PENTECOST 16 – September 20, 2020 – Isaiah 55:6-9
“THE HIGHER WAY”
Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Old Testament lesson just read, from Isaiah 55. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- Most of us have “carbon monoxide” detectors in our home. We have them here at church as well. That is because carbon monoxide is a deadly gas in concentration, and it is unnoticeable to human smell or observation. So we have these detectors to make sure we are warned when we are in danger, when the gas is present.
- Oxygen is much the same – unnoticeable and undetectable. At least, oxygen is not detectable until we go places where the concentration levels are lower – like when we hike in upper elevations. The lower levels can make us ill – we call it altitude sickness, and it is not pleasant. The complete absence of oxygen kills very quickly.
- I never think about these gases, really. It is like “out of sight, out of mind.”
- The same is often the case in our relationship with God. We know that He is God, and therefore “present everywhere.” We know, then, that He is present with us always – even when we are giving Him no thought, and even when we are engaging in thinking and behaving that are contrary His good and gracious will for our lives.
- When we do stop to remember that God is with us, and consider some of the sin that we have engaged in, we are likely to also come to “wrong conclusions” about God, about how He feels, and what He wants for us. It is as the Lord reveals to us in our text: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord.” He also reminds us: “My thoughts are higher than your thoughts.”
- So what are we to make of this? How are we to see the difference between God’s ways, “THE HIGHER WAY,” and our lowlier and errant thoughts and ways? And how are we to be enabled to adjust our thinking and our ways so that they become more aligned with God’s ways and God’s thoughts?
- Thankfully, this is precisely God’s will as expressed in our text. And this is the whole purpose of God speaking, of God “declaring” to us. He has given us His Word to enable us to engage in this renewing and uplifting process of knowing, believing, and practicing the “HIGHER WAYS OF GOD.” First we should understand that:
I. God Is Near To Us Always, Eager For Our Repentance
NB – First, let us remember the meaning of the word “repentance.” It literally means to change one’s mind. Particularly, to change our mind about sin, about God, and about ourselves – what our orientation will be aimed at and what we are committed to.
A. God Wants Us To Repent From Wicked Ways
Text: “Let the wicked forsake his way.”
B. God Wants Us To Repent From Wicked Thinking
Text: “Let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts.”
Statement: Perhaps we think that if God is near when we engage in wicked thoughts and wicked ways, that He is eager to rebuke us, or eager to punish us, or eager to cast us from His presence. That thinking is precisely what our text identifies as “wrong thinking” about God. We are thinking that He is trite, shallow, vindictive, mean-spirited, more apt to be against us than for us. This thinking is beneath His thinking, and we are also called to repent of it, to forsake thinking wrongly about God in this manner.
Application: That we would think wrongly about God should cause us to pause. We are generally fairly certain about what we have determined to be true. But sadly, our sinful nature sets forth many things to us as being “true,” many of which simply are not true. This should humble us, and instill a great deal of caution in us – when it comes to thinking about God and His ways. It should enable us to see that we need outside help when it comes to knowing God and His ways! We cannot trust what arises naturally from within in regard to the thoughts and ways of God. In our text we see this – that the thinking and the ways of our sinful nature are not God’s thoughts or God’s ways!
Transition: But again, in our text we see what God – Who is present with us always – is really about. We see His ways and His thoughts toward us and what He wants for us!
II. God Is Different Than We Think – He Invites Us To Return To Him
A. He Calls Us To Seek Him – And Assures Us That He Can Be Found
Text: “Seek the LORD while He may found; call upon Him while He is near.”
B. He Assures Us That He Will Have Compassion Upon Us
Text: “Let him return to the LORD, that He may have compassion on him.”
C. He Asserts That He Will Pardon All Of Our Sins And Iniquities – All Of Our Wrong Thoughts And Deeds
Text: “Let him return to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
Statement: What is the cost of repentance, of turning back to the Lord? Nothing! In fact, to do so actually brings the greatest blessings upon us! It restores us to the will of God. It brings His compassion upon us. It provides us with the assurance of God’s full forgiveness and pardon of our sins! This is what is promised, and what God’s own Word instructs us as being His will, His ways: “Seek the Lord . . . return to the Lord.”
Application: Compare and contrast what this Word of God says about God and His ways, with what we often think in our unbelieving and impenitent darkness. The difference is as much as “the heavens are higher than the earth.” But God’s Word can reduce and ultimately eliminate this great distance – as we allow Him to teach us! And we can be sure that:
III. God Dearly Desires That We Should Know His Higher Thoughts And Ways – That Is Why He Has Given Us This Word, And The Rest Of Holy Scripture
Text: “Seek the Lord [His higher thoughts and ways] . . . return to the Lord” [live in His gracious forgiveness, mercy, love, and salvation] . . . [adopt His thoughts and ways as your own].
Ezek. 33:11 “As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”
Statement: Again, all of this should show us that the thoughts and ways of the LORD are not only “higher” than our thoughts and ways, they are much more pleasant to live in. They connect us to God Himself, so that as we live in the assurance of His love we also grow in our love for Him. We come to see the greater nobility of His ways – of love, sacrificial service, generosity, kindness and compassion toward one another. We come to deeply crave His thoughts and ways, and desire to make them our own.
Application: This comes not by denying that we have sinful thoughts and ways, but rather by repenting of them, returning over and over again, many times each day, to receive God’s gracious compassion and pardon. After all, “He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity.” [1 Jn. 1:9] And our renewal is as God’s Word reveals: “We love because He first loved us.” [1 John 4:19].
Conclusion: So let us rejoice to know that even though He is unseen and undetectable to us naturally, God is present with us at all times, deeply concerned with our thoughts and our ways. Second, let us rejoice that His holy reaction to our sins is not to forsake us or throw us away. Rather, He eagerly calls us back to Himself – not so that He can rebuke or punish us, but so that He can have compassion on us and forgive us!
Let us rejoice that it is God’s good and gracious will that we come to have His higher thoughts and higher ways. He seeks to richly bless us in His goodness and love! This is “THE HIGHER WAY,” the way of God Himself.
May He grant each of us, in richest measure, this blessedness that He desires to pour out upon us! Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting. Amen.