July 12, 2020 Text: Isaiah 5:10-13
Dear Friends in Christ,
How would define the word home? Has your definition changed since March 20, 2020? You do recall what happened that day, don’t you? The government asked us all to stay home – shelter in place – quarantine ourselves. Before these last 16 weeks for most of us the word “home” evoked warm feelings. “Home” for Christmas. Coming “home” from college and better food. A good night’s sleep, dad, mom, and family needling. Dorothy famously said on the yellow brick road, “There’s no place like home!”
Do you still see “home” the same way? Are you tired of working from home? Have you run out of projects around your home? Have you felt trapped in your home?
The prophet Isaiah is writing this morning about Israelites living in Babylon. They are exiles far from home. They can’t leave and the Babylonians have become their new daddy. They’ve been told to . . .
“SHELTER IN PLACE”
Israel is stuck in place apart from what they are used to. There is the detestable statue of the god Marduk. There are canals and building projects they have no interest in. The Israelites have no king, no temple, no royal city, no land, no liturgy, no sacrifice, no hope, no future, and no song. How can they sing God’s songs while in a foreign land?
So by the rivers of Babylon they sit and weep, reminiscing about the good ol’ days when they worshipped in Solomon’s temple, worked and shopped in the city of David, and saw the Mount of Olives from a distance. O God, “there’s no place like home!”
The Israelites are not just away from home; they are away from the Father. Babylon is an oppressive empire. They are seeing to it that Israel has no song to the Lord. They want to stop their singing. If they can’t do that, then they will pollute them with their ideology and managed slogans.
Some of us are far away from home even while we shelter in place. We are far away from the Father. We have exiled ourselves right here and now. We’ve left home for seductive lights and deadly lights. We’ve forgotten our baptism and ended up with empty relationships and inflated egos. What need have we of the Father . . . and we have no song to sing.
As we shelter in place we also live with ideology and managed slogans. Don’t gather in church, but depending on your politics, go ahead and gather by the thousands. The hypocrisy is rampant. Please discern what you see happening.
Into this mess . . . into this exile . . . God speaks, “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” (v. 12)
Just when the music died and Israel’s history seemed closed by Babylonian imperial policy the Lord raised up Cyrus in Isaiah chapter 45. In chapter 53 a Servant was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. And the guarantee for all this? The power and faithfulness of God’s Word found in our text. The promises will not return empty. God said it. That settles it. Faith believes it.
In the little town of Bethlehem this faithful Word took on flesh and blood and had a heart. He lived in exile from the Father’s home for 33 years. What did He say, “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Mt. 8:20) Eventually the Son was exiled from the Father, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mk. 15:34) Lips are cracked, mouth is dry, He can barely swallow. His voice is hardly audible. This Jesus has not sheltered in place but has been on a mission to bring us all home. He has been spit upon and bruised and kicked and whipped and talked down to. He is a cross-bearer and a sin-bearer. Nothing can quench his thirst. He has no song to sing, the day the music died.
On the third day, came forth no mere song, but a joyous symphony. It would be a celebration. It would provide you and I with a permanent home. “In my Father’s house are many rooms…I go to prepare a place for you.” (Jn. 14:2) “Our citizenship is in heaven.” (Phil. 3:20)
Shelter in place has not been easy for some. This is temporary. Our permanent home, our shelter in place is forever and forever. Think of the fanciest room you’ve ever stayed in. Toni and I have been to a place where we had a swimming pool, hot tub, and sauna in our room. The room is ready. The price has been paid. Here are your robe and sandals. The sacrifice complete, and the Father has rehearsed his lines: This Son of mine “was dead and is alive again.” (Lk. 15:32)
Let’s sing with mountain and hills, and with the trees clap our hands. We join in the hymn of all creation because Jesus’ dying love means we are going home!
Amen.