Sunday Talks

A year that saw old certainties crumbling on the world-stage was simultaneously the year that changed everything personally for Isaiah. It was, perhaps, in the turmoil of the death of a long-reigning monarch, who’d ruled things for over half a century, that he could see his own and his people’s need for a greater, and mightier King.

2020 has brought this kind of change to the front doors of every one of us. Not the death of a king, but sweeping international and national challenges in the form of a pandemic that has changed so much.

Today’s message from the Bible may reach us at a time of searching, longing and hoping for a better year to come.

Were you expecting a love song in Isaiah?

That’s what 5:1-7 is, and as we will hear in a moment, it’s a love song with a searching chorus (v3-4) and a heart-breaking conclusion. If the prophet ever stood up and performed these lyrics to God’s people, the solemn message probably would have left them, at the end, in a kind of reflective silence.

How did God's people, Judah feel? One moment there’s a breath-taking description of their city, reimagined in the future as the highest of the mountains, the mountain of the house of the Lord (2:2). And the next moment, there’s a graphic commentary of the state of everything around them. The people of Jerusalem and Judah, in the present day, were being exposed. That’s what Isaiah does here, he paints two contrasting scenes: the glorious future set against the brazen present. But why?

As Christians we tune in to God’s word in every year, every era – to hear God’s appointed spokespersons, and more than this, to hear God’s verdicts, God’s analyses, God’s challenges to our ways of thinking and our ways of living. And as we’ll see in a moment, there are a few shocks in store.

So as we pick up the Book of Isaiah the prophet, as well as reading an ancient, celebrated manuscript, remember that we’re listening to an urgent message from God himself to his people. The prophets were those who spoke up on the Lord’s behalf. The events Isaiah described came about in history – something that produces faith in us as we read his account that was written before they even happened – but perhaps more importantly, as well as accurately predicting future events, Isaiah spoke to grab the attention of God’s people and deliver God’s urgent message– in his own day and down through the ages.

This year we've watched momentous events unfolding. How have we responded? Richard introduces our new series for Sunday Mornings where we will be exploring the book of Isaiah. 

Music: bensound.com

War imagery has been used very effectively to describe the situation we are in with COVID- 19. Front-line workers fight with an enemy coronavirus, waves of attacks are put down, we’ve talked of resilience, equipping our hospitals, and where to draw battle lines. All this communicates the urgency there is and the stance required of us all in the face of an unprecedented global pandemic.

As Paul signs off his letter to the Ephesians, he too understands the importance of this kind of imagery – how it communicates exactly what the church needs to hear. This is war, and each one of us must recognise the seriousness of the situation local churches like Blackrock are facing into. But there’s something remarkably reassuring here too. Paul can mobilise us like this because of the vast resources at our disposal: God’s power at work in our lives, on the march in our growing church community... and he can mobilise us because of the secure outcome on the eternal horizon.

As a Christian there may be a danger of not realising who the real boss is! The Bible reminds us here. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is concerned with our relationships with each other: relationships that must actively demonstrate that we are part of God’s new humanity, the church he is building. Relationships that show we are overflowing with what God has done in our lives.

We’ll see time and time again here in these verses that in our working relationships, as in our families, the Lord Christ is the boss. And that reality must transform the way we treat each other.

Today’s message is one that’s particularly important to listen to all together at home, because the Apostle Paul is talking to children and their parents. We all fall into one of those categories or both, no matter what age we are.

And this is the Bible’s message about building the church at home. Children I’d love for you to listen out for an “O” message. You won’t have long to wait. So listen up!

Parents – and if you’re a Dad specifically – you’ll need to be listening out for an e-message. Of all the e-mails you get through this week, you’ll want to hear this one, this e-message from God’s word.

So what does the Bible say about building the church at home?

Paul’s letter paints the most spectacular of panoramas: God’s amazing plan to build his church. It’s a vision planned and focussed and centred on the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ and his church - It’s this relationship between Christ and his church that’s definitive. It’s the model, the ultimate relationship as we consider how we get on and relate to each other – Christ and the church. Whether you are married or not, young or old, Christian or not quite sure... come with me to see this vision today. Remember it would be a disservice to see Ephesians 5 as a merely a list of specific rules for married men and women. Though if you are married, you’ll definitely find here a call to check and maybe even correct and change your behaviour and attitudes towards your spouse.

We’re quite familiar in 2020 with checking in on how much we walk – how many steps? It would be a little bit more surprising if one evening you looked at the step counter on your watch or phone to see a description of the quality of your walk... imagine seeing the word “wise” or “unwise” pop up! But it might be helpful. For the bible urges Christians to scrutinise their walking. That is, we’re told to watch carefully how we live.