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10/10/04 What is driving You Isaiah 26:1-19

1. (1 & 2 then 3) The prophet Isaiah lived during the 8^th century BC. When the great King Solomon had been alive, two hundred years earlier, his nation had been one of the leading countries of the world. But when King Solomon died, his nation split into two halves, each with it’s own King. There was a Kingdom of Israel in the North, and the Kingdom of Judah in the South. (In the north the Israelites all wore flat hats and said “Have you seen this book” and in the south they spoke with posh accents and said “have you seen the buck?” and they thought that they were important because the capital, Jerusalem, with it’s great temple was in the south.) In each half of the nation, Kings came and went and neither Kingdom was ever as strong as the united nation of Israel had been in King Solomon’s day. And in the difficult and stressful time of the 8C, Isaiah was born.

2. Isaiah lived in Jerusalem, the capital. He was in touch with all the affairs of the day, he mixed with the politicians and court officials. He knew about the intrigues and plots that surrounded the palace. (4) God had a purpose for Isaiah… and he had a lot to say to him (66 chapters in the book!) God told Isaiah to tell his people that Spiritually they had lost their way. …they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. (2:6-8) They were worshipping things that they themselves had created and they were losing touch with the God who loved them. God told Isaiah to tell the people that Morally, the people had lost their way. And he condemned the selfishness and greed that he saw among his people. “Their words and deeds,” he said “are against the Lord.”

3. Isaiah could see that his people were heading for disaster. In his lifetime, Isaiah saw the northern Kingdom completely destroyed. And he saw the southern part of his nation invaded, he saw terrifying armies surround Jerusalem. In that time of crisis, instead of the people turning to God in prayer and repentance… Isaiah heard them saying in Jerusalem… let’s eat and drink and be merry for tomorrow we die (that’s where the saying comes from Isaiah 22:14) In all this chaos…(5) Isaiah lived close to God. It was to Isaiah that God spoke about Jesus. It was Isaiah to whom God said The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel… God with us. (that’s in Isaiah chapter 7:9) God even told Isaiah how this child would be treated when he grew up…He was despised and rejected by men, he was pierced for our transgressions… the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. (that’s all in Isaiah 53) Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, Isaiah heard from God.

And through Isaiah God has given to the generations after him some of the most important and moving passages found anywhere in the Old Testament. I have called you by name, you are mine, I have carved your name on the palm of my hand, you are my child, when you pass through the waters I will be with you… those who pray shall mount up as on eagles wings… there are so many words of truth and inspiration in the book of Isaiah. In today’s reading find the first reference in the OT to the hope of resurrection for those who live in relationship with God… Those who belong to God will live; their bodies will rise again! Those who sleep in the earth will rise up and sing for joy!

How did he do it? Isaiah I mean. He lived a life of more challenges, more danger, more uncertainty and more stress than most of us. Yet through it all, he was close enough to God to hear and receive his word to him. And through his life.. God has spoken to billions of people.

4. (6) What was driving Isaiah? Maybe just the one truth that he knew to the very depth of his being… in the passage today…(7) You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you! Perfect peace was probably a rare commodity in the time of Isaiah. It still is now. Here is a recent news item… (8) September 24 Europe's largest centre for stress research was opened today in Bristol by the science minister, Lord Sainsbury.

(8a) Here are a some statistics from the website of the Health and Safety executive…

64% of the UK workforce are suffering workplace stress. The most recent survey indicates that an estimated 265,000 people first became aware of work-related stress, depression or anxiety in the previous 12 months. (9) You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you! Do the words of Isaiah have anything to say to our generation do you think?

5. (10) Rick Warren says “Everyone’s life is driven by something.” God was the driving force in the life of Isaiah the prophet. What is the alternative to the lifestyle that Isaiah chose, the lifestyle of fixing his thoughts on his relationship with God. The alternative is to allow something other than God and our relationship with him to be the driving force in our life. If we do that then our lives are driven by other pressures, other needs. So ask yourself… What’s driving me?

(11) Jesus once said No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other Matthew 6:24

If what Jesus says is true, then you can’t say that God is the driving force in your life, if there is something else that is driving you.

There are many different things that can drive us, many different pressures that can things can shape our behaviour and the choices we make. Here are some examples of the forces that we can allow to drive our life here…

6. (12) POSSESSIONS

In the time of Isaiah people worshipped things that had been made by human hands. Years ago it used to be said of Britain that we were a nation of shopkeepers.. I think that was a joke that was made about us in Napoleon’s time. Today we are simply a nation of shoppers. And People can sometime simply work to shop. Acquiring money so that we can buy things can become the main motivation for work. Everyday there is some new thing to buy, some new possession to acquire… that pressure to acquire, that pressure to shop, can become the driving force in our life. But just after we’ve brought the latest MP3 player… we discover it’s been superseded by the MP4 player that will also play videos. And we get on the treadmill of chasing after the latest things, the latest possessions. Millions of people are on that treadmill, and the purpose of advertising is to keep us there.

And then we start to think that in some sense we are failures if we don’t have enough of the right things around us. Or people think I am a failure as a parent if I cannot provide my children this Christmas with the same amount of toys, or trainers or an X box or whatever that their friends will be getting.

I know people who earn twice, three times, four times our household income.. and who complain of not having enough money. And how many people have put themselves into debt, and made themselves slaves to it because it was so important to them to acquire some thing, some possession. What’s driving you?

