God's Grand Vision: Transformed people

Good morning everyone. Let's bow our heads. I'm going to pray.

Heavenly Father, we pray that as we come to your word now and as I speak from it,

that you would speak to us by your spirit, that you would grow us in Christ to your glory.

And we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Our Archbishop Peter Jensen spoke to us, or spoke with a few of us the other day at clergy conference,

at Northern Region Clogy Conference, and he was talking about conversion to Christ

and especially how it's something that begins with God himself.

It's not just something we do for ourself.

It's the regenerating work of the spirit of God in us that brings us to Christ.

And then he gave us a really sober warning, born of experience.

He said that at every level of church life, people engage in unregenerate behaviour,

that is destructive to our life as the people of God,

but it is also damaging to our witness to Christ in the world.

And global mission, how people outside see us,

is undermined by unregenerate behaviour amongst us.

And he said that churches and church organisations and Christian schools

are always tempted to put people into leadership because of need.

We need to fill a position.

We need somebody for the job, so we put somebody in as treasurer

because they work with finance.

We put somebody into the parish council

because they're a leader in the business world.

And when we put qualifications and experience ahead of Christian faith,

we're actually ahead for disaster.

And he said an example would be that church schools

that have lowered their expectations of faith,

or Christian faith in their teachers,

and have pursued academic excellence,

which is always the pressure from parents,

now turn out well-educated unbelievers.

Generalisation.

I found it to be true in a place or two too.

His words are actually born of bitter experience.

He demanded the licence of one of my friends in ministry

who was found to have had a number of sexual affairs

with people in parishes that he worked in.

His early days as archbishop were sometimes miserable.

Numbers of times he took strong action

to remove people from ministry.

They were people whose behaviour had caused the name of Christ

to be dragged through the mud,

and some of those people still hate him.

My first year in one of my parishes saw similar things.

I had a warden who thought I was just...

She was female, but she just thought

I was the nicest man in the world for ten months.

And then I think I lovingly spoke to her.

She doesn't think so, but I lovingly spoke to her

about a relationship that seemed to be developing

with one of our parish counsellors.

And it later intruded into their marriage,

her marriage.

It later became adultery.

I lost a warden.

I lost a parish counsellor.

And I lost a synod rep because of their immorality.

Three different people.

I've watched another church,

which was a huge supporter of missions,

known all over the place for their good works

and watched them self-destruct

because of immorality amongst the people of God.

And that church can no longer afford to support a minister.

So we and the world out there often focuses on things

like the forgiveness and the mercy

that is to be found in Christ, which is real.

But we must not underestimate the devastating effects

of sin amongst God's people

and God's anger with it.

And there is a need for strong leadership to deal with it.

So the Bible passage before us this morning,

it's the Isaiah passage.

It's Isaiah chapter 56, beginning at verse 9

Isaiah 56 · chapter mention

and following through at the end of chapter 57.

It'd be great if you had your Bibles open.

But it is a shattering description of the people of God.

And Isaiah brings the word of God to the people of God

and sin and wickedness seem to reign

and it starts from the top down.

It begins with the leaders.

And so you read,

Come all you beasts of the field,

come and devour all you beasts of the forest.

Israel's watchmen are blind,

they all lack knowledge,

they are mute dogs,

they cannot bark,

they lie around and dream,

they love to sleep.

They are dogs with mighty appetites,

they never have enough,

they are shepherds who lack understanding,

they all turn to their own way,

each seeks his own gain.

Come, each one cries,

let me get wine,

let us drink our fill of beer,

and tomorrow will be like today,

or even better.

And so what he's doing,

he's issuing an invitation to the beasts of the field,

the beasts of the forest,

to come in amongst the people of God,

rip, tear, devour.

They're invited to bring destruction as God's judgment.

And he castigates the failure of leadership.

The watchmen and the shepherds,

who are nearly always prophets in the Old Testament,

have failed in their duty of care.

They're responsible to live under God's law

and call the people of God to as well.

And he describes them as blind,

as ignorant,

as mute.

All the faculties that they need

to be able to do their work

have been disabled by sin.

And so they can't see,

so they're in no position to look out for trouble.

They're ignorant,

they lack knowledge,

they can't even begin to teach

what they should be teaching,

they can no longer even discern

right from wrong,

and seemingly don't care.

And they're mute.

They don't even use their voices

to warn people.

And so rather than looking after

the interests of the people of God,

they're sitting in the background,

drinking,

in the backyard,

drinking their beer

and having a great old time on the wine

and looking after themselves.

And he says,

they've got insatiable appetites

for seeking their own gain.

They are gluttons and drunkards

focused on what they can get out of life.

And they live oblivious to the work

that God has appointed them to do.

And they are like the rich fool

in Luke chapter 12.

Luke 12 · chapter mention

They have settled back.

