Our text for today is another one that reminds us of what a great God we do have. We have a God who is omnipotent as we learned in confirmation that is He is almighty, He created all things out of nothing; He is omniscient, again as we learned in confirmation, that is He is all knowing, He knows all things. He knew how to create human beings that are so complex that doctors and scientist are still trying to figure out how everything works. We have a God that does not need anything from us, as if He would be so wimpy as to need anything from us, rather, He gives us all things. We are born with nothing and we leave this world with nothing. Everything we have and use while we live in this world is given to us by God to use and to use to His glory. And He even puts up with us when we think we are so wonderful as to come and worship Him once a week, if that. Our text for today reminds us that we have a God who’s thoughts and ways are not our thoughts and ways but His thoughts and ways are so much higher than our thoughts and ways. How small of a God would we have if we could fit Him into our little minds. Our God is as big and as great as the universe He created.
Our text begins at verse six where we are told to, 6“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near” (v.6). You have heard me say many times that we do not go looking for the Lord, yet, our text tells us to seek for the Lord and to do so while He is near. So, how can it be that we seek the Lord. When we put our text into its proper context, and that is the key to this text and all texts of Scripture, never to take one verse out og context, but when we put it into its context we see that Isaiah is speaking to the people of God. He is not speaking to people who have never known God, which is what many people view as “seeking” the Lord. As a matter of fact, Scripture is quite clear that, according to our sinful, unbelieving nature we do not seek the Lord. Thus we see that this text is speaking to believers and so this text is a text of sanctification, that is this text is speaking about our growing in our Christian faith, with the help of the Holy Spirit. The Lord has already redeemed us, now He wants to continue to strengthen our faith in Him by encouraging us to seek for Him in His Word and Sacraments. This “seeking” the Lord is so important because the second part of this verse reminds us that there will come a time when the Lord will no longer be near, when we will no longer be able to seek for Him and that time is judgement day. Very often in a sermon you will hear me say to you that our desire as Christians is that we make regular and diligent use of the means of grace, those means through which our Lord comes to give, strengthen and keep us in faith, until Christ comes again. This making regular and diligent use of the means of grace is how we seek the Lord.
Our text reminds us of our need to remember our baptism. We are to daily remember our baptism, daily to take up our crosses, daily to follow Jesus. We are to daily live our lives in such a way that we show forth our faith in Jesus as our Savior through our thoughts, our words and our actions. It is our baptism that reminds us that we belong to the Lord, that He has recreated us, that He has put faith in our hearts, that we wake up every day knowing that our sins have been forgiven and we have a new day to start from scratch. This is how we are to live out our vocations as a part of the priesthood of all believers.
Our text is very much reflected in Paul’s attitude in our Epistle lesson. Paul’s desire was to be in heaven with the Lord, but because the Lord had more work yet for him to do on this earth, he will remain and do what God wants him to do. Normally we would not think so lightly of this life and this world, but Paul has the right attitude. Paul’s words remind us that the important things of this world are not the things of this world, but are a right relationship with the Lord. Indeed, in eternity this world and the things of this world will be a mere blip on the screen, a mere snap of the fingers. It is the Lord’s salvation, made ours through faith in Jesus Christ which makes heaven ours which is the most important thing in this world. Again, it is our spiritual well being which is much more important than our worldly well being.
God’s thoughts and ways are not our thoughts and ways. We read verse seven, “7let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (v.7). What are the thoughts and the ways of the wicked? They are the thoughts and ways of this world. They are the thoughts and ways of fortune and fame, of accolades from this world. They are very often the thoughts and ways of doing what is contrary to God’s will and Word. Our thoughts on what to do with the wicked would be to condemn them. We would stick to the letter of the Law. We would want an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
On the other hand, when the wicked repent and turn from their evil thoughts and ways, the Lord is ready to abundantly pardon them. We may want an eye for an eye, but the Lord, in His infinite mercy, which far out weighs His harsh justice, is always ready, willing, and able to forgive, because of the death of His only Son, Jesus. We especially see this difference, between God’s thoughts and ways and our thoughts and ways in our Gospel lesson. We would begrudge new Christians of the gifts God has to give, especially if we have been a Christian for a long time even all our life. This is not God’s way.
God’s mercy is shown to us in that “when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of His Son” (Rom. 5:10a). While we live our lives in direct opposition to God, He is there, giving the life of His Son for our forgiveness. This shows us how God’s thoughts and ways definitely are not our thoughts and ways.
