church

INI
Twelfth Sunday After Pentecost
August 11, 2013
Ascension Lutheran Church, Tacoma WA
Paul Naumann, Pastor

GOD TURNS HAVE-NOTS INTO HAVES
Isaiah 29:18-21

To Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or
think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by
Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. The Word of God
for our consideration today comes from the prophet Isaiah, chapter 29,
beginning with the 18th verse, as follows:

In that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, And the eyes of the blind
shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The humble also shall increase
their joy in the LORD, And the poor among men shall rejoice In the Holy One
of Israel. For the terrible one is brought to nothing, The scornful one is
consumed, And all who watch for iniquity are cut off — Who make a man an
offender by a word, And lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, And turn
aside the just by empty words. Here ends our text.

In the Name of Jesus Christ, Who came to proclaim liberty to the captives and
recovery of sight to the blind, Dear Fellow Redeemed,

“America is sharply divided between the rich and the poor, the haves and the
have-nots.” Do you agree with that statement? According to the Pew Research
Center, nearly half of Americans do agree. Which is striking, because that’s up
from only 25% who agreed with that statement just 20 years ago. A lot has
changed. Evidently people are increasingly becoming convinced that there is a
deep class distinction in our country, between those who’ve “got it” and those
who don’t.

What about you? If you don’t mind my asking. Are you a have, or have-not?
Does it matter? I don’t think there’s anyone among us who doesn’t wonder,
from time to time, what it would be like to be fabulously wealthy. You’re
driving around American Lake over here in Lakewood and you see the sleek
limousine disappear behind the gates of one of those huge mansions, and you
wonder, “What would it be like to be one of the HAVES?” Of course most of
us realize that wealth doesn’t equal happiness all the time (or even most of the
time). But there’s something you may not realize, something you may have lost
sight of in the midst of the tough economic times we’ve been going through
lately, and that is that you are among the “haves!” In every way that matters,
God has lifted you up and placed you among the top 1%, the very elite of the
earth. He has bestowed on you incredible riches. Our theme today is:

GOD TURNS HAVE-NOTS INTO HAVES

I. To the deaf He gives hearing.
II. To the blind He gives sight.
III. To the poor in spirit He gives joy.

The text begins, In that day. And you might ask, “In what day?” Isaiah speaks
in our text about some startling transformations that would take place sometime
in the future, but what’s he talking about? If you read the context, it’s clear.
He’s talking about how salvation, once the sole possession of the Jews, would
be taken away from them and given to the non-Jews, or Gentiles. Now that may
not seem like anything revolutionary to you, but to eighth-century Israelites it
was unthinkable. To say that one day the Gentiles would replace the Jews as
the people of God was like saying that black would turn into white, that birds
would swim in the ocean and fish would fly around in the air. It was ridiculous
– to them, this could never happen!

Why not? Because from a spiritual standpoint the Jews were the “haves,” the
chosen people, the people of the Book. The Gentiles were the have-nots,
outcasts, the unclean and unworthy. But, said Isaiah, GOD TURNS
HAVE-NOTS INTO HAVES. How? To the deaf He gives hearing. In that day,
Isaiah said, the deaf shall hear the words of the book.

The word “deaf” in English means only one thing. But in Hebrew it can mean
one of two things – either that the hearer is deaf or that the speaker is silent. It
simply indicates a state of non-communication. There definitely was a state of
non-communication in ancient Israel, but it wasn’t God’s fault! The Lord had
not been silent to His people. He had sent His prophets again and again to the
rebellious people of Israel, warning them in the sternest terms to forsake their
idolatry and repent of their sins. Yet they became deaf to His Word. They
turned away. Through Jeremiah the Lord said, "I spoke to you, rising up early
and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called you, but you did not answer, --
Jer 7:13.

As the old adage says, “There are none so deaf as those who will not hear.”
The Jews refused to hear the Word of God. Eight centuries later, by the time of
Christ, their deafness would be complete. With a few exceptions, the nation of
Israel had become spiritually deaf, not even recognizing the Messiah Himself
when he appeared among them. In fact, the Pharisees of Jesus’ time perfectly
personified the “scornful ones” spoken of in our text, those who watch for
iniquity …Who make a man an offender by a word, And lay a snare for him. Do
you recall when Jesus accused the scribes and Pharisees of hypocrisy –what did
they do? They laid snares for Jesus. They began to assail Him vehemently, and
to cross-examine Him about many things, lying in wait for Him, and seeking to
catch Him in something He might say, that they might accuse Him. – Lk
11:53-54.

The Jews rejected God’s Word. Paul told the unbelieving Jews in Antioch, "It
was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you
reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to
the Gentiles. 47 "For so the Lord has commanded us: `I have set you as a light
to the Gentiles, That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.'" 48
Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the
Lord. -- Acts 13:46-48. That the Gentiles should become believers? It was
unheard of! But to the deaf, God gives hearing. And by the way, in case your
attention is beginning to wander? They’re talking about YOU! Is there anyone
here this morning who comes from Jewish extraction? I don’t think there is, and
that means we’re all Gentiles. So it’s a very good thing for us that God sent the
Gospel to the Gentiles. Because otherwise our ears would never have been
opened, and our tongue would not this morning be singing the praise of Him
who died for us!

