The Lutheran Hour
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"Who Belongs in God’s House?"
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Text: Isaiah 56:6-7
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Grace, and mercy, and peace be to you in the Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, Whose desire is that all be saved, and then He made it possible for you when He died on the cross and rose from the grave! Amen.
Back when I was young, before we had all these official baseball or football teams, for kids, I remember when you had to go through the process of being picked for the team in the neighborhood game of the day. Do you remember that? Do you remember the feeling of wanting to be chosen? That experience may be a fond memory for some of you, or it may be an intensely painful one for others. Remember the process? Someone got to be the captains and then they proceeded to call out names one by one…. and there were always a few who had to endure this agonizing process of waiting to be the last one picked. Now, try to remember why you were picked. Sometimes you were picked because of your ability, other times you earned the respect of the neighborhood, but unfortunately very often others got picked just because they were friends with the captain. So it wasn’t even about winning and losing the game that day, it was about who the “in crowd” was in the neighborhood.
You see, in this world, there are countless ways that people sift through the masses to determine who belongs on their team, who belongs in their group, and who doesn’t.
That’s how our world works. We have a way in this sinful world of making sure that people know when they don’t belong and we tend to forget to tell people when they do. We know how to draw boundaries; we know how to set arbitrary standards to keep the so-called wrong people out and to keep the so-called right people in. We often know how to make people feel that this place is only for the special, the together types, the movers and the shakers and not for them. Human beings need to feel that they belong, and sadly people tend to use that against one another.
Who gets to belong, who gets to be a part of the gang? Isaiah asks a similar question for us today, but his question concerns our spiritual relationship with God, not just neighborhood games. Who gets to belong? Who gets to be a part of God’s team, to be a part of God’s house? Thank God that He isn’t fickle like us because if He were, none of us would be picked for His team or invited to His gracious gathering. No one has a special in with God because of who they are. His standards are eternally righteous and just and so is His House of Prayer. Without Grace and Mercy no one can stand in His presence. Yet, miraculously, the Prophet Isaiah tells us today that God’s favor, His kindness, His blessing, even His eternal gift of life is offered to all people.
Isaiah says that Yahweh, the Lord, is gathering a people on His holy mountain. Gathering a people at His gracious House of Prayer for a celebration that will never end. This party is for all, it’s an inclusive party offered exclusively by His grace and mercy, on His terms alone.
Isaiah reminds us that God, Himself says, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all people.”
It’s a House of Prayer for all people because in this house, in God’s house, you’ll find a uniquely gracious message from God, publically offered so that no matter who you are or where you’re from, you can know that this message is calling you to God’s House of Prayer today, too.
Lately, because of my travels, I’ve been reminded of that wonderful truth, “There is no place like home.” You know, there is no place like home, is there? One of the things that my parents used to say over and over again is, “If you ever get in trouble, or the world beats you up after you’ve given it your best….You can always come home.” They worked very hard so that there could be a real first and second chance for their children. There is a life truth here, isn’t there? Someone always has to pay the price for free second chances, don’t they? That’s what home is all about. You can always start again at home. Home is that place of blessing, not just because there are second chances there, but because there is love, there is straight talk, there is discipline, and there is support.
But even the best of our homes are not always homes that you can return to. Sometimes an earthly parent’s love gives way. Sometimes a child loses their way and can’t find their way back home, wandering aimlessly from place to place. So the question deepens…. “Can there be a place with an enduring love, one that always is sufficient to the struggles we face?” Can there be a home that literally finds us when we are lost? And, is there such a place for all people? Is there a gathering place for all, beyond our cultural boundaries, beyond our fears and our struggles, one that calls us truly home?
When you realize that there is a “House of Prayer” for all “by God’s grace and mercy”, when you realize that being a part of that house is only by His undeserved kindness and work, that’s the kind of message that can overcome the boundaries of bigotry. That’s the kind of message that can finally bond even enemies as friends. That’s the kind of place where foreigners and outcasts can be reclaimed and restored as forgiven, redeemed children of God.
I love the story of an NFL football player who finally understood this message and it changed his life, it opened him up to the possibility of being a man of God for others.
Dr. Howard Hendricks tells it this way. He said, “We had one of the Cowboys come to Christ a few years back. What a testimony! He came to me one day and said, “Howie, I gotta go out to Thousand Oaks for the training camp and I need an assignment.”
