DUST, DEATH AND DISCIPLESHIP

HOPE AND CONSEQUENCES

Have you ever felt that something or someone was just too far gone?

I mean like when your favorite team is losing so bad that, even though the game isn’t over, it’s over.  It’s too far gone.  You turn off the TV and go to bed.

Or, like when a car you’ve enjoyed for years starts to need repair after repair after repair.  You want to hang on to it.  It’s served you well.  You like the way it looks.  You like the way it rides.  You don’t want another car payment.  But your current car is just not long for this world.  It’s too far gone.  You buy another car.

Maybe it’s a person.  This person keeps making the same dumb mistake over and over and over again and it’s just destroying him or her.  You care about this person, but you know there’s nothing you can do to affect a change in the person’s life.  He or she is just too far gone.

Have you ever felt that a person is too far gone for God?  Have you ever felt that you were too far gone for God?  Do you feel that way now?

The people of Judah once felt that they were too far gone for God.  The story is found in the book of Isaiah the prophet.  (Read Isaiah 51:1-3; 52:6-7 for background.)

They believed they could do just fine without acknowledging or obeying God.  They worshiped other, false gods and basically lived however they pleased.  The first part of the book of Isaiah finds Isaiah warning them that such sin would bring consequences.  They didn’t believe him.  They believed that God would never allow anything bad to happen to them.

Eventually, the consequences came.  Since the people of Judah were living as if they didn’t need God, they were allowed to find out what that would really be like.  A foreign army invaded their country, ran roughshod over them, destroyed their cities, looted their belongings and carried those who survived away to be servants in the land of their captors.  Trying not to sound too smug, Isaiah said something like, “I tried to tell you this would happen!”

Consider a time when we went ahead and did something or said something simply because that’s how we wanted it to be, even though we knew in our heart of hearts that God’s will was otherwise, and that thing came back to haunt us, to bite us, to disrupt our lives and those of whom we love.  If you’ve had an experience like this - facing the consequences of sin - you know how devastating it can be.

The people of Judah in Isaiah’s time were completely devastated by the consequences they had to face.  They lost it all - their homes, their land, their nation, their Temple and their dignity.  Even Isaiah himself acknowledged that it was harsh.  In the midst of a foreign, hostile country far from all they held dear, they drew a very sober, somber conclusion that most of us draw when we’re in the same place - the place of consequences: “We are too far gone for God.  That’s it.  We’ve done it.  We’ve crossed a line.  We’ve gone over the top.  God will have nothing to do with us now.  We’re hopeless.  The severity of the consequences is proof of that.”

At that point, Isaiah spoke again to his people.  His words to them are words to us as well.  He said:

Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord...The Lord will surely comfort Zion, and will look with compassion on all her ruins...(51:1, 3 NIV).

In effect, Isaiah was telling God’s people - then and now - that we should never confuse facing the consequences of our actions with a lack of compassion on God’s part.  Please hear that again: Never confuse facing consequences with a lack of God’s compassion.  Even though the people of Judah had sinned against God big time by worshiping false gods and living ungodly lives, and, even though God had responded by sending them into exile, that did not mean that God had given up on them or abandoned them.

The second part of the book of Isaiah is filled with such encouragement.  (That’s the part from which the verses cited above are taken.)  Consequences are not a cause for losing hope, for the God who allows consequences will be the God who saves, Isaiah announced.  The people would be returned to their homes.  Their cities would be rebuilt.  Their dignity would be restored.

In effect, Isaiah said, “You can have hope in the midst of consequences.  You are not too far gone for God.”

Even in the midst of consequences, there is hope for return, for rebuilding, for restoration.  That’s true for you and me.  That’s true for our nation.  That’s true for the world.

Remember that when your desire to go your own way instead of God’s way lands you in hot water and makes life difficult and discouraging.  You may be facing consequences because of your choice of direction, but you are not abandoned.  God has not given up on you.  You are not too far gone for God.  Remember that.  Remember Isaiah and his hopeful words spoken in the midst of consequences.

Remember, too, what we have just celebrated at Christmas – God taking on flesh in Jesus and, in so doing, proclaiming a lasting divine commitment to the salvation of the human race.  Our commitment to God may waver.  Consequences may be faced.  Nevertheless, God will continue to work toward bringing us back and restoring us – always and everywhere.

As you reflect on the year past and look toward the new year to come, remember: Because of Jesus, we know there is always hope – for you, for me and for all!