The Lutheran Hour
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"God’s Ways Aren’t Our Ways"
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Text: Isaiah 55:6-9
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Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! God’s thoughts are not ours, and because they are not, God loves His rebellious children. God’s ways are not ours, and because they aren’t, He sent His Son to live, die, and rise for us. Today the risen Savior calls all humanity to return to the Lord so they may be pardoned. God grant this return and this pardon to us all. Amen.
Today, by the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, the Old Testament prophet Isaiah speaks to us. Across the centuries he calls out God’s invitation and warning. He says, “Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He (God) may have compassion on him… for He (the Lord) will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts (higher) than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:6-9). The greatness of God, as well as the loftiness of His ways and thoughts, are the subject of this Lutheran Hour message.
My staff who keeps track of such things, tells me that every week, The Lutheran Hour reaches a great many people. That you trust this broadcast to share the Savior’s story of salvation is a great blessing to us and one which we don’t take lightly. I’m curious as to how many of The Lutheran Hour listeners will be able to identify the speaker of the following quote:
“How can we little crawling creatures, so utterly helpless as He (God) has made us, how can we possibly measure His greatness, His boundless love, His infinite compassion, such that He allows man insolently to deny Him, wrangle about Him, and cut the throat of His fellow-men? How can we measure the greatness of God who is so forgiving, so divine?”
When I asked people at Lutheran Hour headquarters who spoke those words, some said they had been pronounced by one of my predecessors, great preachers of the Word like Walter A. Maier or Oswald Hoffmann. More than a few said these words had been preached by Billy Graham; one person was convinced those words sounded like something Abraham Lincoln might have said during the darkest days of the Civil War. No, these words were spoken by Mahatma Gandhi. Although Gandhi did not follow the Triune God and Jesus Christ was not his Savior, he freely confessed that God was great and judgmental humans were not.
There have been other great men who have come to a similar conclusion. Teddy Roosevelt was an outstanding President of the United States and an exceptional leader of men. Even so, no one, as far as I am aware, ever described Teddy as being overburdened with humility. Indeed, his daughter, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, looking back on her father’s life observed, “My father always wanted to be the corpse at every funeral, the bride at every wedding, and the baby at every christening.” Now, Roosevelt was not a humble man, but that does not mean he ever aspired, or thought of himself as being on a level with God.Roosevelt, along with one of his close friends, had a custom they observed when they were together. After an evening of conversation they would often go out to a place of comparative darkness. There they would search the heavens until they found a spot of light around the Great Square of Pegasus. Then one of the men would start the commentary: “That (spot of light) is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It consists of one billion suns, each larger than our sun.” Having made a statement about the greatness of God and His creation, Roosevelt would grin and say: “Now I think we are small enough! Let’s go to bed.”
Thomas Aquinas was a medieval theologian who spent much of his life creating a comprehensive intellectual writing called Summa Theologica. In his writing, Aquinas tried to bring together anthropology, science, ethics, psychology, political theory, and theology, connecting them together under God’s guidance. On December 6, 1273, Aquinas’ work came to a grinding, screeching halt. On that day, while he was in chapel, Aquinas was given a glimpse into Divine greatness. Overwhelmed, he realized everything he had written to describe Divine greatness had fallen far short of reality. Overcome by his insignificance and underestimation of God’s greatness, the scholar decided never to write again. When Reginald, Aquinas’ secretary, urged him to resume, the brilliant man sadly said, “Reginald, I can do no more. Such things have been revealed to me that all I have written seems as so much straw.” Sir Thomas Aquinas died a year later, never having written another word.
Some of you who are listening to me, were also listening to your radio or TV on Christmas Eve, 1968. On that date, Christmas Eve, Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, entered lunar orbit. That evening, the astronauts – Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders – did a live television broadcast. They were broadcasting as, silhouetted against the blackness of space, the blue and white ball of earth rose over the moon’s horizon. And what was the reaction of these sophisticated men of science; what did these pioneer explorers of space say?