They are taking life easy.

They do not live with any fear of God.

They have no concern at all

that one night

he will demand their life.

And so Isaiah begins with the leadership

because they have failed to teach

and obey the word of God

and as a result,

God's people have descended

into great wickedness.

I can't read this

without reflecting on my own leadership

amongst God's people

and I would ask you

that if you have leadership

in a small group

or other ministry

in this church

or in other places

to reflect on it for yourself.

Do we have courage

to confront sin in our midst?

Do we excuse brothers and sisters

for inappropriate behaviour

or in their speech

and say,

well, they've always been like that?

Or do I care more

about how people see me

and the importance of my role?

Do I live the acknowledgement of others?

Do I live on the privileges

and esteem that leadership brings

without taking the responsibilities

that it involves?

See, watchmen and shepherds

are called

by the Lord Jesus

to sacrificial service.

We are servants of Christ.

We are not employees

of the people of God.

We are called

to have humble hearts

which are submissive to Christ

and which seek his glory.

And Isaiah is caustic

in his critique

of the wickedness

of the leaders.

But then he moves on

to describe the wickedness

which reigns

amongst the people of God.

So chapter 57, verse 3.

But you, come here,

you sons of a sorceress,

you offspring of adulterers

and prostitutes,

whom are you mocking?

At whom do you sneer

and stick out your tongue?

Are you not a brood of rebels,

the offspring of liars?

You burn with lust

under the oaks

and under every spreading tree.

You sacrifice your children

in the ravines

and under the overhanging crags.

The idols among the smooth stones

of the ravines

are your portion.

They, they are your lot.

Yes, to them

you have poured out

drink offerings

and offered grain offerings

in the light of these things.

Should I relent?

You have made your bed

on a high and lofty hill

and there you want

to offer up your sacrifices.

Behind your doors

and your doorposts

you have put your pagan symbols.

Forsaking me,

you uncovered your bed.

You climbed into it

and opened it wide.

You made a pact

with those whose beds

you love

and you looked

on their nakedness.

You went to Moloch

with olive oil

and you increased

your perfumes.

You sent your ambassadors

far away.

You descended

to the grave itself.

Not a pretty picture.

God's people

described as sons

of a sorceress

you offspring

of adulterers

and prostitutes

could have used

a more colloquial way

of speaking about them.

But their mocking,

verse 4,

is a mocking of God

sticking their tongue

out at him.

What are you going

to do about it?

And they have done it.

We've seen the last few weeks.

They have done it

by pursuing other gods.

They've taken on

the ways of worship

of the surrounding nations.

They've made political treaties.

They've forgotten

the Lord God.

One of the other gods

is named Moloch

in verse 9.

Another is hinted at

by the practices.

So in verse 7,

beds on high hills

where you offered sacrifices.

Or verse 5,

lust under the oaks

and spreading trees.

So in that society,

Baal and his female

counterpart Ashtaroth

were widely worshipped

in this farming society.

And so an annual crop

was their livelihood.

It was their life.

It was their well-being.

It was their wealth.

It was their salvation.

Everything was dependent

upon the success

of the crop.

And so part of the town festival

might involve

the priest of Baal

having sex in public

with a young woman

as part of the worship

aimed at securing

Baal's favour

and blessing.

And you go through

this passage

and you see

there's lots of sexual

overtones

into this worship

in verses 8 and 9.

The pagan symbols

are very likely

of male sex organs

associated with fertility.

Lots of those

have been found

by archaeologists.

And Isaiah is quite graphic

speaking about

the uncovered bed

and the pact

that you have made

with others

that you love.

You look on their nakedness.

It's a metaphorical picture.

The people of God

have been prostituting

themselves to other gods.

But it's also

an actual picture

because the worship

of these gods

opens them up

to rampant immorality.

Moloch worship

is horrifically wicked.

Verse 5

You sacrifice

your children

in the ravines

and under

the overhanging

crags.

You slip out of town

with the unwanted child

and you murder them

in a quiet place

where people

cannot see

down in the riverbed

under a crag

near the smooth stones

as you seek

well-being

and protection

from Moloch

for yourself.

Sort of religion

and ways of worship

seem a long way

removed from reality

for most of us.

Increasingly

not true

because

many people

in our church family

now come from

cultures very different

from a western one.

And Men's Breakfast

last Saturday

T.S. Lim

spoke about

or showed us

pictures of his family's

clan house

in Malaysia

and explained

that it was the place

where they had

their family idols

and where the family

would go to worship

the ancestors.

He said the Lim family

in Malaysia

is a bit like

the Jones family

in Australia

a really common name

everybody goes there.

We don't have one

not in that sort of way

we don't build idols

and we don't build temples

to stuff them in

and worship them at.

