Reflection for North Balwyn Uniting Church
10^th of August, 2025

Isaiah 1:1 10-20

I have mentioned before that part of my heritage is Jewish; that when I recently took a genetic test I found that I am made up of Scottish, English, and Ashkenazi genes. What I do not think that I have said before is that as a Christian I am committed to imitating the Judaism that is one branch of my multifaith family tree. In about 1935, my great-grandfather, Ernest Jones, wrote of his religion:

There is only one true Jewishness which would have been approved by the prophets of old. You may observe a hundred ceremonies and yet, in the prophets’ sense, you may show no Jewishness. For them, there was only one true Jewishness, a righteous and holy life, a love of God which forbids every shady impulse and impels to all honourable and loving deeds. That was, and that still is, the true Jewishness. Other sorts are cheap and spurious.

I wonder if Ernest had been reading the prophecies of Isaiah when he wrote that.

As you know, biblical scholars agree that the Book of Isaiah contains the words of three prophets. Second Isaiah offered comfort and reassurance in the sixth century BCE to those sitting down and weeping by the rivers of Babylon after Jerusalem was conquered, its Temple was destroyed, and two-thirds of its people were deported. Third Isaiah offered hope in the fifth century BCE to the people who had returned from that exile in Babylon, but found no new and glorious kingdom in Zion. Today we are hearing from First Isaiah, Isaiah of Jerusalem, who prophesied in the eighth century BCE when another empire, the Assyrians, dominated the area. In recent weeks, we have heard from Amos and Hosea, earlier prophets who warned that the Assyrians would destroy the northern kingdom of Israel. Now, next in chronological order, we hear First Isaiah’s prophecies about the southern kingdom of Judah, whose situation is no less precarious.

The first crisis Judah faces during Isaiah’s career is the demand by Israel and Syria that Judah join them in an alliance against the Assyrians. When King Ahaz of Judah refuses, Israel and Syria try to overthrow him. Ahaz then calls on the Assyrians for help to secure his own reign. The alliance between Israel and Syria fails, and both Israel and Judah become vassals of Assyria. Then Israel rebels and is completely overthrown, the situation that Amos and Hosea warned. The northern kingdom no longer exists; it is now an internal province of Assyria. Judah, the southern kingdom, is still ruled by its own kings of the line of David, but it pays tribute to Assyria. Its next crisis occurs when King Hezekiah of Judah tries to make an alliance with Egypt to regain Judah’s independence. This attempt fails. Finally, at the very end of First Isaiah’s career, in 701 BCE, Assyria invades Judah, causing widespread destruction, leaving only the city of Jerusalem intact. This is the political and military context within which First Isaiah prophesies, and he keeps warning the rulers of Judah that they should rely on the Lord for their salvation, not on foreign kingdoms. The very name Isaiah means ‘Yahweh saves’ or ‘Yahweh is salvation’.

The passage we hear today was probably written late in the fifth century BCE as an introduction to all the prophecies collected under the name ‘Isaiah’. It summarises the messages of all three Isaiahs and, since in our canon the Book of Isaiah is the first of the prophetic books, despite being third in date, it also introduces the messages of all the prophets. This message is clear: to be the people of God, it is not enough to worship God. To truly belong to God, the people of God must also live out their calling in justice and in caring for those most in need. We heard that message when Amos said that the Lord would turn into mourning the feasts of those who bought the poor for silver and the needy for a pair of sandals and their songs into lamentation. (Amos 8:1-12) The Lord does not want to punish the people of God; the Prophet Hosea described the anguish Yahweh felt at the prospect at punishing the nation the Lord had taught to walk, lifted to their cheek, and bent down to feed. (Hosea 11:1-11) But sometimes loving parents must chastise children who make the wrong choices.

Like those of Amos and Hosea, Isaiah’s prophecies show the Lord trying to lead Judah along the right paths. Its rulers, compared by Yahweh to the rulers of Sodom, and its people, compared to the people of Gomorrah, are worshipping the Lord. While the Prophet Hosea described the people of Israel turning from Yahweh to Baals, the people of Judah are making sacrifices, bringing offerings, and lighting incense before the Lord. All these practices are voluntary; they are going above and beyond what their faith demands in their worship. But according to Isaiah, their worship is described by the Lord as ‘solemn assemblies with iniquity,’ and Yahweh says that he cannot endure them.

If the people of Judah really want to please the Lord, says Isaiah, rather than bringing the blood of bulls or of lambs or of goats, they will: ‘Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.’ These are the demands that Yahweh has made from the time that he gave them the lands that became the nation of Israel. This imperative is present throughout the Hebrew Scriptures: do justice; care for the oppressed; defend the widows and orphans, those who are most marginalised, those whom society excludes. This is what it means to be the people of God. The Lord who saves is also the Lord who makes demands. If the people of God live up to their responsibilities, they shall eat the good of the land. If they do not, they shall be devoured by the sword. Yahweh saves; hope is offered; invitation is given, but grace is not cheap. Those who claim to belong to God’s people must demonstrate that identity through their way of life. To use the words of my great-grandfather, the ‘one true Jewishness [is] a righteous and holy life’.

Imagine how much better the world would be if everyone who staked a claim in the Holy Land demonstrated the righteousness of their claim by ceasing to do evil, learning to do good, seeking justice, rescuing the oppressed, defending the orphan, pleading for the widow. How much safer everyone in the world would be if those making religious claims on the Holy Land read the prophets, rather than the genocidal parts of the Book of Joshua or Deuteronomy. Both the current American Ambassador to Israel and the Republican Speaker of the House are evangelical Christians, and they have both recently visited the Palestinian West Bank, referring to it as ‘Judea and Samaria,’ and telling the illegal Israeli settlers squatting there that Israel is its rightful owner. I am certain that Mike Huckabee and Mike Johnson worship just as fervently as did those ‘rulers of Sodom’ and ‘people of Gomorrah,’ and I am equally certain that God is even now saying to them, ‘When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.’

I could end it there, with a condemnation of the fundamentalist Christians who have convinced themselves that their faith demands unequivocal support of the modern nation of Israel, regardless of what Israel may be doing. But if I did that, if I said, ‘Look at them over there!’ I would not be following the example of Isaiah. We, too, claim to be the people of God, which means that we, too, must demonstrate that identity through the way we seek justice and care for others. Jesus spoke as clearly as the prophets did: ‘Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’ As Australians, we are among the wealthiest people in the world. Do we make donations to those in need only from our surplus, or do we actually give enough that we notice it in our budgets? Are there things that we do without so that we can feed the hungry and clothe the naked?

May the God revealed in the words of Isaiah and the life of Jesus show us a different cost of living, where the pain of this world will be eased not by the money we spend on ourselves, but by the way we spend ourselves for others, and in the way we value each and every life on this planet. Amen.