We Gentiles - we who were previously deaf would hear the words of the book.
And that’s significant, too. It’s through the words of the book that God saves
people. Part of the precious heritage of our Lutheran church is a steadfast
confession of the Scriptural doctrine of the means of Grace. Scripture tells us
clearly that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. The Holy
Spirit creates faith and strengthens faith solely through the means of grace – the
Gospel in Word and Sacraments. God turned us – formerly deaf Gentiles - from
have-nots into haves by the hearing of His Word.

It’s true that GOD TURNS HAVE-NOTS INTO HAVES. To the deaf He
gives hearing, and to the blind He gives sight. Our text says, In that day…the
eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness.

It’s hard to overstate the blessed gift of sight. Your body has five senses, but
sight is by far the most important. Did you know that over 95% of your brain’s
information comes through your vision? That’s why it’s so devastating when a
person loses the power of sight. Psychologists say that it’s actually much easier
to adapt if you were born blind, than if you lost your sight later in life. Either
way, it’s a condition none of us would want. And yet, spiritual blindness – to be
ignorant of God and the way of salvation – that is the natural condition of all
people. It was our condition, before the Lord brought us to faith. That’s why
Paul says to the Ephesian Christians, …You should no longer walk as the rest
of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding
darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is
in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling,
have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with
greediness. But you have not so learned Christ. – Eph 4:17-20.

We were that way, by nature. We were the blind. We were the have-nots. But
GOD TURNS HAVE-NOTS INTO HAVES. He gave us sight by putting faith
in Christ into our hearts. As we confess in the Third Article of the Creed, “I
believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my
Lord, nor come to Him, but that the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel
and enlightened me with His gifts.” In this unbelieving world you have blind
people all around you. But God has opened your eyes, and made you one of the
precious few who have the gift of spiritual sight. Do you realize how blessed
you are? Do you realize what a true miracle that is? Paul says it’s no less a
miracle than when God first created light in the universe! For it is the God who
commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. – 2
Cor 4:6.

Truly, GOD TURNS HAVE-NOTS INTO HAVES. To the deaf He gives
hearing, to the blind He gives sight, and to the poor in spirit He gives joy. The
text says, The humble also shall increase their joy in the LORD, And the poor
among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel.

When Isaiah talks about the “humble” and the “poor”, he’s not referring to
people who don’t have much money. Most people would fit into that category.
He’s talking about spiritual humility, about those who are poor in spirit.
Spiritually humble people are people who understand their absolute dependence
on God. People like you, who have heard God’s Law, and recognized your deep
sinfulness and your record of failure. People like the publican in the Temple
who …dared not even lift his eyes to heaven, but smote upon His breast and
said, “God be merciful to me, a sinner!” People, in short, who know that when
it comes to our natural ability to supply the righteousness God requires, we are
definitely the have-nots!

So how do we, of all people, become the haves? One writer pointed out what a
paradox this is: “These are the people who now recognize themselves as poor
and in need of everything. How can that bring them joy? It ought rather, one
would think, to produce great grief. But their very feeling of poverty and great
need is the condition for their receiving the greatest wealth, and thus the
sweetest joy.” What he’s saying, basically, is that GOD TURNS HAVE-NOTS
INTO HAVES. Those humble sinners who do not hide their sins, but rather
bring them to their Lord and freely confess them, to them God gives the joy of
pardon and salvation in Jesus Christ.

The poor among men shall rejoice In the Holy One of Israel. The word
“rejoice” is interesting. It literally means “to dance around in a circle.” When’s
the last time you were so happy that you danced around in a circle? Can’t
remember? Listen to God’s Word! In Christ, your Lord has cast your sins into
the depths of the sea! Because of the righteous life of your Savior, God now
sees you as righteous. Because of the innocent death of your Savior, God says
that your sins are covered. Because of the triumphant resurrection of your
Savior, God promises that you too will one day rise to everlasting life. Because
of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, there is now no power on earth that can
keep you out of heaven! And if that doesn’t make you want to dance around in
a circle, I don’t know what would! Well may we join Isaiah in saying, I will
greatly rejoice in the LORD, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has
clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of
righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, And as a bride
adorns herself with her jewels. – 61:10.

The story is told of how King Cyrus, the great monarch of the Persian Empire,
once captured a foreign nobleman and his family. When they were brought into
his presence, the king asked the prisoner, “What will you give me if I release
you?” “The half of my wealth,” was the nobleman’s reply. “And if I release your
children?” “Everything I possess.” “And if I release your wife?” “Your Majesty,
I will give myself.” King Cyrus was so moved by his devotion that he freed the
whole family. As they were on the road returning to their homeland, the
nobleman remarked to his wife how handsome the king of the Persians was.
With a look of deep love, his wife replied, “I never noticed. I couldn’t take my
eyes off you – the one who was willing to give his life for mine!” My dear
fellow-Christians, let us never take our eyes off Christ. He’s the one who,
despite our utter unworthiness, was willing to give His life for ours. Truly, in
Christ, GOD TURNS HAVE-NOTS LIKE US INTO HAVES. To the deaf He
gives hearing, to the blind He gives sight, and to the poor in spirit He gives
great joy. God grant us the wisdom to understand the riches that are ours in
Jesus Christ! AMEN.