I’ll bet I don’t even have to tell you which one thing I am talking about. I said it to be provocative…and it was.
Isaiah 15-16 is an oracle concerning Moab. The surprise is that the people of Judah are given an instruction that seems to come from left field. Along the way, God’s people have been warned about the influence of the nations. Now, though, with Moab in danger of defeat and desolation, Judah is instructed to welcome them in. Isaiah teaches the people to “give counsel, grant justice, [and] shelter the outcast…the fugitive” (16:3). The refuge Judah has found in the Lord (15:32) is to be extended to the Moabites.
So far, so good, but God’s Word is not preached until it is applied. In application I asked, “If an illegal immigrant came to CBC, would our first instinct be to call ICE or to offer them refuge in the gospel.”
I wonder what your response was?
I know what my response was. It made me uncomfortable when I first considered it.
That is what God’s Word should do. It challenges the way we think, but we must shape our ideas by it, not attempt to bend it to our liking. That was the point of making that statement. Our first instinct reveals our heart. May it be that when my heart is revealed, it is shown to be in concert with His heart. We know God’s heart. It is revealed to us in Scripture. His heart is first for the redemption of people, no matter their background or behavior, and He is especially interested in those who are marginalized on the fringes of society. If that is true of Him, it must be true of us as well.
There is a lot more room to roam on that thought experiment, but our first reaction exposes a lot about us.
May God’s heart be our heart, no matter what.