When the band strikes up the overture to a musical, we get a taste of what is to come. The main song-tunes are introduced. The early verses of Isaiah do the same. They give us the main themes of Isaiah’s message, and perhaps of the Old Testament prophets generally. 

Theme 1. We need to listen. It is not just Isaiah speaking, but the Lord himself (vs 2,10,20b). 

Theme 2. Religion without morality is meaningless and abhorrent. Let’s not fool ourselves. Church involvement by itself is no proof of goodness. Isaiah was addressing people whose religious attendance every Sabbath was impeccable. They gave sacrificially and prayed continually. They took part in everything (vs 11–15). But their hearts were disloyal and hostile to the Lord (vs 4–6). 

Theme 3. Change is required. Their everyday behaviour was wrong. Injustice and corruption continued apace. The marginalised suffered and the economically weak were exploited (vs 16,17). The late Bishop John B Taylor wrote, ‘Every Christian should be both a good neighbour and a social reformer.’*  

Theme 4. The gospel according to Isaiah. Though our sins are startling red, all stain of them shall be removed. The Lord proposes a good future… if we will receive it obediently and not resist him. We have to choose (vs 18–20). 
 

*John B Taylor, Preaching through the Prophets, Mowbray, 1983, p3 

‘In you all can be found. Why should I look elsewhere or go elsewhere? You have the words of eternal life, you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life.’¹

It’s not always clear why settled, loving homes sometimes produce rebellious children. In Philip Roth’s novel, American Pastoral,² the daughter of a devoted and morally assiduous father is exposed as a terrorist. This mirrors the Lord’s experience. His covenant love, which nurtures his children, is ‘rebelled against’ (v 2) and ‘spurned’ (v 4), leaving him ‘forsaken’ (v 4). Turning their backs on God, the people behave like strangers to their family, the images of disloyalty comparing unfavourably with farm animals who understand their dependence on their owners (v 3). The New Testament warns us not to forsake our first love.³

The Holy One of Israel (v 4) cannot simply ignore or indulge their ingratitude. It provokes a ‘woe' on his own children and disciplinary action to alert them to the profound consequences of their folly. Sinful behaviour has dire consequences for the health of a nation and its environment (v 7). Judah is in ruins, as enemies, strangers and foreign nations gain the ascendency. Judah, however, is still considered a daughter (v 8). That cannot change. 

But, the people of Judah are never entirely abandoned. Their plight would be like that of the totally destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah unless the Lord had other plans (v 9). They will avoid destruction, but not by the means they think. The remedy does not lie in trying to appease God with outward signs of devotion, which will multiply his anger or simply bore him (vs 14,15). What does God look for? Refraining from doing wrong and starting to care for the oppressed, the orphans and the widows, grasping what he is concerned for. Their repentance must be about loving their neighbours as they love themselves.

Can our worship sometimes distract us from what God really wants from us? Talk about how to be alert to ritual that is divorced from genuine penitence and transformed attitudes.

¹ From a prayer by Henri Nouwen  ² Philip Roth, American Pastoral, Vintage, 1998  ³ Rev 2:4