Falling in Step with Jesus: Isaiah’s Vision

November 13, 2022

Have you ever been in a situation where you can’t help but overhear someone else’s conversation? You try to focus on anything else because you don’t want to be rude and eavesdrop, but you keep finding yourself drawn into what the other people are saying. Usually, when I find myself in a situation like this, I’m thankful for earbuds and music so that I can tune out the conversation other people are having. But sometimes, even with the best of intentions, you can’t help but overhear at least part of what other people are saying.

Several years ago, this happened to me. Someone was talking about not taking care of what he had. He was telling the other person that it didn’t matter if he just let things fall apart because things need to get as bad as they possibly can before Jesus can return, destroy the world, and take us to paradise in heaven. He was passionate as he was explaining why he didn’t feel the need to clean up after himself, or take care of the things he owned, and the person he was talking to was visibly upset by what he was saying. She said to him with an intense whisper I’ll never forget, “I hope you don’t really mean that.” 

He assured her he was as serious as could be. She responded to him that even if things have to get worse before Jesus can return, she didn’t want to be found making things worse. She wanted to be working to show her friends, her family, and her community, a little glimpse of what it would be like for the kingdom of heaven to be here on earth. 

The two of them kept the conversation going when I left the room, so I have no idea how they resolved their disagreement, but I remember being bothered by the flippant attitude of, “Things are going to get worse anyway, so why try?” As I reflected on it, I realized why someone might feel this way, and I had to admit that sometimes I feel that way myself from time to time. But, is this really what Paul meant when he wrote, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5a)?  

The passage we looked at from Isaiah 65 was written at a time when things were about as bad as they could get. The people of Israel had been taken into exile. Their homeland had been destroyed and left as a wasteland. Even though they had finally been released to return to their land, everything was a mess. The people recognized that they had turned away from God, and they prayed a prayer of repentance. At the conclusion of this prayer, and at the beginning of Isaiah 64, the people said this to God: “O that you would tear open the heavens and come down.” The people needed a divine intervention. Things were as bad as they could imagine things being, and they knew only God could make things right.

How are you doing today?

No really. How are you?

Are you tired? Weary? Fearful? Hopeful?

It’s been a long couple of weeks. Or maybe a long couple of years. Maybe it’s felt like a lifetime since things were settled and peaceful and calm. Or, maybe that’s just me. Are things so bad that we should just make them worse, or at least stand idly by so that Jesus will return faster? Is that really the call God has placed on the life of the Christian?

I don’t think so. But if it isn’t, what are we supposed to do when things are tough? How are we supposed to respond when the world seems like it is in more chaos than it has ever been, or at least more chaos than there has ever been in our lifetimes? 

For me, typically when the pace of life seems like too much, or the state of the world is so tense and frightening that I am struggling to make sense of everything, I turn to the Gospels. Gospel means “good news” after all. Other times, I turn to the book of Psalms because the psalms put to words practically every human emotion or experience that we could have. They can help us to pray when we aren’t sure what words to use. If I was going to shy away from any part of the Bible in particular during times of difficulty, it would be the prophets.

In the Old Testament, God called prophets to speak the truth to people in positions of power. I often tell people that whenever a prophet is named, we should ask “Who was the king at that time?” because the prophet was usually called to speak difficult words to the king in an attempt to get the king to turn back and follow God’s ways. Prophets were usually received with skepticism at best and hostility at worst. But, in the two prophetic Scriptures we have before us today, we find a call to honesty, a vision of hope, and a call to action.

Many of us know Micah 6:8. It says, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” What we may not remember is that God speaks these words to the people after giving them a reality check. At the beginning of Micah 6, God calls the people of Israel to court. The language used in this passage suggests a courtroom in which evidence will be weighed. The members of the jury are the hills, the mountains, and the foundations of the earth. God is the prosecuting attorney and he begins with his opening argument, but instead of speaking in anger, God is heartbroken and in disbelief. “Oh my people, what have I done to you? In what have I wearied you? Answer me!” 

