SERVICE VIDEO (link)TEXT: Isaiah 59:1-21; Acts 2:38-39

Sin gets in the way; we lose our way; God shows us the way in Christ. In a few words that’s what we are going to talk about today. We are going to read about the dire situation every human being faces, but also that God doesn’t give up on us, but comes for us.

Today we begin the church “season” of Advent and it tells and retells that same story. Humanity is lost, but not without hope. We live in darkness, but not without light. God comes to us and does so most completely in Jesus Christ. So as we look ahead to Christmas and the coming of that Light into the world, we will consider over the next few weeks God’s words of HOPE, LOVE, JOY, and PEACE in the midst of all that we face and struggle with in this life.

Sin Gets in the Way (vv.1-2)

1 Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. 

Isaiah 59 begins by describing our foundational problem. We sin! Scripture tells us that we all have sinned, we all have ‘iniquity’. We have inherited the weight of it from our first parents, Adam and Even, and we follow after them in our own sinfulness. We sin individually and we sin collectively.

Now the Lord can save, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t continue to struggle with sin, even as God’s own people did in the days of Isaiah. And our sin leave us blinded and deafened to God. And God is our hope, our peace, our joy. If we cannot see God and do not listen to God, that leaves us pretty helpless and hopeless indeed!

Does anyone doubt that they sin? Some think there are “good people.” Some rank people better and worse and are satisfied at being not as bad as the person down the row or down the street. But of all the things the Bible teaches, one of the ones I have the least trouble believing is that we all have sinned completely through and through. Consider this:

We commit sins like lying, lusting, hating, stealing, wanting what others have. Those are some of the Ten Commandments, and I didn’t even mention the first of putting other things before God. Nor did I mention Jesus sermon on the Mount where he said we weren’t just to keep the letter of those commandments, but also the spirit. If we have anger, lust, wanting, and so forth in our heart, then we have sinned.

There is also the good that we should do that we don’t do, vividly described by Jesus in the parable of the Good Samaritan when the religious folks crossed to the other side of the road and didn’t help the man beaten and robbed. Or in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, when Jesus asks where we were when there were those hungry, naked, or in prison. Failing to care for them is failing Jesus. It is sin.

There are also societal and cultural sins which we participate in, like sins of racism, greed, idolatry, and unfaithful stewardship of things entrusted to us.

Is there really any doubt that each of us have sinned? The Apostle Paul would say “may it never be!”

What is the consequence of that sin? In church we are often taught that it is death – eternal separation from God unless God intervenes. But what about day to day? I’m not sure we spend enough time considering that! According to Isaiah – which is the Word of God – sin also gets in the way of living life here and now. It comes between us and God, not that God can’t save or see or hear us, but it keeps us from seeing, hearing, and trusting God. And beyond that, sin gets in the way of human relationships as well. Jesus would later teach that if there is something between you and your brother that the first order of business – even if you are heading to worship – is to drop what you are doing and seek to be reconciled to that brother. Sin isn’t just a matter for eternity; it gets in the way of life as God would have it here and now. Liste