7. (13) GUILT For years people, carry with them the shame over something that they did wrong in the past, they carry that shame and regret in such a way that their past experiences spoils the life they are living now.

Jesus came to set us free from GUILT… but sometimes we just won’t let him do that for us. It is so arrogant to want to punish ourselves when God wants to give forgiveness so that we can fulfil HIS purpose for our life here. But as long as we punish ourselves with guilt… then we cannot fulfil God’s purposes for our life.

Counselling is Good. I am always happy to recommend someone to see a Christian counsellor. Sometimes we need that safe place to be totally honest with another person, and with ourselves, we can learn through counselling to understand ourselves and our reaction to situations, we can learn new ways of behaving in situations and circumstances that test us. But Counselling will not set us free from GUILT. Only God can do that. And we need to be humble enough to receive from God the forgiveness that Jesus has made possible. God’s purpose for your life is not limited or defined by your past mistakes. If he could make a leader out of a murderer like Moses… then he can certainly transform your life.

On more than one occasion someone who has been divorced has come to me nervously asking if is possible that they might be married again. I always talk with folk who come asking that question. I never give an instant answer. But on more than one occasion I have said to someone in that situation… God is really good at new beginnings. That is the Gospel folks! Jesus sets us free from past failures and past mistakes. We don’t need to allow our life here to be shaped and spoiled by Guilt. But people do.

One thing I have realised since being ordained, is that Christians sometimes are much less willing to forgive one another’s mistakes… than God is. Which is a pity really.. because when we meet him God will want to have a word with us if we have been so arrogant and presumptuous as to set ourselves in his place.. and start judging people who he has forgiven!

God doesn’t see as sin what we see as sin. Was it a sin to turn over the tables?

8. (14) ANGER

If we need to RECEIVE forgiveness from God then we also need to be GIVE forgiveness to others.

But too often people decide to hold onto hurts instead of letting them go. Have you ever done that? You know after something has happened.. keep going over and over it in your minds, what was said, what wasn’t said. Sometimes the person who has offended you may be totally unaware of what has been done. And that just makes it worse… and you nurse that resentment. People nurse and feed anger and resentment for days, for weeks, for YEARS. Once I met a mother who couldn’t tell her daughter that her father had died.. because she was still angry about something that had been said eight years earlier… and so they weren’t talking.

What happened yesterday has gone. It cannot be undone. But if you rewind the tape and replay the hurt and the pain you felt.. you are perpetuating that pain. Why do you think Jesus went out of his way to remind us that we have to forgive those who sin against us.... The alternative is to live a life where your relationships with people are determined, driven by, your anger and resentment towards them or towards others.

fear

And the Bible is very clear about what God expects of those who claim to belong to him…

If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we have not seen? If you can’t love your brother who you have seen…1Jo 4:20 Don’t fool yourself into thinking it is possible to be unforgiving towards some Christian brothers and sisters and live in friendship with God. You can’t.

9. (15) FEAR is a powerful driving force. It can start in childhood with our fears of the dark, it can be reinforced through the words of others to us about our failure or incompetence so that we fear failure more than anything else. In fact we can be so afraid that we are simply unable to act because we are afraid of making the wrong decision, the wrong choice. And so time and time again when there is some opportunity presented, perhaps a different job, a relationship with someone, the chance to become part of some community of network of people, a church, a club, a REAL group. Or when there is some opportunity to do something new, or to try something again that once they tried before… people who are driven by fear do nothing because they are afraid of making the wrong move, of making the wrong decision, or they are afraid of failure.

(16) Here is a quote from the book… “Fear is a self-imposed prison that will keep you from becoming what God intends you to be.” Why do you think the Bible says (17) God is love …And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. … perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that his love has not been perfected in us. (1 John 4:16,18) What’s driving you? The knowledge that you live secure in the love of God, no matter what happens. Or something else?

10 (18) APPROVAL Who needs the approval of others? !

Maybe you didn’t have the encouragement from your parents that you should have had. All parents are not perfect. I know that because I am one.

Maybe your teachers at school no matter what you did never gave you the encouragement that you needed and all through your years growing up you never felt good enough somehow. Or maybe you have longed for years to be part of a circle of friends who value you and think you were great.. and it hasn’t happened. For these and all sorts of reasons people can become locked into a way of living in which they are constantly seeking approval and affirmation from other people.

That can lead us into compromise, into adopting the beliefs and attitudes and behaviour of those around us simply because we want to be approved of and affirmed by them. It’s what is often called “Peer Group pressure.” And it is not something that only affects children or young people that desire to conform in order to be approved of is something that can drive us at any age.

St Paul knew exactly who he was… he said of himself and his Christian friends…(18a) For we speak as messengers who have been approved by God … Our purpose is to please God, not people. He is the one who examines the motives of our hearts. 1 Th 2:4

To know that GOD approves of us, to know who we are in his sight.. is the way to be set free from the power, that the craving for approval from others can have over us.

(19) Possessions, Guilt, Resentment and Anger, Fear, Craving for Approval… these and many other things can become the driving force of our life. They will all lead to stress, dissatisfaction, unhappiness, anxiety, broken or distorted relationships, and much more.

It seems as if Isaiah had found another way to live. (20) That’s why he praised the God who was the driving force of his life… and said…

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on you!

(21)

What do you think is driving your life?