What are God’s thoughts and ways? We read verse eight and nine, “8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (v.8,9). God’s thoughts and ways are heavenly thoughts and ways. God’s thoughts and ways are the thoughts and ways of paying for our sin. Thus, God’s thoughts and ways are to send His Son humbly, born poor and in a manger. God’s thoughts and ways are to send His Son humbly, riding on a donkey. God’s thoughts and ways are to send His Son to be disowned by His own family and friends.
God’s thoughts and ways are to take ours sins and to put them upon His one and only Son. God put our sins on Jesus, who was innocent, who was perfect and holy, who was perfectly obedient for us in our place because we cannot be perfect and obedient. God’s thoughts and ways were to put our sins on Jesus who deserved none of what he got. God put our sins on Jesus and then looks at Jesus as if He were the only one to ever sin against Him and sin to such a degree that He takes all His fury and righteous judgement out on Jesus. God’s thoughts and ways are to punish His Son for our sins. And the punishment with which Jesus is punished is total absence from God’s love, which is eternal spiritual death, hell.
God’s thoughts and ways are to make Jesus suffer and die the most cruel and horrid death for us, in our place. God’s thoughts and ways are not our thoughts and way. If it were us, we would probably want to make every individual person responsible for their own sin. According to our human thinking, that would only be fair. And that would mean that we would make each person responsible for suffering the eternal punishment which each of us deserves.
God’s thoughts and ways are not our thoughts and ways. Last week we learned that God’s thoughts and ways were such that in all things, the good and especially the evil, God works out the best for us. We were reminded of passages like Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Rather than allowing us to suffer the eternal consequences for our sins, and rather than let us always suffer all of the temporal consequences for our sins, the Lord works through any and all situations to bring out the best for us.
This working out the best for us is now being seen in the aftermath of hurricanes Harvey and Irma and Maria and the earthquakes in Mexico. As I said last week, hurricanes, natural disasters and the like are not God’s will, they were not a part of God’s plan, but they are a result of Adam and Eve’s sin. Because of their sin in Eden, the earth has been cursed, such that thorns and thistles grow in our gardens, the earth groans with earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes. Thanks be to God that because of His great love for us, His children, He works out the best for us, even through what might appear to be the worst. What that best is, I cannot tell you, but God knows and He will work out the best and that is where our faith is strengthened. Here again we see that God’s thoughts and ways are not our thoughts and ways.
Looking again at the Gospel lesson for today, did you notice that even those hired late received the same wages. Jesus told this parable to make a point that it does not matter when you come to faith, as long as it is before judgement day. Here we are pushed back to verse six of our text, which reminds us that there is a time when it will be too late to come to faith.
We are glad that God’s thoughts and ways are so much higher than our thoughts and our ways. It is God’s thoughts and ways that have rescued us from death and the devil, from sin and temptation, from everlasting life in hell. It is Gods’ thoughts and ways that have rescued us from some torment that we might have concocted for us to suffer.
Our text for today is one which reminds us that it is our Lord who comes looking for us, who searches and finds us. It is our Lord who puts His name on us at our baptism. He puts faith in our hearts, He makes us His very own. It is our Lord who continues to work through His means of grace, the Word and the Sacraments to draw us closer to Him so that He might strengthen us in our faith, again through His Word and sacraments. It is the Lord who is the initiator. It is the Lord who continues to be a part of our lives, working through all that happens, the good and the bad to bring out the best for us. It is the Lord who knows what is best for us, according to His infinite wisdom. It is the Lord who comes to us to give us all things according to what He knows we need, according to His omniscient wisdom. It is the Lord whose thoughts and ways are so much higher than our thoughts and ways, that moves Him to give the life of His only Son to pay the price for our sins so that we might have forgiveness of sins and with forgiveness, eternal life with Him in heaven. It is the Lord who initiates in us, moves in us, so that we respond to all that He does for us. And even when we decide that we have responded enough, He continues to give out His good gifts and blessings. What He gives does not depend on how we respond. In other words, just because we do not respond, or because we respond poorly to all that He does for us and gives to us, does not determine how much more He does for us and gives to us.
God has given us faith. In our text He comes to us to stir us to exercise that faith. We exercise our faith by our thoughts, words and actions, by making regular and diligent use of His means of grace, by reading and hearing God’s Words, by remembering our baptism, by confessing our sins and hearing his most beautiful words of forgiveness, and by receiving His sacraments. We exercise our faith by responding with works of service as the Holy Spirit moves us. And to think, even in all that we do, God is still the prime mover. What a great and awesome God we do have. To Him be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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