July 23, 2023

6th Sunday after Pentecost                It’s God’s Way or the Highway 

Isaiah 55:6-11, July 13/16/23, 2023           1) Listen 2) Marvel 

Introduction I remember when I was 10 years old walking through a public marketplace in Tijuana, Mexico, on vacation with my family. Vendors were set up right next to one another, all crammed together. The owners of the mini shops weren’t sitting in the back room; they were in front of the store attempting to get the attention of any passer-by. They were loud and pushy. They were even willing to barter with their customers, willing to negotiate the price of their goods. With the help of my mom, I was able to buy a marble elephant at a pretty decent price. You could tell that the owners were desperate to sell their merchandise. Not to enrich American tourists, but to enrich themselves. In the end, they were after our money. For the most part, salespeople try to make a sale in order to make money. They are all about making money. There’s a reason why Americans are skeptical opening their doors to solicitors, a reason why “no soliciting” signs are posted on doors – we are tired of being sold items or programs. We know it’s only going to cost us money in the end. In a way, it’s too bad we’re so skeptical of people coming to our door - ask our elder teams, work is much more challenging.  

Context The nation God had chosen wasn’t much interested in spiritual matters. There were other influences, other voices, various distractions that made God’s message through Isaiah secondary in nature to the nation of Judah. Not much has changed today. There are still various distractions and voices that drowned out God’s voice. Or, people in general are so turned off by corporate religion and people trying to sell them the next best thing to slice bread, they are completely disinterested and hardened to what God has to share with them in the Word. 

God isn’t trying to sell us anything. He’s not looking for your money or your favors; he’s not looking to take anything from you. If anything he’s trying to sell you on the point that he has something to offer you that will not cost you anything, while at the same time, offer you everything. He actually openly invites all to partake of the riches he offers in verse 6, Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. You can sense the urgency in God’s message. There is only a limited amount of time before we can call on God. And the other truth of the matter is – the unbeliever will not turn to God in unbelief. They do not have the natural ability to turn to God on their own. They need the gospel. In the gospel, God comes near.

Illustration If you’re a fan of board games, you know how important directions are. If you don’t have directions to a game, how are you going to know what to do in the game. Therefore, before the game is played, directions need to be read and shared. Some directions are simple; some are a bit more complicated. I read about the game called “The Campaign for North Africa”, which is considered the most complicated board game ever created. It’s a war game that involves a lot of strategy. The average time to complete the game is 1500 hours, and you need roughly 10 players to play. Why would anyone ever want to play this complicated game, that never seems to end?! For such a complicated game, directions are key. The directions to this game are written in a clear and entertaining way, with numerous notes to make it a worthwhile experience. In the end, b/c of the complexity, the game still received a lukewarm reception. People are lukewarm about this life at times. At times, the days seem long, as well as the weeks and months – like a complicated, never-ending game. Life at times can be overly complicated where the good and the righteous seem to suffer, while the wicked are flourishing. At times it’s hard to make sense of this life with all of it’s problems, with all the problems we have to face. It gets to the point where we are tempted to shake our fist at God and excuse him of poorly ruling this world and our lives. 

Cure Hopefully if you ever feel overwhelmed, you don’t blow your top, but you “be still” it says in Psalm 46 and know who God is. In order to know who God is, in order for your nerves to be calmed and your fears to change to confidence, you need God to speak to you in his Word. Listen to what God has to say to you this day in Isaiah 55:8,9, 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. God reminds us he is in control; he’s in charge. He created the world; he set the laws of nature in motion; he put the stars in the sky and the animals on the dry ground. Better than that though; God laid out for mankind his gracious plan to save the world from sin, death, and the devil. His son would see to it, by his perfect life and innocent dying and glorious rising, Jesus took care of the business of making us right with God. Thus, as Isaiah says in verse 7, we can freely turn to our God for mercy, for pardon. 

Virtue God encourages us to acquire his gracious blessings, and he suggests an unexpected method for securing them: “Listen, listen to me.” It’s not a moment of listening to God tell us what to do, rather God wants us to listen to what he has done. He’s done it all, free of charge. Not only is that clearly communicated in the Bible; we’re told today it’s a unique message have the source being God Almighty. His message is so special no other sacred book or religion talks about a Savior God. Left alone and without God’s Word, no human can imagine that God would send a Savior to die for unworthy sinners. God’s grace remains a mystery to human intelligence and research. Mankind doesn’t possess the natural ability to devise such a message. God can and did. And in this special message of God’s holy Word where he tells us it’s all been done for us, despite us; we’re also told that it works results in people’s lives. God’s Word works. 

Sometimes directions to board games take some patience before we completely understand the concept of the game. We may not understand it right away, but we can trust the manufacturers of the game knew what they were doing when they put together the game. God no doubt knows what he is doing. He tells us how to successfully navigate this life all the way to the next life – follow Jesus through the hearing and reading of God’s Word. We may not always understand the ways of the Lord, but we can trust his way is best. We can trust that his Word is true and will do what it says. 

Context To help us have a better understanding of how God works through the Word, he explains it in his Word. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Sometimes we feel that the rain or snow can be an inconvenience. We forget the rain and snow is more than an insignificant nuisance – the water enriches and beautifies our planet. It plays a major role in our ecosystem, aiding in the growth of crops and plants. In a miraculous and mysterious way, water helps germinate the seed.

God works like a seed – miraculously and mysteriously. We see proof of God’s miracles in the Bible, out in nature, and in our lives. We see proof of how God works mysteriously, in the Bible out in nature, and in our lives. Maybe you’ve even heard the common phrase - “God works in mysterious ways.” The Bible talks this way, yet you are not going to find the passage with the exact phrasing – God works in mysterious ways – because the phrase comes from a poem by William Cowper (who lived 1731–1800), whose first stanza reads, “God moves in a mysterious way / His wonders to perform; / He plants His footsteps in the sea / And rides upon the storm.” 

God is mysterious, and there is much we cannot comprehend about him and his ways; his ways are much higher, loftier than ours he tells us. At times he can make his presence felt; and other times he is a bit more discreet. In those moments it’s tempting to want to yell at God for not making his presence known in a more meaningful way; for not being there or helping us the way we want. Job had that issue for a while. Job suffered a whole lot, more than anyone else here knows. In his suffering, he felt justified in questioning God’s ways and criticizing his way of governing. Yet, in the final chapters of Job, we see God peppering Job with many questions which can all be summed up with the one question: does the creature have the right to sit on judgment against the Creator? The Bibles says no; in Romans 9:20,21, “20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?


Conclusion It’s God’s way or the highway. This shouldn’t be a point of contention, but a source of joy and comfort. God’s way is always best. All that God does is good and right because he’s God! He, after all, made it possible for you to live in this great world he created. He makes it possible for you to know his goodness and mercy through Jesus. He makes it possible for you to be comforted with a peace that the world cannot give. It’s all found here, in the Word. The Word that lasts…the grass withers and the flowers fall, kingdoms rise and go, people are born and then die, but the Word of God lasts forever. Thank God for the Word, listen and marvel at it. Amen.