I said, “Okay, read the Book of Ephesians.” “The what?” “The Book of Ephesians.” “How you spell it?” I said, “Have you found Matthew?” “Yeah, yeah. I got it right here in front of me.” I said, “Okay, find Matthew, go right, and you’ll run right into it.”
So he goes out to Thousand Oaks, California and I found out later that he read the Book of Ephesians six times, every single day. When he came back to me, he called me up and said, “Hendricks, I’ve got to get together with you. You know that assignment you gave me?” I said, “Yeah.” “Man,” he said, “it blew my mind! That’s a wipe out.”…….I said, “Okay. Come on over.”
So he comes over, he opens the book, he goes, “Here, here, right here! It says, ‘Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church.’ Whoa! That’s impossible!”
I said, “Fantastic, man! You have made the greatest discovery in your Christian life, and that is that the Christian life is not difficult; it’s impossible. Let me ask you a question. What does your wife do that you appreciate?”
In typical male fashion, he says, “Oh, lots of things.” “Well,” I said “name one.” “Well, for example, she’s a good cook.” I said, “Great. That’s your assignment. I want you to go home and tell her how much you appreciate her cooking.” “Oh, man,” he said, “I couldn’t do that. That’d take a miracle.” I said, “Great. That’s what God specializes in.” “Well,” he said, “we’d better pray about that.”
Hendricks goes on. “We got down. I’ll never forget this guy’s prayer, “Oh, God, you’ve got a rough assignment here.” Then–you know, the Lord is so beautiful–the guy gets up from his knees, he goes home. His wife knocks out the best meal he’d ever seen: six courses, beautifully spread table, candlelight, the works.
Later I said to him, “How’d you enjoy the meal?” “Aw, it was horrible,” he said. I said, “Why? What’s the matter?” “Oh, I just kept sitting there saying ‘God, you gotta do it, help me appreciate her.’ ”
“Well, what happened?” He said, “Well, finally the Lord encouraged me, I got up, I ran around to the other side of the table, and I grabbed her.” I said, “Well, what happened after that?”
“Well, she went as white as the tablecloth. I really thought she thought I was gonna clip her. And I said as I lifted her up so that I could talk to her eyeball to eyeball, I said, ‘Woman, that was wonderful!'”
Later on he gave his testimony in Dallas. It just blew the mind of guys. He said, “Man, I want you to know that I was the most yellow man in America behind a closed door. I’ll take on anybody in the NFL. I can even handle two or three in the pits. But, you get me behind a closed door, I’m yellow.” Then he said, “Jesus Christ came into my life. And, I’ll tell you. He took a self-centered, great-big football stud like me, who had all of his life revolving around him, and He began to deliver me from myself.”
Grace received. Have you ever felt like that? Do you realize that the only way you can be in God’s gracious House of Prayer is to know that by faith? That’s the antidote to sinful discrimination in any form. That’s the faith that can move mountains and overcome foolish, sinful human barriers. That’s the faith that can say, “I’m sorry,” or “How can I help?” to anyone in need.
The Prophet Isaiah proclaims that the God of the universe has made a promise, established a pact of grace and peace with the world and has made a house, a home, available so that all can come home to start fresh with Him.
Isaiah reminds us that the house of Yahweh, the God of the Scriptures, “His house will be called a house of prayer for all people!”
It’s a House of Prayer for all because God’s house is uniquely established by God so that all people can know of His grace and love for them.
Not only is this message of grace and undeserved forgiveness unique to Yahweh’s House of Prayer, the very invitation to come home, to be with the Lord at His House of Prayer, is also the most unique invitation on the earth. It’s on His gracious terms, His very public, historically distinct terms, so that all might see and hear.
I love a good mystery movie. I love those movies like the “National Treasure,” where Nicholas Cage follows all of these clues to find the treasure that no one else could find. Or remember those old Indiana Jones movies, where Harrison Ford, Dr. Jones, battles devious archaeologists, and politicians, and charlatans to find spiritual treasures more precious than gold. Each follows mysterious clues to find the treasure that had been there all along.
Hidden treasures, hidden clues, ones only the few can see and believe. But that’s exactly the opposite of how the God of the Bible works. He has put His salvation uniquely on display for all to see. He has made His gracious promise visible, findable for all. His promise of salvation was given first to the first people on earth, Adam and Eve. They lived each day expecting to see the Savior that God had promised.
Then, as humanity grew more numerous, God literally rooted His promise within a specific family, the family of Abraham, who became a nation, Israel. Whose whole purpose was to make plain that God’s exclusively unique plan of salvation, one that God would earn for all people, was His pure gift of grace for every person on the planet.
