Remember, Resolve, Relate

 

God’s grace, peace and mercy be with you. My sermon today is entitled Remember, Resolve and Relate, and my focus is Isaiah (63:7-14). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that we are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Back in the day, I was a huge fan of Law and Order, when Jerry Orbach played Detective Lenny Briscoe. Long before Orbach was Detective Briscoe, he was a El Gallo in The Fantasticks singing “Try to Remember.” I am not going to try to sing it for you, but I open 2023’s first sermon by citing the last verse.

Deep in December, it's nice to remember, although you know the snow will follow. Deep in December, it's nice to remember, without a hurt the heart is hollow. Deep in December, it's nice to remember, the fire of September that made us mellow. Deep in December, our hearts should remember and follow.

With apologies for mentioning December on New Year’s Day, I cite this song because our reading from Isaiah opens with, “I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.”

Those who participated in our study of Isaiah may recall that typically in the Bible, those remembering what the Lord has done begin by talking to God about God, and especially about what he did for his people. The two references to kindness or steadfast love in verse 7, mean every possible aspect and display of divine love covering the deeds for which God is to be praised; and the many good things which He did to meet his people’s needs. Steadfast love also includes the emotional quality of compassion. In other words, God has a heart for his people.

Isaiah speaks of how the Lord’s love began. It all started when God chose to save his people. Isaiah ponders aloud that the Lord instructed Moses to “say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son’” (Ex 4:22). Later, God told Moses, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” (6:7).

God gave Israel an identity, and furthermore he saved and redeemed his people. Israel responded with a commitment to be faithful to God and his ways, and the Red Sea completed and sealed the whole work of salvation. Through this Exodus event, God brought the people into a father-son relationship with himself. God also accepted the implications of that relationship by doing what was necessary for his people. Whether or not God’s people lived up to their promise to be faithful is another matter.

Isaiah explored the relationship between God and his people from the perspective of the Lord’s side. In any relationship, the faithful party is afflicted or distressed, meaning God identifies with his people and shares their suffering. When God’s people were suffering, he shared their pain. God was afflicted. God was distressed. God’s heart went out to them. Before I move on, I ask you: When you were in pain because of an injustice done to you, whether it was an accident that left you in great physical pain or limited your ability or whether someone else damaged your reputation or broke your heart; whatever it was, did you recognize that God was sharing your pain? God’s people should have recognized that.

Because God’s people turned elsewhere for blessings, they insulted God and wounded his holiness. Even in Isaiah’s day, Jerusalem’s leaders, once righteous and just, became harlots and murderers. They accepted bribes and welcomed thieves. They no longer sought justice for the widow and the orphan (Isa 1:23-24). Psalm 78 details in short order how God remained faithful to a rebellious people, and their unfaithfulness could not stand before God’s eyes. Hence, those who refuse God’s ways became and become his enemies.

Yet, in the midst of rebellion and the hostility it provoked, God’s tender mind always is returning to the beginning of that relationship. Isaiah balances the truth that while God hates sin, He loves the sinner, and that corrective measures are necessary to remind us, as today’s psalm (111) does: that if we want to be wise at any age, we must fear God. As God’s people today, we must have reverent respect for our God who holds in his hand the awesome power to punish us if we provoke him, but can be jolted out of hostility because he is simultaneously tender with us.

An illustration. If you have small children or grandchildren who seriously need a corrective spanking, you might know that at the moment your raised hand begins to move quickly towards the child’s derrière, you are suddenly jolted from your role as judge and executioner, and administer an alternative lesson. Perhaps that is the time to teach them that fear of losing the Lord’s love and protection is more important than fear of parental punishment.

Isaiah then reminds us that Moses knew that it was not the power of his arms that divided the Red Sea to guide the Israelites through their Exodus event, but the protective power of God’s arms. Through the depths of what should have been certain death, God guided his people through what looked like an insurmountable barrier standing in the way of their freedom and benefitting the pursuing Egyptian army behind them. In what looked like a bleak disastrous moment, God divided the Red Sea delivering his people into freedom and his enemies into defeat.

God’s Holy Spirit not only delivered his people from death, but also provided them with rest in a lush valley. This verse (14) reminds me of all the places around us where animals graze because of the abundance of grass and hay that God provides. There are dozens of farms in our area where families can raise vegetables and livestock to feed themselves.

Isaiah concluded his remembrance by asking God to think of all he did for his people in spite of their offenses. Although they were sinners, they were still God’s people. Although they never lived out their sonship, everything about them is attractive and lovely. Folks, Isaiah’s passage is not only about God’s people 2700 years ago, it is also about God’s people today. We too are sinners who fail to live up to being children of God, and yet, God still loves us, provides for us, and offers us not only his divine protection, but more importantly, eternal life and happiness here.

That brings me to resolve. When we resolve, we try to find an answer, a mathematical solution or simply make a decision. The word comes to us directly from the Latin word, resolvere, meaning to loosen, unyoke or undo; to relax, set free or make void. Resolvere is a combination of re, meaning back, and solvere, meaning to loosen, untie or release.

I chose to make my second point resolve and not resolution because the former means the firm determination to do something, and the latter is to do or not do something. A resolution is a fleeting moment in time. Resolve involves ongoing action with a fixed purpose or a dedication to the process. Today, millions of Americans will make resolutions, and by Valentine’s Day, only 25% will keep their resolutions. By the end of this year, only 8% will have kept their word. So, I took the time to explain the difference because many well-intentioned people simply don’t have the tools or knowledge to make their resolutions stick and accomplish their goals. In other words, anyone can make a resolution. Not everyone has resolve.

Now, don’t take my point as a judgment on you or anyone else. Take it as a challenge. Isaiah spoke his prophecies in order to challenge God’s people. When he recounted the Lord’s steadfast love and great goodness to Israel, and reminded them of their rebellious sinful lives, he challenged them to remember that even in their sinfulness, God still remained faithful. Isaiah challenges us to first praise God for what he has done for us in the distant and immediate past, and to guide us in the present through the Holy Spirit. When we have that in mind, we have the resolve to see through any obstacle.

So, I challenge you to make New Year’s resolutions and to ask God for the resolve to keep them. Let your resolutions be about your health, finances, relationships, personal disposition or anything else, but make sure that God’s will is your primary priority. Be SMART about your resolutions, that is, let them be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely (SMART).[1] In my footnote you can see who coined SMART goals, but since my sermon is not a lecture on business management nor a treatise on the history and development of New Year’s resolutions, let me move from resolve to relate, my third point.

We all understand what it means to relate. It’s a connection with anything or anyone. “I can relate to what you are saying,” means that, “I have gone through a similar experience, therefore, I understand and have feelings for you.” It literally means that we carry the same burden. Relating is vital not only in groups such as AA, but also in religion.

As members of Christ’s Body, the Church, we know that Jesus Christ relates to every one of us. He not only knows our human condition, but carried it to the Cross. There, he had it nailed. There, he redeemed our human condition and transforms us into someone we can be – faithful sons and daughters of our Father. Isaiah’s message reminds us of how God relates to us. In our affliction he was afflicted, and in his love and pity, God redeems and lifts us (v. 9). Because God relates to every one of us, it is possible for each of us to relate to one another.

Friends, remember how good and gracious God has been and is to you. Resolve to seek first his Kingdom as your first resolution for 2023. Relate not only to your personal Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, but all of your brothers and sisters in Him. When you do, may the blessings of our Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you and yours today and always. Amen.

 

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[1] SMART goals were developed by George Doran, Arthur Miller and James Cunningham in their 1981 article “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management goals and objectives”.