We've lived

many of us

have lived in the west

we have a so-called

scientific understanding

of the world

based on cause and effect

we tend

towards atheism

and many

believe in a world

which doesn't need

any sort of God.

These practices

are below us

and we become God.

The world

revolves around us

and everything

is to our pleasure

we are at the centre

of the world

and we create

our own security

and so we work hard

to secure things

like our wealth

and our future.

Education's

of very high value

because it's a mechanism

for climbing above

our parents'

situation in life.

So grandparents

and parents

invest a lot

in their children

because we want them

to rise above us.

It's a way

of putting ourselves

ahead of other people

and over other people.

One of our older people

said to us

at a small group

the other night

that they notice

amongst their peers

older people

that you see

this sort of control

even to the end

of their lives

that people in nursing

homes and aged care

some of them

are very concerned

about how their life

will end

and they want to have

control over

how their life

will end.

We wouldn't be

so crass

would we

as to

have rampant

immorality

in public places

and yet

I turn on

my television

and I cannot

turn the channel

without people

reenacting sex

of all kinds

in front of me

and I am

drawn by it

and so it does

it occurs

in public

everywhere

and Moloch

is not far

from us either

we go

to a quiet

place

to destroy

unwanted

children

I went

to the website

of one of our

local hospitals

recently

looking for a

phone number

to ring one

of our elderly

patients

patients

and I was

confronted

on that

website

by the

links

to

the

abortion

ad

to the

abortion

website

biggest

business

in Sydney

amongst them

it was

boasting

and I

went there

and that

website

told me

that they

treat

women

from 13

to 50

and that

the average

age of

patients

is not a

teenager

but it's

28

and they

massage

their language

they're honest

they're forthright

they say

we carry out

abortions

terminations

but they

don't

abort

babies

in their

language

they just

remove

unwanted

tissue

and evacuate

it from

a woman's

body

that's the

language

that's used

not designed

to be a

guilt trip

I know

in speaking

to any

of our

congregations

that numbers

of us

may have

been impacted

in some

way by

abortion

and if

that is

you

then a

different

kind of

conversation

needs to

be had

but the

point that

I'm making

is

that we

can look

back on

these so

called

unsophisticated

societies

2700 years

ago

and not

identify

with the

wickedness

of their

idolatry

their worship

led them

to rampant

immorality

and great

wickedness

in the

killing

of their

children

but we

have the

outcomes

of idol

worship

all around

us

and the

question

becomes

what is

it that

we worship

that leads

us to be

a society

where

immorality

is rampant

and where

thousands and

thousands of

children's lives

are ended

every year

and it's

not just

out there

it's in

here as

well

and so

Isaiah

paints a

picture of

great

darkness

and evil

which has

come over

the people

of God

it seems

like evil

reigns

the wicked

are thriving

and godly

people go

to the

grave

and I

think that's

what verses

1 and 2

are about

the righteous

perish and

no one

ponders it

in his

heart

devout men

are taken

away and

no one

understands

that the

righteous are

taken away

to be spared

from evil

those who

walk uprightly

enter into

peace

they find

rest as

they lie

in death

so godly

people die

and no one

cares

and yet

it says

here

God

takes

his

own

people

out

righteous

people

don't have

a very

high

profile

in this

sort of

society

they're

not

movers

and shakers

they go

to their

graves

unnoticed

and without

a thought

but Isaiah

says

they're taken

away to be

spared from

evil

in death

they find

peace

and rest

it's like

the hope

of a

New

Testament

believer

expressed

in the

Old

Testament

so you

wouldn't

a Christian

person

should not

dare to

say to

somebody

who didn't

trust in

Christ

that

death

is

peace

the

Bible

makes it

very clear

that death

comes after

judgment

or judgment

comes after

death

and in

1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4

Paul's answering

the question

what happens

to believers

who die

before Christ

returns

and he

answers them

with deep

reassurance

brothers

we do not

want you to

be ignorant

about those

who fall

asleep

or to

grieve like

the rest

of men

who have

no hope

we believe

that Jesus

died and

rose again

and so we

believe that

God will

bring with

Jesus

those who

have fallen

asleep in

him

the same

reassurance

in the

New Testament

is here in

Isaiah 700

years before

Christ

for the

for the

person safe

in Christ

death is

not the

end

it's regarded

as sleep

it's in

rest

it's an

escape

from having

to live

with the

wickedness

of the

world

including

its impact

on us

it's a

great hope

but the

other way

out of this

mess begins

to be revealed

in verse

13

the

person

who

makes

me

his

refuge

will

inherit

the

land

and

possess

my