William Anders began: “For all the people on Earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you. ‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light:” and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good.'” Jim Lovell continued reading the Scripture from Genesis 1: “And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.” Frank Borman kept going: “And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear:’ and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas: and God saw that it was good.”
Amazing, at the height of human technical achievement, men stood in awe of God’s hand in creation. Men who were seeing the smallest sliver, the most miniscule of God’s vast creation, used Divinely inspired words to echo the ancient psalmist who said, “(Lord) When I look at Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him?…You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; You have put all things under his feet…” (Psalm 8: 3-6).
The psalmist was saying God, whose ways and thoughts are beyond human understanding has decided to entrust us with a certain degree of authority over creation. Indeed, when God created heaven and Earth, He, for reasons of His own, entrusted dominion over the world to humanity. It was a sacred trust, a Divine gift, a great responsibility. God gave a gift, which, if we had stayed in the perfect place He had designed for us, would have been everlastingly appreciated. Sadly, we did not stay there. Look at Scripture and you will be given a clear picture of what humanity has done with God’s charge to be His caring custodians. Adam and Eve, given the opportunity to live perfect lives in a perfect world, judged they knew better than God, could improve on what the Lord had done, and decided to take control of their fate. Their Creator and Lord was shoved to the side and they ate from the forbidden fruit. On that day, by our invitation, sin and death came into the world. On that day, the forces of darkness found a new home. On that day, we made the first of many blunders – blunders which continue to this day.
When God confronted Adam and Eve, they chose not to own up to their rebellion. Eve blamed the snake which had tempted her; Adam pointed to the deception of his wife, and then, exhibiting a bit of seriously twisted thinking, had the impudence, the insolence, the impertinence, to claim that God Himself was the originator and instigator of their demise. “The woman You gave me, she is the one who made me eat,” Adam suggested. At that moment, in reaction to Adam’s mutiny and Eve’s rebellion, God might have given vent to His fury and turned this universe and all which it contains into a fireball.
But that is not what God did. Don’t be surprised. God’s ways aren’t our ways and His thoughts aren’t ours either. Rather than taking immediate revenge and exacting eternal retribution, the Lord acted in grace and promised to send His Son as a Savior who would pay the ransom for our disobedience and carry our sins to His cross. With this unprecedented act, the Triune God showed a gracious and generous quality which is not found in the divinities of other religions of the world. For the first time, but certainly not the last time, God called His people to repentance. Read through the Bible and you will hear God’s heroes speaking to God’s rebellious people. They will sound much like Isaiah did in our text today: “Seek the LORD while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that He (God) may have compassion on him, and (let him) return to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
God’s thoughts are not ours. In the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, God promised to send a great gift, a wondrous, wonderful, one-of-a-kind gift. God’s thoughts are not ours. Unexpectedly, unbelievably, the Lord held out a plan of salvation and hope for His undeserving children. It was the kind of gesture which should have created a feeling of overwhelming gratitude in the hearts of all who heard what the Lord was going to do. God’s gracious gift of Jesus should have filled every heart with repentance, forgiveness, thanksgiving, and an overwhelming desire to live a life of obedience and appreciation. That’s the way it should have been. It’s not the way it was – it’s not the way it is.
All of human history, from the fall until this very day, shows a gracious God constantly, continuously reaching out to save sinners. All of human history, from the fall until right now shows those same sinners smacking God away, disrespectfully spitting into His face, stomping their feet in a spiritual temper tantrum and walking away, committed to doing their own thing. Cain did his thing and killed his brother. David did his thing and murdered a man so he could steal his wife. The Children of Israel did their thing as they whined in the wilderness. After the Lord brought them into the Promised Land, they constantly, continuously did their thing and left the Lord and followed after other gods, strange gods, party gods, murderous gods. Throughout history, most of humanity has chosen to do its thing and refused to listen to God’s call to repentance.