Even today, the Christian Church exists for the very same reason to be on display with God’s invitation from Jesus Christ, Alone, and think about this, even the specific words of the Bible were written so that you might have His exclusive invitation to come home to be with Him as if it were a personal letter of grace written to you!
One of the great misconceptions about the Bible and its message is that people often think that ancient Israel and even the modern Christian Church; that they were chosen to be God’s special people because they were special. No! They were chosen to be a unique people, often in spite of who they were, because they carried a unique message for the whole world. All of this is God’s work for all people.
Listen to Isaiah, in Chapter 49:6, “Is it too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring those of Israel back that I have kept? I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”
God’s people then and God’s people now are unique because they believe and bear a message, a covenant promise of grace, and justice, and peace from God on His merciful terms alone.
God’s exclusive invitation to His House of Prayer is on display through His people so that all people can hear it, and receive it, and come home.
Such a rooted message, such an historical invitation is precious. It’s like valuable jewelry or a precious heirloom passed down from generation to generation. Anyone who looks on it, or sees it with their own eyes, knows of its worth. Such is God’s promise to redeem and restore the whole human family, written in the events of history, recorded in the shared names of the Bible, born in history in the Person of Jesus, so that all might be saved.
Such a historical message is bigger than any one people, nation, or tribe. God’s invitation, God’s call to come home to His House of Prayer, it has been at work for generations, for all generations.
There is a place where all can gather, people who have been beaten down by the world or are struggling with the never-ending grip of sin and temptation; there is a House of Prayer for all people!
In Isaiah’s day, the temple of Yahweh was that place that bore God’s Name, His promise, and His salvation. This unique House of Prayer could be found, but it was a place that you had to journey to. Isaiah has in his mind the very temple in Jerusalem. But even that specific place was identified and publically proclaimed so that all could find God’s house, and come home!
As wonderful as that news was then, I’ve got even greater news for you today. What if I told you that there was something even greater than the “house of the Lord” in Isaiah? The Bible makes another incredible assertion in John 1 and John 2:19…..It says that God’s Tabernacle, even the Temple, God’s real gracious Presence burst the boundaries of those ancient buildings, God’s tabernacle became flesh, it took on feet and hands, shoulders and legs. Jesus, born on Christmas Day was God’s Temple in this world, God’s blessing and forgiveness on the move, coming for you.
You don’t make a pilgrimage to this temple today. It comes to you every time you hear Christ’s Word and receive His Name. The gracious Message for all people is on the move, personally offering this exclusive invitation of grace, the one that only God, Himself could give.
So, who gets to come home, who gets to belong to the house of the Lord, His House of Prayer? Anyone who will respond to God’s unique invitation, to His unique message, most clearly offered in the person and work of Jesus. In Christ, there is a House of Prayer for all people.
There is a small section in the New Testament in the book of Acts where we see the proclamation of Isaiah come to life. It happened one day, as an Ethiopian Eunuch rode in his chariot from Gaza to Jerusalem. He was reading in the book of Isaiah about a servant who would suffer for all, bringing healing to all. Philip, a Disciple of Jesus, met this foreigner on the road and he led him to faith in Christ.
The Ethiopian Christian Church traces its very beginning to the conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch. Though this Eunuch was unable to have children to bear his name, his very family of faith lives on in the believers in the Ethiopian Churches today. God’s grace can break the boundaries of ethnicity, language, and culture, making all of us His people. Through the faith of Philip and one Ethiopian out for a Sunday chariot ride, many others have came home too. Grace given, grace received, home at last, God’s temple of grace literally coming through us to anyone who will hear and believe.
So, who gets to belong? Who gets to be a part of God’s House of Prayer? Well, it’s those who know and believe that God’s House is built on His promises fulfilled in Jesus Christ, on display for all, calling all to faith. So, who gets to belong?
Well, it’s those who know and believe that God’s love in Jesus Christ is for all people, just as He says. And that means you and me too.
To God be the glory. Amen.
LUTHERAN HOUR MAILBOX (Questions & Answers) for August 14, 2011
Topic: Diversity and Its Opportunity For Ministry!ANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Gregory Seltz responds to questions. I’m Mark Eischer and you’ve been talking about the hope in Christ for our “increasingly diverse world.” But a listener wants to know is the world really all that much different today and don’t we have to be careful not to change what the Bible is saying as if the world is so much different than before?”