holy

mountain

the

wicked

person

is

invited

to

find

safety

and

protection

with

God

hear that

the

wicked

person

is

invited

to

find

safety

and

protection

with

God

absolutely

unbelievable

and true

and so

if you

are

overwhelmed

by your

own

sin

and

failures

this

is

for

you

God

asserts

himself

verse

15

he says

this is

what the

high and

holy

one

says

he

who

lives

forever

whose

name

is

holy

I

live

in a

high

and

holy

place

but

also

with

him

who

is

contrite

and

lowly

in

spirit

to

revive

the

spirit

of

the

lowly

and

to

revive

the

heart

of

the

contrite

see

the

picture

here

is

wickedness

seems

to

reign

and

it

might

not

be

where

all

the

action

is

it

might

seem

like

this

is

the

place

where

all

the

action

is

but

the

eternal

God

of

the

universe

speaks

from

his

everlasting

throne

and

he

says

I

reign

I

am

king

and

whether

you

believe

it

or

not

I

be

true

and

notice

what

God

doesn't

say

to

us

as

we

come

to

him

he

doesn't

say

pull

up

your

socks

get

your

act

together

overcome

your

sin

he

speaks

to

the

person

who

makes

him

their

refuge

and

he

says

not

only

does

God

reign

on

his

glorious

throne

in

heaven

he

is

also

with

him

who

is

contrite

and

lowly

in

spirit

to

revive

the

spirit

of

the

lonely

and

revive

the

heart

of

the

contrite

God

is

near

as a

passage

I

often

read

to

people

in

distress

and

sometimes

it

is

in

distress

over

their

own

sin

and

failure

so

you

minister

to

a

person

differently

according

to how

they

present

themselves

to

you

so

if

somebody

comes

forward

saying

there's

nothing

wrong

with

all

this

stuff

I'm

doing

that's

a

very

different

perspective

from

the

person

who

comes

forward

and

done

and

the

evil

that

is

in

my

heart

what

is

going

to

come

of

me

and

psalm

Psalms 9:7

chapter

9

verse

7

says

the

Lord

reigns

forever

and

he

has

established

his

throne

for

judgment

he

will

judge

the

world

in

righteousness

and

he

will

govern

the

peoples

with

justice

the

Lord

is

a

refuge

for

the

oppressed

a

stronghold

in

times

of

trouble

and

those

who

know

your

name

will

trust

in

you

for

you

Lord

have

never

forsaken

those

who

seek

you

God

is

king

and

he

is

also

very

near

to

those

who

are

humble

enough

to

make

him

their

refuge

and

over

and

over

again

he

invites

us

to

bring

our

failures

and

our

brokenness

to

him

without

pretense

this

is

the

other

conversation

I

mentioned

a

minute

ago

if

your

life

is

damaged

by

immorality

or your

conscience

is torn

through the

impact

of an

abortion

or whatever

it is

that weighs

upon your

soul

Christ the

king invites

you to

make him

your

refuge

God's

men and

women

are

deeply

aware

of

sin

and

they

struggle

with

it

and

it

is

with

broken

hearts

and

dependent

spirits

that

we

come

to

God

and

we

throw

ourselves

on

his

mercy

one

of the

commentators

I read

as I

prepared

this

message

says

God

comforts

mourners

and

those

who

won't

weep

won't

be

comforted

so

if

you

have

been

tainted

by the

immorality

of this

world

as I

have

and

if

you

have

participated

in

Moloch

and

been

involved

in

the

destruction

of

unborn

children

or

whatever

it is

that

you

have

done

there

is

this

extraordinary

invitation

to

throw

ourselves

on

God's

mercy

and

he

doesn't

say

get

out

of

my

sight

I

don't

ever

want

to

see

you

again

he

invites

us

to

bring

our

sin

and

failure

to

the

one

who

was

pierced

for

our

transgressions

crushed

for

our

iniquities

the

one

on

whom

the

Lord

laid

the

iniquity

of

us

all

four

chapters

before

Isaiah

53

the

servant

who

makes

these

things

possible

invites

us

to

bring

our

sin

and

wickedness

to

the

cross

of

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

the

great

invitational

words

of

the

Lord

Jesus

come

to

me

all

you

who

are

weary

and

burdened

and

I

will

give

you

rest

take

my

yoke

upon

you

and

learn

from

me

for

I

am

gentle

and

humble

in

heart

and

you

will

find

rest

for

your

souls

for

my

yoke

is

easy

and

my

burden

is

light

in the sermon on the mount Jesus says blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted

he's not speaking merely about bereavement he is speaking about being deeply grieved by our own sin

and brokenness we are the tax collector in the temple of God in Luke 18 who cannot even raise

his eyes to heaven and beats his breast and says God have mercy on me the sinner

see in our month of global mission awareness see that God has given us the most magnificently

hopeful message to shout to the world

he is the great and magnificent creator God of the universe he has come near through his son the Lord

Jesus Christ he has come near to anyone who would make him their refuge he is a magnificent God

and he says I live in a high and holy place

but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit

to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite

Amen