thorns and thistles. God invited his people to enjoy the seventh day of the week as a day without labour, entering freely into the blessings of God's rest without toil. It is like a weekly invitation to "Come to the feast". It was to be an anticipation of that great day in which God's salvation would be complete, creation would be renewed and God's people would enjoy life in his presence for all eternity. Sabbath is gift not demand; blessing not burden; grace not law. God calls his people to celebrate Sabbath by doing justly – anticipating the life of the world to come (v. 2).

We can praise God for the way in which his salvation in the Lord Jesus breaks down the barriers between peoples; God's grace is promiscuous grace (in the proper meaning of the term).

Thank you Father for your inexhaustible love towards us in the Lord Jesus. Help us by your Spirit, to live now something of the life of the age to come; may our lives honour you and bring glory to your name. Help us to accept one another as you have accepted us and to encourage people of all backgrounds and nationalities to come and find salvation in Jesus Christ.

Oct 24 2020 - James 1:19-2:17 – Close the gap

One of the key themes in the letter of James is that faith is to be reflected in the way we live. It's all too easy for us to speak fine words while failing to do the things which Jesus commanded.

This is a particular danger for me. Every morning I spend time reading God's word and thinking about it. Every morning I turn some of my thoughts into words; I tap them out and send them out into the wide world. I can sound wonderfully spiritual; but is it reflected in a life that is lived by the word that I have read? James writes, "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says" (James 1:22). It's not enough to take in God's Word and to reflect it in fine words of our own; the Word of God needs to shape our lives, moment by moment and day by day.

James provides a powerful illustration of this point when he writes, "Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, 'Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead" (2:15-17). It's all too easy to say "God bless you", or to promise to pray for someone while failing to reflect the love of God in costly personal action. Words are not enough.

But words also are important. Jesus told his disciples that it was not what goes into a person that makes them unclean, but what comes out of them. Words spoken in the heat of the moment or in an unguarded moment reveal the state of our hearts. We are to “bridle” our tongues – keep them under control (1:26). We are to be slow to speak and quick to listen (1:19).

We need the Lord Jesus to shape both the words we speak and the things we do, that they might reflect his heart of compassion (see 1:27). Most of all, we need him to transform our hearts and minds – to cleanse the spring from which our words and actions flow:

May the mind of Christ, my Saviour,
Live in me from day to day,
By His love and power controlling
All I do and say.

The presence of Christ within us should make us distinctively different from the world around us. And that’s true not only of us as individuals, it ought to shape our shared life as the church of Christ. How tragic then when the church reflects the values of the society in which it lives – such as in paying more attention to the rich and powerful than to the needs of the poor (2:1-4). But it’s more than tragic, it’s a denial of the gospel; it’s as if Christ is no longer in that place. Our attitudes and actions are to make the presence and love of our glorious Lord Jesus visible and tangible so that others may be attracted to him.

Living God, thank you for our glorious Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that he came not only to tell us about the way to life; he came as that life and to live that life. Help us by the power of his Spirit to turn away from the distorted values of this present age and to live transformed lives as children of the kingdom. Help us to close the gap between the words we speak and the way we live. Transform our hearts and minds that they might be the wellspring of a life pleasing to you and a blessing to others.

Peter Misselbrook