SELTZ: I sure agree with our listener, Mark, that the message of the Scripture is and always is a message for every tribe and every nation of the world. So in that sense, absolutely, the message and proclamation of the Good News is eminently sufficient for the task of ministry even in the 21st century.
ANNOUNCER: Are you saying things “haven’t really changed all that much?”
SELTZ: Well, now that is a bit of a “yes and no” question. Our listener is correct that when it comes to people, who they are, what they need in their relationship to God and to each other, the more things change, the more they stay the same, it’s about repentance, forgiveness, mercy in Christ, by grace through faith.
ANNOUNCER: All right, that’s the “yes” part. What’s the rest?
SELTZ: Well, the rest is this. The challenges to sharing the Gospel because of the diversity of languages, worldviews and expanding cultural groups, that’s intensified. So it is different. With urbanization, the crush of millions of people in one place, as well as the impact of technology and travel, these things bring these issues to the front doors of our neighborhood and churches.
ANNOUNCER: Now, how might that be different from the challenges, let’s say, that St. Paul or St. Peter faced in their time?
SELTZ: Well, again, it’s not that much different in one sense. The questions are very often the same. All religions, even secular philosophies as well, are in some sense just different versions of man’s “self-righteous attempt to get God off one’s back.” So, the proclamation of the Gospel will always be a clash of Christ’s kingdom with our own. But, again, the difference is in the intensity and the frequency of such clashes.
ANNOUNCER: Are you saying that we need to be ready, then, for a more “Pauline” type of ministry whether we like it or not?
SELTZ: That’s what I’m saying. And, to be ready for that, we need to know the teachings of the Bible more in-depth, not less. We’ve got to be ready to “give an account of the hope that is in us” in a way that others can understand.
ANNOUNCER: But it would help if we knew our neighbors a little bit better, too.
SELTZ: I think that’s a great point. You know, the Bible’s message of “Justification by Grace through faith,” uses other metaphors to describe the same teaching.
ANNOUNCER: Such as?
SELTZ: Well, there’s the family metaphor of “adoption by grace.” Or the commercial metaphor of “Redemption, being bought back by grace,” Or the relationship metaphor of “reconciliation by grace,” Some of these metaphors convey that same Good News but more pointedly to one culture than another.
ANNOUNCER: And that challenge of bridging the Gospel over to your neighborhood needs to happen at a faster pace than before.
SELTZ: Absolutely, neighborhoods in our cities now boast an ethnic diversity that is astounding and neighborhoods can literally change overnight. We can’t even take for granted that we know our neighborhoods where we live like we did in the past; with the internet, TV, the impact of worldviews even on our own parishioners is intense, I think. All Christians, but especially our Pastors and our teachers, MUST be more prepared for such things so that these challenges can become opportunities for sharing the Gospel.
ANNOUNCER: Which reminds us of what Jesus did for us, especially at Christmas.
SELTZ: You’re absolutely right. He “entered” our neighborhood, left His throne of power, became very vulnerable to the people He came to serve and save. He spoke a language they could understand and He used common elements in His teaching so that everyone would be able to know and believe in Him as their Lord and Savior.
ANNOUNCER: It sounds, then, like the incarnation of Jesus, His work for us “in-the-flesh” is not only the message, it’s also the “method” for bridging these cultural divides.
SELTZ: I think so. So, to embrace the challenges of diversity is not to water down the Gospel, it is merely to struggle with the reality of making sure that Christ’s Good News is delivered to the people we’re trying to serve and save.
ANNOUNCER: Not easy work, though.
SELTZ: No it’s not. And that is something that hasn’t changed either. But it is the “toughest job you’ll ever love.”
ANNOUNCER: Keeping in mind that picture, then; every tribe and nation gathered into the church by Good News of Jesus. Thank you Pastor Seltz, this has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music Selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by Chris Bergmann. Used by permission.
“In Christ There Is No East or West” by John Oxenham, Mark Jeske, & Michael A. Perry. Traditional African-American spiritual, adapted by Harry T. Burleigh. Stanza 2 text © 1982 Jubilate Hymns, Ltd; administered by Hope Publishing Co.
“Lord, ‘Tis Not That I Did Choose Thee” (public domain)
“Holy Spirit, Ever Dwelling” arr. Timothy Moke & Georg Masanz. From Magnificent Christian Hymns, vol. 2 by Timothy Moke & Georg Masanz (© 2005 T. Moke Recordings)
“Lord Jesus Christ, the Church’s Head” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House)