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The Inclusive Church: God's Definition of "All"
Isaiah 56:1, 6-8
by Rev. Frank Schaefer
Thus says the LORD: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon
my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. And the
foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to him, to
love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who keep the
sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant-- these I
will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of
prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted
on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all
peoples. Thus says the Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel,
I will gather others to them besides those already gathered. Isaiah
56:1, 6-8
To me this is one of the most amazing passages from the Hebrew
Scriptures where God sets the record straight that all of humanity
is included and has a place in God's kingdom.
This of course is not the only passage that talks about including
others, even "foreigners." But this passage stands in stark contrast
to other passages such as from the book of Ezra at a time in
Israel's history when ethnic and religious purity was emphasized and
marriages between Jews and Gentiles had no place in Israel. In fact,
Ezra sought to dissolve these "mixed" marriages (Then Ezra the
priest stood up and said to them, "You have been unfaithful; you
have married foreign women, adding to Israel's guilt. Now honor the
Lord, the God of your ancestors, and do his will. Separate
yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives."
Ezra 10:10-11)
But, in some way, I think this passage from Isaiah sets the record
straight in terms of God's intention that all are welcome in his
house and that all really means All.
The historic context of our passage is the time during the 6th
century BC when Jewish exiles were making their return to Jerusalem
from Babylon. God is said to be gathering the "outcasts of Israel"
as they return to their homeland. The exiles had been gone for many
decades and now that they were returning, they viewed as outcasts by
those who had remained in the homeland.
One of most powerful statements Isaiah makes is this: "‘ Thus says
the Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather
others to them besides those already gathered (v. 8).
Where others want to shun outcasts, God gathers them. How sad is it
that we humans have always, since the dawn of time, defined some
group of people as outcasts so that we can feel better about
ourselves.
Israel's society at that time was marked by other outcasts, too,
even within their own ranks, such as eunuchs, lepers, those
considered unclean. A Jewish woman was excluded from ritual
activities for a period of time after childbirth—forty days after
the birth of a son and two weeks after the birth of a daughter
(Leviticus 12). A leper was required to wear torn clothes and allow
his/her hair to be disheveled and cover his/her upper lip and cry
out "Unclean, unclean" to warn non-leprous people to keep their
distance (Leviticus 13:45).
And, of course, people from outside Jewish society, Gentiles,
foreigners, people who had different beliefs, were even considered
bigger outcasts.
But God is very clear through the prophet Isaiah when he said: "my
house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples" (V.7) And
to be absolutely sure, Isaiah's message specifically includes
foreigners in the context of this prophetic word. The invitation
goes out to all God's children, Jews and Gentiles alike. And what is
specifically required of these foreigners?
"And the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, to minister to
him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants, all who
keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant"
From this description could basically narrow it down to three simple
requirements:
- Love God
- Serve God (extend God's love and grace to others)
- Keep God's Law (be a responsible, decent person)
This is not just an "olive branch" offered to Gentiles/foreigners.
What's offered is not associate membership, it is a full membership
in the assembly of God. I want you to understand how radical
Isaiah's message was in his historical context. For the separation
between Jews and Gentiles was perceived as very, very deep. This
sentiment and theology was even prominently reflected in the
architecture of the temple. Gentiles could not enter into the temple
proper but were restricted to worship in the outer courts,
specifically, the court of Gentiles. But here is what Isaiah says:
"I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house
of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be
accepted on my altar;
Clearly, in this passage Isaiah is talking about Gentiles bringing
offerings to the altar. That would have required for Gentiles to no
longer be restricted to the outer courts of the temple, but instead
have access to the inner sanctum of the holy of holies where
offerings where brought. But in Israel's temple order only the
priests had access to the inner sanctum.
Isaiah's prophetic words are a message of radical hospitality and
outreach and a definition of who God intends to include in God's
kingdom: i.e. everybody, all of God's children. None excepted. All
really does mean All! The everlasting covenant is not about
exclusion. It is about radical inclusion. An inclusion so radical
that it counteracts opposing Scripture passages like the one from
Ezra 10.
Not unlike the 6th century BCE when God spoke through the prophet
Isaiah, God's love is so much wider than the Church could ever
imagine. And Jesus makes God's all-encompassing love becomes even
more explicit in the ministry of Jesus, as he not only reached out
to outcasts, but made them leaders and teachers: tax collectors,
prostitutes, lepers, foreigners, women and children.
What does God want from the Church, from us today? God wants us to
draw the circle ever wider!
There is a story about three WWII soldiers who became good friends
while being stationed in France. One of them was killed and the
other two friends asked the priest of the local church if they could
bury their friend in the church's cemetery. The priest wanted to
know if their friend had been baptized Roman Catholic, but they
didn't know what denomination their friend adhered to, except that
he was a Christian. The priest regretted to be able to allow the
burial to take place in the grave yard, but he allowed them to bury
their comrade in an area outside of the grave-yard's fence. And
that's what they did.
Years later, the two friends traveled back to France and wanted to
visit their fallen comrade. But they couldn't find his marker
outside the grave yard's fence. They located the priest, who was
still pastoring the church, and got an amazing answer: "I thought
about it some more after you buried your friend and was convicted to
move the fence just a little to include him in the church yard.
In the name of God's all-encompassing love, let us do the same and
move that fence so as to include God's beloved children in the
church. That's all God asks us to do: move that fence a little
further out, for when God says All, God really means All.
Amen.
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