The Book of Isaiah has always been a favorite of mine. One of the reasons is the bold and blatant proclamation of God’s mercy to his undeserving people. Written as an indictment of sorts, even as testimony in a husband’s divorce suit against an adulterous wife (“Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity…they have forsaken the LORD…they are utterly estranged.”—Isaiah 1:4), the first 39 chapters of the book recount the ongoing unrepentant sin of God’s covenant people. That part of the book is almost entirely a recounting of Israel’s covenant unfaithfulness, ending with a prophecy that the remnant of the nation of Israel in Jerusalem would be carried away into captivity. “Nothing shall be left, says the LORD” (Isaiah 39:6). It is pretty bleak.
But turn the page. There’s a 180-degree shift in focus beginning in Chapter 40. “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God” is the opening of this part of the prophecy. The command “Fear not…” appears eleven times from Chapter 40 through the end of the book. The themes of sin, broken relationships, judgment, and exile have been replaced with mercy, restoration, forgiveness, and covenant faithfulness. Amplifying the two-fold proclamation “Comfort, comfort” in this part of the prophecy is the three-fold invitation to “Come…come…come,” to return to the Lord’s presence as a dearly loved radiantly redeemed bride in whom the Bridegroom delights.
That invitation to “Come”—to return to the presence of the Lord not in fear or shame, but as a beloved one, trusting in the Lord’s covenant faithfulness and mercy is not limited to the Jewish exiles in Babylon. It is an invitation that finds its fulfillment and glory in the finished work of Jesus Christ on behalf of his covenant people—the elect, those called by his name— “Christian.”
God’s mercy is always an invitation to respond in trust and gratitude for what he has done—and continues to do. For our Old Testament covenant ancestors, the invitation was to return into God’s covenant, which though broken by his people, God was faithful to uphold because of his love for them.
For us, the invitation is similar—to joyfully embrace relationship with the Lord and with others in his covenant Body. But we are also invited into renewed joy and relationship with the Lord through our repentance (Romans 2:4), our sanctification (Romans 12:1-2), and sharing our money with the Body (2 Corinthians 9:11-12).
In the case of each invitation above, the motivation for our response is God’s goodness, faithfulness, and love. Paul says in Romans 2:4 that God’s kindness is meant to elicit a response in our hearts. In Romans 12:1-2, it is the “mercies of God.” In 2 Corinthians 9:11-12, Paul says that God is the provider of all that we have and sharing his provision results in blessing and thanksgiving to God. The formula is this: God’s faithfulness is meant to motivate our joy, our obedience, our generosity.
Tenth is experiencing a significant deficit in terms of giving. Our giving income so far in 2024 is about 10% below last year’s levels, which were themselves 6% below 2022. As a result, although we are spending below budgeted levels, we are still running a real deficit that is eating into our reserves. It’s a trend we cannot sustain.
I encourage you to prayerfully reflect on what I mentioned a moment ago: God’s faithfulness is meant to motivate our joy, our obedience, our generosity. Are there ways in which the Lord might be inviting you to be more joyful, more obedient, more generous? Are there ways in which he might be inviting you to experience his love and rest in him more?
Here’s one point to consider: if generosity is something meant to be motivated by God’s faithfulness and love, then giving simply to meet a budget is not being truly generous. That is giving to meet an obligation, to pay a bill. God’s mercies, as Paul puts it in Romans 12:1-2, are meant to utterly transform us from the inside out. One of the outcomes of that transformation is that we give sacrificially, and selflessly because we have a God who withholds nothing from us.
God still says, “Come” to the Christian— “Come, and enjoy me forever.” Let us approach him with joy and thanksgiving, resting in and celebrating his everlasting mercies.