Isaiah
66:18-21 (ESV)
“For
I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all
nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set
a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to
Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands
far away, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare
my glory among the nations. And they shall bring all your brothers from all the
nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots and in litters
and on mules and on dromedaries, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, says the LORD,
just as the Israelites bring their grain offering in a clean vessel to the
house of the LORD. And some of them also I will take
for priests and for Levites, says the LORD.
God’s
promise to Abraham was that through him God would bless all the nations of the
earth. Being a people of God was never about being Jewish. It was always about
faith and humility. As Judah faces deportation because of their sin and
disobedience, God, through Isaiah, promises restoration. His restoration is not
a restoration of Jewishness, but a restoration of all people to God.
Isaiah
66:21 is telling. “And some of them (the nations) also I will take for priests
and for Levites, says the LORD.” How can God take people from the nations and
make them priests and Levites? Isn’t that about birthright? Clearly the answer
is “No!” God is not as interested in birthright, and ancestry as he is
interested in humility and faith. God will call people “from every tribe and
language and people and nation” (Rev 5:9).
This
has significant implications for the church. Pentecost (Acts 2) brought
together people from a variety of languages and backgrounds. The Church has
always brought together as one people those of diverse backgrounds, colors,
ethnicities, languages, and cultures. Unfortunately, the local church has not
always been as accepting. We are often fearful of those who are different, and
accepting of those like us. We often feel comfortable only with those of our
color, background, interests, and political persuasion.
Within
the local church, we feel not only uncomfortable, but too often downright
hostile toward those who are unlike us. God forgive us! When we ought to be
extending open arms, we are more often welcoming with reservation, accepting
with fear and uncertainty, or outright rejecting those who are different. The
very Lord we profess would likely have felt very unwelcome in many of our congregations.
I fear that we are often more like the Pharisees whom we love to castigate,
then like the Lord who we claim to worship.
One
day we will see the Church through the eyes of God. One day we will see God use
the most unlikely people as priests and Levites. One day we will fall on our
faces before God along with those we feared. One day we will embrace and
worship with those we held at arm’s length in distrust. Maybe we should start
practicing today.
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