We Are God's People

Sermon on Isaiah 56:1, 6-8

Text: This is what the LORD says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.
6 And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant — 7 these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
8 The Sovereign LORD declares — he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.”

Just about everyone has something that they collect. Some people collect football cards. Others collect vintage tractors. There are people who collect dolls. Others collect salt and pepper shakers. If you are one of those people, you know how exciting it can be to find a rare piece to your collection. You searched and searched and finally found it. It can also be exciting to complete a collection. You needed that one item and now you have the complete set. This morning, we have God who is gathering something to complete his collection. What he collects and gathers are people. By his grace, we can say WE ARE GOD’S PEOPLE. This was 1. Accomplished By His Righteousness. The fact that we are God’s people is 2. Reflected By Our Living.

Verse 1 begins with a call to repentance. “This is what the LORD says: ‘Maintain justice and do what is right.’” The fact that the Lord must tell us to do these things is a reminder that we do not always do them. For example, we are called upon to “maintain justice.” This is something that we are more than willing to do, if it is to our advantage. Everyone is so concerned about their rights. They are going to insist on them, no matter what. For example, if someone cuts in front of you in the checkout line at the store, how do you feel? Yes, they were in the wrong for cutting in front of you, but do you have the right to become angry with them for something that is not really that important? That anger that we feel is not God-pleasing. What are other times when we had certain rights and we were going to insist on them, no matter how it affected other people? This shows us that we are selfish.

Then, we see the phrase “do what is right.” All we have to do is peruse God’s law to see how we do with that. Permit a few examples. God tells us that we are to honor our parents and others in authority. As children, did we/do we obey them when they said to do something. Do we give the proper respect to those who are in the government? It is so easy for us to run them down and make fun of them, because they aren’t doing the things the way that we think they should be done. Have we always been careful with other people’s things? If they lose them, do we try to return them or is it “Finders keepers, Losers weepers?” God says “do what is right.” We must quickly confess that we have not. God is also clear about how he feels about any infraction of his law. It is punishable by death, eternal death in hell.

When we go through this self-examination, we see very quickly that we cannot save ourselves. That is why we rejoice to hear, “My salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed.” These words are reminiscent of the words that John the Baptist spoke as he got the people ready for the coming of the Savior. He said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 3:2) He had been preaching a very stern message of the law to the people. Then, he pointed them to their Savior. This is the only way that these sins that were pointed out could be taken care of. Jesus is the one who brought the promised salvation. The way is highlighted in the word “righteousness.” The word “righteousness” basically has the idea of being right with God. This is not something that you and I are by nature. However, Jesus was. Jesus was righteous as he fulfilled every one of the laws of God. Jesus was righteous for you and for me. Jesus, then, sacrificed that righteous life on the cross to pay for our sins. He underwent the punishment of hell in our place. He was looked at as the worst sinner of all time, because he had all the sins that have ever been committed or will ever be committed on his back. Jesus took our sins and has given us his righteousness. Now, when God looks at us, he does not see the many sins that we have committed. Instead, he sees the righteousness that is required to enter into heaven. Jesus’ resurrection proves the point that we have been declared righteous and heaven waits for us. Jesus’ righteousness has made you and me part of the people of God.

The fact that you and I are a part of God’s people was always part of his plan. We see this in verse 8, “The Sovereign LORD declares — he who gathers the exiles of Israel: ‘I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.’” In this verse, God was reminding the people of Israel that his message of salvation was for all people. Our Good Shepherd also noted, “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” (John 10:16) How our hearts rejoice at the fact that God loved us so much that he was willing to do all of this so that we would be his own both now and for all eternity. We are part of God’s people because of his righteousness.

God notes the way that his people live their lives. He says in verses 6&7, “And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant — these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” The first thing that we note is the many references to the worship life of the Israelites. It speaks of keeping the Sabbath and holding fast to his covenant. Burnt offering and sacrifices are mentioned. Worship of the Lord was a central part of the life of the Israelite. It flowed from thanksgiving for all the ways that God had delivered and provided for his people.

Though we may not have the same worship style of the Israelites, we still want to follow their example. When we are reminded of all that God has done for us, we cannot help but worship him. One of the ways that we do this is through our worship services. When we gather together, we have the privilege of hearing God speak to us through his Word. We get the opportunity to raise our voices in song, praising him for all that he has done for us. Twice in our text, the church service is referred to as a “house of prayer.” During our worship service, we have the opportunity to join with our brothers and sisters in the faith and come to God’s throne of grace in prayer. The devil likes to make us think that going to church is boring and an imposition on our time. However, when we are reminded of what God has done for us, we cannot help but echo the words of David in Psalm 122:1, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’”

However, our worship of our God does not end when we leave this place. God made mention of this when he said, “Foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants.” We worship God when we serve him. The Old Testament people worshiped the Lord with their sacrifices. It is to be noted that the animals that were used in these sacrifices were not the weakest, worst one of the flock or herd. They were the best that they had. We also bring a sacrifice of thanksgiving and devotion to the Lord. This sacrifice is mentioned in Romans 12:1, “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship.” Paul reminds us that we offer to God our entire lives in thanksgiving for all that he has done for us. We want to live this way, not because we must, but because we have this opportunity to thank God. The way that we live reflects on the fact that we are God’s people.

There is one more way that we can worship our God and that is to tell others what God has done for them. It is quite common, when we receive a special gift, to show it to other people. Usually, when we do so, we give credit to the one who gave it to us. How much more wouldn’t we want to do the same in regard to the wonderful gift of Christ’s righteousness that has been given to us! We reflect God’s love for us as we interact with other people. This gives us the opportunity to then tell these people what God has done for them. Remember what God said in verse 8 of our text? “The Sovereign LORD declares — he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “‘I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.’” God doesn’t speak from the sky to people. He allows us the privilege of sharing with them what God has done for us and what he has done for them. This is another way that we get to worship God as we reflect the love that he has shown to us. This is another way to thank God for making us part of his people.

We thank God that he is a collector. He saw you and wanted you to be part of his people. He paid a high price for each and every one of us. He sent his Son to be our Savior. We are, however, more than just little knick-knacks on his shelf. We are at work, showing our thankfulness for all that he has done for us. We also pray that he would continue to add to his collection of people, as more and more people are brought to faith. We, also, pray that God would use us in answer to that prayer. Dear friend, you are special. You are loved. You are part of God’s people. Amen.