(Psalm 19.14) May the words of my lips and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, oh Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. Amen.
I have a mother-in-law who happens to be an amazing card player. She is at home with a deck of playing cards. She can keep track of what has happened, no matter the game. I’m not a big fan of card games anyway, but I certainly don’t think I can play with her. She always wins and she wonders why others, like me, don’t have a clue what we are doing.
Have you ever run into someone like that? Someone who wins every time? It makes you wonder, doesn’t it, whether there’s something fishy going on. We wonder what the special rules might be. Maybe I’m playing by one set of rules and everyone else is using some other rule, so that’s why I always seem to lose.
How does our Lord command us to be? In Isaiah 55 we see that we who are wicked are to forsake our way. We’re to stop cheating. We’re to act in an honest way. Not only do we get rid of the evil behavior, we’re to leave behind our evil thoughts as well. For some of us that doesn’t leave a whole lot left to do, right? We realize that we are fond of those evil actions and thoughts. But rather than just leaving behind this evil we are to turn to our Lord. We beg him for forgiveness, and we know that’s what we need to do, because he responds by pardoning us.
Does our Lord give a reason for this? Why should we change what we do? We change our thoughts because God’s thoughts are greater. We change our ways because God’s ways are greater. We are conformed into the image of our Lord and Savior because he is good and merciful and he wants us to be changed.
This is a summary, and I think it’s a good summary, of our passage appointed from Isaiah for today’s service. But there’s a little more unpacking that we can do to it. There’s no doubt that God calls us to a life of repentance and change. We are to obey our Lord. And we realize that God is quite different from us. The motivation God gives us in Isaiah 55 is that his ways are greater, higher, than ours. The incentive he gives us is that he will forgive us. Let’s look at those issues in order, then. First, God’s call to repentance and change. Second, the way God is higher than we are. Finally, our need for God’s forgiveness.
How does our Lord call us to repentance and change? God is not afraid to call us wicked or unrighteous. He doesn’t pull any punches there. In Philippians the apostle Paul says we are to be faithful even to death, that if our life is to be worthy of the Gospel we stand firm, we strive for the faith of the gospel, that we aren’t frightened in anything, including our sufferings. This is what the Lord has created us to be. It’s the way we are to look in Christ. It’s our identity. Does it match us? Are we the righteousness of God or are we wicked? Are we faithful to death or are we going to flinch? You know, don’t you, confirmands, that one of the questions I’ll ask you in front of everyone when you are ready to be confirmed, is whether you intend to be faithful to Christ even to your death. Every one of us is expecting to face death some day. Do we look to Jesus, who has overcome it? Or do we flinch? Are we confident in our Savior? Or do we say that we hope he’ll actually save us, wondering if the Gospel is true? Whether life is easy or difficult, is our hope built on Jesus and his righteousness? Or do we trust something else? I think we need to be called to repentance. We’re simply not going to be able to keep the righteous demands of God’s law. We are to fear, love and trust in God entirely, all the time, with no mistakes allowed. This is the demand of God’s perfect righteousness. And we aren’t going to do it. Further, like the chemist who spoils a formula by dropping in a wrong ingredient, we can’t rescue ourselves. We can’t undo our faithlessness. Sin remains sin. We’ve failed and the whole thing is ruined. Despite our best efforts, despite our best intentions, we have fallen short of the perfect demands of God.
We recall that God is higher than we are. His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts. Our thoughts and ways are limited by our own sense of right and wrong. He isn’t bound by that. We can look to our Gospel reading for this concept. In Matthew 20 we see the parable of the workers in the vineyard. And we remember that God is normally one of the prime characters in a parable. The master seems to be acting in a responsible manner, at least at first. He hires some day laborers and agrees to pay them what is typical for a day laborer for one day. He then gathers some more laborers, and more, and more, throughout the day, not telling them how much he intends to pay them. This is not out of line at all. Then as the end of the day comes he begins to pay out his workers. He gives them all the same amount, the amount which he contracted with the first workers for.
You may remember that I’ve tried to identify the “no way” moment in parables. This is the “no way” in this parable. No normal master would pay a whole day’s wages for someone who came to work about an hour before quitting time. It’s absurd. It makes no sense at all to do this. All this does is encourage workers to take advantage of the master. But we see this is no normal master. His ways are above our ways. His thoughts are above our thoughts. He has determined to bless people, even though they don’t deserve it.
How has God blessed us? He has blessed us in the person and work of Jesus, who came to gather us to himself. He has blessed us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. He has blessed us in that Jesus, the sinless one, takes away the sin of the world, bearing it himself. He has blessed us in that Jesus, the lamb of God, goes to his death, no, rather, he goes to our death, meeting the penalty for our sin head on. God has blessed us in the active obedience of Christ, who ministered among us, not bringing sin or shame of any sort. God has surely blessed us in proclaiming us partakers of a heavenly inheritance, which is received by grace through faith. God has certainly blessed us by accomplishing all that is needed for our salvation on our behalf. God has certainly blessed us by making the last to be first and the first last, by taking us from the rank of sinners and placing us in the blessed place of God the Son, while he himself in the person and work of Jesus has taken our place, the last place, the place of sorrow, shame, and destruction.
So, to return to the question we had at the start of the sermon, who cheated? Our Lord has condemned our lying, cheating, and stealing, calling us to change our behavior and our minds, so he can have mercy on us. But time after time, since we don’t prove ourselves worthy, since we deny the riches of the mercy of God, since we fail over and over again, we see that in fact God himself cheats. He cheats so that we win. He overpays us. He defeats death not so he can live but so we can live. He betrays himself to destruction so we become indestructible. He takes us who would be by nature last and makes us first. And he does it all out of his good pleasure, because he loves us. If there’s anyone treated unfairly in the kingdom of God, it’s God, who himself becomes last to make us first.
Let us pray.
Our Lord, you have called us to you in faith. You have told us to change our ways, and since we couldn’t and wouldn’t, you have changed them for us. Let us then look to you, the author and finisher of our salvation, in faith, knowing that you have conquered sin on our behalf. Grant us repentance and forgiveness, that we may walk in the newness of life you have provided in your kingdom, for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.
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