Our age is no different. We have blundered and stumbled and floundered in the dark and tried to convince ourselves we knew what we were doing. In 1859, sportsman Thomas Austin of Victoria, Australia, thought rabbit hunting would make for great sport on his farm. To that end, he imported and released 24 bunnies. These prolific bunnies did what bunnies do best and today they are a plague of pestilence in the continent down-under.
But man’s foolish flounderings are not confined to the environment. God has given us narcotics to dull pain and suffering, but they, along with a host of other illegal streets drugs, have become a curse upon our sons, our daughters, our homes. God’s gift of sex between husband and wife has been twisted and tainted; in media, and many minds, it has been perverted, become perverse, and made pornographic. Many of our nation’s schools have become warzones where students must be screened for weapons of mass destruction; and a large number of homes, designed by God to be places of spiritual refuge and strengthening, have become battlegrounds of selfishness where mothers and fathers are teaching their children to be self-centered, self-indulgent, and self-seeking. And if any Christian voice is raised to say, Let the wicked forsake his way, and … return to the Lord, that (God) He may have compassion on him”; that person is considered hopelessly old-fashioned, unbelievably out of touch, and a dangerous religious extremist. The only time today’s sophisticated and self-sufficient want to talk about God is when they, using the ancient argument of Adam, wish to blame the Lord for a tornado, an earthquake, a fire, a plague, an illness, a cancer. At such moments they challenge the heavens and say, “How can God be so cruel that He would do this? How can God be so uncaring He would allow this?”
Well, my friends, God has not moved. The Lord of life who once reached out to our first ancestors in the Garden of Eden and promised to send a Redeemer; the same God who offered a promise of forgiveness and salvation to those who would return to Him, has not changed. His ways are still not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts, and for that reason, He waits. He waits for you to look at the cross and see His innocent Son dying for those who are guilty. He waits for you to go to the empty tomb and see that His love, although beyond human understanding or comprehension, is still there for you. Until the Day of Judgment comes, God’s love will be there; His Son will be there. Together they will say, “Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He (God) may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
At the beginning of this message I talked of great men who had met a greater God. Let me tell you of another such man. His name was Dr. Howard A. Kelly. He was one of America’s greatest thinkers, educators, and physicians. One of the founding doctors of the John Hopkins University, Dr. Kelly usually wore a lapel button with a question mark on it. When someone asked him the meaning of the button, Kelly replied, “It stands for the greatest thing in the world.” Kelly then asked, “What do you think that greatest thing is?” Some people said money, others said health. Dr. Kelly replied, “The greatest thing in the world is. ‘What think ye of Christ?'”
That, my friends, is God’s question to you today. What do you think of the Christ? Your living Lord waits your answer. What do you think of Christ? I pray He may be your Savior, your Redeemer, your confidante, and your friend. I pray in His name you may be brought to repentance and be given forgiveness and heaven. I pray He already has done this for you. If not, it is time. To that end, won’t you please call us at The Lutheran Hour? Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for September 21, 2008
A Married JesusANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer
KLAUS: Hi, Mark.
ANNOUNCER: One of our listeners has a friend who believes every conspiracy theory having to do with religion. He went absolutely nuts when he heard the story that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were secretly married and the Church has covered it up all these years. He called up our listener and he said, “See, I told you so – the church has been pulling one over on us.”
Is there anywhere in the Bible where it says Jesus either was or wasn’t married; or that He did or did not have children?
And, finally, could you offer any ideas to our listener on what he could say to his friend the next time he comes along with some kind of story?
KLAUS: OK. First: did Jesus marry? There is nothing that says He did. Nothing in the Bible. Nothing in the best church traditions.
ANNOUNCER: Now, what do you mean by “the best church traditions.” What does that mean?
KLAUS: I mean, any tradition that could be taken seriously because it is old enough and close enough to the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry.