God expresses heartache at how the people have gone astray. God calls them to be honest with themselves. God calls them to repent, to change directions, to come back to him and to walk in God’s ways. God calls them to be honest, and then God gives them a vision of hope. In Micah 6, that vision is summed up by the famous call to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Our passage from Isaiah 65 expands on this vision and gives us a glimpse of what it will look like. 

Isaiah writes, “For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating.” And then God paints a picture of a world in which there are no longer any tears, in which infants live full and healthy lives, elderly people are allowed to continue their lives in dignity, people will build houses and be able to live in them, and people will plant vineyards and eat the fruit. This vision was a tremendous vision of hope for the people of Israel who had been in exile. They had planted and then been carried away by the enemy. They built houses, and another army came in and destroyed everything. People suffered, wept, mourned, and grieved. As the people stood on the edge of their homeland, poised to enter the place where they used to live, God says the day will come when people will no longer suffer the way the people of Israel did.

Do you know how long it takes to establish a vineyard? If you plant grapes, it will take 2-3 years before you will get any grapes; at best you might get a handful. It takes about 13 years to truly establish grapes, and it takes about 25 years before a vineyard is lucrative. God telling the people they will plant grapes and be around for the harvest was good news, indeed. It was a vision of hope and promise on the heels of a despairing time. 

Just like God called the people to honesty in Micah 6, God calls us to be honest with ourselves too. To examine ourselves. To do the tough work of checking our hearts and seeing where we’ve gone wrong. Even while God calls the people to be honest with themselves, God is still loving them and reminding them that he has never left them. Even when we’ve wandered far off course, God has never stopped loving us either, but that doesn’t mean God doesn’t want us to do the work of repentance. 

God calls us to be honest with ourselves, and then God paints a vision of the new heaven and new earth God is creating: a world where heartache is no more and people thrive. And then God calls us to action, to do our part, little by little and day by day. Micah sums the call to action as doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. Isaiah paints a picture of a good world and invites us to participate in making it a reality. 

Honesty, vision, and action. But, how do we do that? How do we take action when the world’s problems seem insurmountable? When our little actions seem like a mere drop in a bucket? I’d like to suggest two things:

First, we need to disconnect from fear. When we are connected to fear, fear has this way of zipping through every part of us–our minds, our hearts, our bodies–and driving us. I don’t know about you, but when I am afraid, I can’t think straight. I make poor choices. I do things I later regret. Once, I even ran in front of an oncoming car because I was afraid. I ran from what I was afraid of right into harm’s way. The first thing we need to do as we seek to take action is disconnect from whatever is making us afraid. Sometimes that is television or social media. Maybe it is the persistent thoughts we have, or even a person who has a way of making us afraid of the world around us. You can fill in the blank with whatever it is for you. When we disconnect from fear, we calm our minds and hearts so that they are more ready and able to hear the testimony God is speaking to us. We are more ready and able to hear God’s good news. 

I can’t help but think of Wendell Berry’s poem “The Peace of Wild Things:” 

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

We are called to be honest with ourselves, to see God’s good vision for the world, and to take action–which first looks like disconnecting from fear. And then, we are called to listen and obey, even in the smallest of things. Today we are concluding our series “Falling in Step with Jesus.” Over the last few weeks, we have asked ourselves what it looks like to take practical steps to follow in the ways of Jesus. Some days we follow Jesus well. Other days we make mistakes, need to repent, and try again. Once we’ve disconnected from fear, we are called to listen and to obey. We are called to take faithful, little steps, and trust that God can multiply them into something far greater. 

Take the verses we read from Isaiah 65:17-25. Maybe print them out or write them down. Place them where you can see them. And then ask, “Are the choices I’m making helping create the kind of world God desires for us?” We cannot achieve this vision by ourselves, but we can be faithful in doing our part. 

May God give us the courage to disconnect from fear, ears eager to hear God’s call, and hands and feet ready to follow through with faithfulness. May God help us and equip us for the task. Amen.