Ascension Plus 1
Ascension • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 2 viewsNotes
Transcript
Intro
The Text
1. The Judgement will create such a demographic crisis that the people will break traditional marriage bounds to not have the shame of widowhood.
Verse 2: In that day
Up unto this point (Chapter 3) there has been this oracle of intense judgement
God is taking away food supply Leadership, superstition, the wealthy class, social customs like respect. There will be political desperation
Their very obvious evils will proclaim judgement against them. The arrogance and pride of the people are likened to snobbish wealthy women.
This is a day of God arriving to right wrongs, a day of Judgement.
and yet in that day there will be a branch that is beautiful and glorious. Branch being a metaphors for the people of God. So simultaneously there are in Israel people who will be the objects of God’s judgment and those who are objects of his blessing.
Verse 3: Those who remain as an object of blessing will be Holy and Recorded for life.
Holy is the set apartness of god, The characteristic of his that infinite goodness and being. And now he communicates that attribute to his remaining blessed people. They are recorded for life, that is in The Book: The record of God’s people, those who will experience life.
Verse 4: These Haughty women of chapter three who are then desperate in Chapter 4 are now atoned for. Its not that this group of blessed people where the most well behaved, they are benefactors of the grace of God. They will have the spirit of God, that is a spirit of fire.
Verse 5 they will have proximity to God: Zion is the geography of God’s location, the smoke and fire are the actual presence of God. (Harkening back to Siani). But really to have God’s presence is to be back in Eden.
Verse 6: God’s presence will come with protection. The word booth here is significant because the people of Israel would celebrate the feast of booths, where they would live a week inside a temporary structure or a booth to remember the provision of God in the desert living in temporary structures.
So as a recap to this text: The arrival of God on that day will bring the Judgements of chapter three on some and to the branch there will be the realities of God’s blessing, the Spirit of God on them, being close to God and his Glory, and having God’s protection.
Main Point: The Day of our Lord will bring the judgement that all people deserve, but the faithful will experience the blessings by his sheer grace.
So what are our applications from this text. Isnt this, after all, a description of what happens at the end to the wicked and to the righteous.
Here are the encouragements I would give you. Remember that the oracles of judgement that lead up to this are oracles against Israel…the supposed people of God. They are ment to live as God’s people and yet they do not show the qualities of God. They worship false Gods. In their greed the mistreat marginalized peoples. They take God’s blessings for granted.
We as church people take some comfort that we are God’s special people, but we would be wise to learn the lessons of the past. Just because these folks lived in the land with the correct worship of God, they were not spared, and our living in proximity to right worship is not the thing that should give us comfort.
There is a branch that will be spared. This branch, this elect will have within them the Spirit of God. Our lectionary is in a section that focuses on the Holy Spirit on God’s people and the transformation He brings. The branch that has the Holy Spirit has the blessings of God.
Those who experience God’s blessing do not do so because they are deserving, but because God is merciful and gracious. In his mercy he spare us punishment and by his grace he blesses us. We have not earn his proximity. We have not behaved our way out of calamity. We are given it freely.
Finally being blessed by God means we get to be close to God. To have his provision and protection and to have him close. These are the things we celebrate in our communion feast. God is present in a real way not only in us through the power of the Holy Spirit, but in the bread and the wine. Our bread and wine do not change into Gods body and blood, but the created matter takes on the essence of the creator. There is a union between the creator and the created. Just as Jesus is both creator and creation. In that way we are both close to God in the elements and provided for in eating the elements. Our liturgy invites us to Draw near with faith, and take this holy Sacrament to your comfort; as a sure sign that we have been spared the judgement of Isaiah 3 and have the blessings of Isaiah 4.
Main Point: The Day of our Lord will bring the judgement that all people deserve, but the faithful will experience the blessings by his sheer grace.
Moving away from spiritual applications I want to point us to some more practical thoughts.
This is a text about the eventual destruction and devastation of the city and they a rebuilt city on the other end. The New Heavens and the New Earth and the New Jerusalem is a major theme is Isaiah.
As a church family I know that we are feeling the after effects of being a city that has been depopulated. There is the anxiety and fear of rebuilding up ahead. But lets remain mindful that it is God who rebuilds in this text in Isaiah. Successfully calling to himself a faithful people who he lives amongst is his work. Yes we must be faithful to our calling and step into the roles that he gives us. But success is something God does. After all was it not God who is successful on the cross. Is it not God who wins the battle for mens souls in his death at Calvary. There is a path ahead of us and we are not always certain of the future. But we are certain of the grace of God. His love for us as individuals and his love for us as a church. Amen. and Amen