ANNOUNCER: Well, could you give us an example of a “best tradition”?
KLAUS: Yes. I’ve been told, Mark, that you own a riverboat casino down on the Mississippi and your work here at The Lutheran Hour is just a front for your real source of wealth.
ANNOUNCER: Well, that’s a terrible illustration because it’s absolutely not true. Where did you hear that?
KLAUS: Oh, from a good friend, who got it from a buddy, who heard it from his barber, who was told by a homeless guy who sleeps outside his shop that a fellow named “Mike Archer” owns a casino. And since he didn’t know a “Mike Archer,” he figured the homeless fellow must have meant you.
ANNOUNCER: Wow!
KLAUS: That, my friend, is an example of a bad tradition that should not be trusted.
ANNOUNCER: Well, I should hope not.
KLAUS: When it comes to Jesus, the Bible tells us everything we need to know about the Savior. Notice I didn’t say everything we want to know – it gives us what we need to know.
And, the Bible doesn’t say, one way or another, if Jesus married. Since marriage is not a sin, that wouldn’t have made any difference in regard to Jesus’ mission. He would not have been a sinner just because He got married. There might have been some problem if God’s Son, Jesus, had had children; but that’s a moot point.
ANNOUNCER: OK. Well, is there anything else we could point to as evidence when it comes to Jesus not being married?
KLAUS: I think so. The Bible talks about Jesus having a mother, a stepfather, brothers, sisters, but never mentions a wife or child. It talks about Him not having a home where He can rest. He relied on the good will of others to support His ministry. Nothing there about a wife. You would think a person who spoke as morally and ethically as Jesus did, would have spent some time taking care of His wife and child; but there is nothing to say that that ever took place.
I think a lot of people, especially His critics who heard Him would have said, “Physician, heal Thyself.” If you’ve got so many good ideas on how we should live, why don’t you go home and show us how. That doesn’t happen in the Bible.
ANNOUNCER: Anything else?
KLAUS: Yes, let’s go to the cross of Christ. Jesus is dying, the soldiers are keeping watch, and at the foot of the cross is…
ANNOUNCER: …The disciple John, Jesus’ mother, and some other women.
KLAUS: Yes, along with a lot of folks making fun of the whole thing.
ANNOUNCER: Right.
KLAUS: Jesus says a number of things. He forgives the people who put Him there; He says He was thirsty; and He asks John to take care of somebody. Who was the somebody John was supposed to look after?
ANNOUNCER: His mother, Mary.
KLAUS: Are you sure you got that right, Mark? Are you sure He didn’t say, “Here, take care of My wife”?
ANNOUNCER: Yes, I’m sure.
KLAUS: He didn’t say, “John, take care of My little son or daughter”?
ANNOUNCER: No.
KLAUS: He didn’t say, “Make sure they get clean clothes, three square meals, go to college, and don’t hang around with bad company”?
ANNOUNCER: No.
KLAUS: Wouldn’t you think if Jesus were dying He would have taken care of His own wife and child?
ANNOUNCER: I would think so.
KLAUS: I would too. But that’s not what happened. He didn’t worry and have to worry about that because He didn’t have a wife and child. Besides which, since Jesus knew what His life was going to be like, how it would end, what kind of perfect person would He be to take on a wife and father a child; and leave them to fend for themselves? A responsible man would never do that. A redeeming Savior would certainly never do that.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selection for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“How Great Thou Art” by Carl Boberg & Stuart K. Hine. From Lift High the Cross by Don Wharton (© Manna Music, Inc./ASCAP)
“How Great Thou Art” by Carl Boberg & Stuart K. Hine. From How Great Thou Art: (© 1989 Family Films) Manna Music, Inc./ASCAP
“Salvation Unto Us Has Come” by David Cherwien. From Hymn Interpretations, vol. 1 by David Cherwien (© 1992 Summa Productions)