“Come, let us reason together.”

Ordinary Time XIX; August 12, 2007

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

I’m just old enough to remember the Johnson administration. One memory I have is of President Johnson quoting Isaiah 1:18: “Come, let us reason together.” Of course, that’s from the King James Version of the Bible; the more modern New Revised Standard Version puts it, “Come, let us argue it out.” Although the NRSV is probably a more accurate translation of the Hebrew, I’m going to stick with the KJV as the general theme for this sermon, mostly because of President Johnson’s attempt to get people to talk to one another and find mutually-agreeable compromise during a very contentious time.

Now, here’s the plan: I’m going to make six short observations from this text and draw a conclusion from them. The conclusion is simple: Repent. But in order to know what I mean by that word today, you had best pay attention to the six observations.

1. What you are hearing in Isaiah 1:10-20 is the summary argument of the prosecution in a court case. That’s the main reason that the translation “Come, let us argue it out” is probably better than “Come, let us reason together”: it reflects the setting of the prosecutor arguing his case against the defendant. The Prophet Isaiah is the prosecuting attorney and the government and people of Judah are the defendant; we don’t get to hear their answer to the charge. God, in this picture, is the judge; that makes you and me the jury. What will be our verdict? These verses from Isaiah, without context, are not really enough evidence upon which to make a decision, but it gives you the idea that when you read or hear the words of the prophets expressed in this form, then you are expected to make a decision about them.

2. Although the prosecutor’s case is supposed to be a reasoned argument to move the jury to a verdict of “guilty,” he starts out using fighting words. He calls the defendants “Sodom” and “Gomorrah.” You remember that Sodom and Gomorrah were cities in the vicinity of the Dead Sea that God destroyed because of their wickedness (Genesis 18:16 – 19:29). Now, Isaiah is a citizen of Judah; he’s speaking to his own people and to his own government. If he were a citizen of the United States in the first decade of the twenty-first century and he started a speech like that, someone might say to him, “Why do you hate America?” That seems to be the automatic reaction to anyone expressing criticism. That is an extreme position; still, imagine someone addressing you and me as the people of Gomorrah and the Administration as the rulers of Sodom. Would we take it well? Isaiah has a very strong accusation against his own people.

3. Two things about this passage highlight the tension within the Bible. It is important to say that because of the modern tendency to flatten the Bible, to hammer it to try to make it say one thing uniformly, as though there were no disagreement within it. “The Bible says…” we will blithely say, completely overlooking another text that suggests the opposite. Anyway, here are the two things. First, Isaiah addresses the people as Sodom and Gomorrah. Last Sunday I preached on a text from Hosea in which that prophet cries on God’s behalf, “How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender.” (Hosea 11:8) Admah and Zeboiim were two other cities destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah, and Hosea explicitly rejects lumping the people of God in with them. Isaiah calls the people of God “Sodom” and “Gomorrah” and Hosea refuses to do so. It would be great to get those two in the same room and listen to what they say to each other. The second thing: The Prophet describes God’s disgust with the people’s ritual observances – their sacrifices, their processions, their festivals. “They have become a burden to me, I am weary of bearing them.” (verse 14) Yet when he asks, “Who asked this from your hand?” (v. 12) the defense could easily answer, “You did!” Every ritual act that Isaiah rejects is something that God has explicitly commanded the people to do. (See, for example, Exodus 29:10-13, 29:18, Leviticus 4:22-26, Psalm 118:27, Exodus 30:7-8, Numbers 29:1-6). God has told them to do these things; now God says he hates them. More on that in the next section, but for now, be aware that part of the richness of the Bible is the conversation among the people in it about how to be faithful to God.

4. The Prosecutor’s argument makes clear why God hates their worship: they go to the Temple and praise God and make their sacrifices and ask for their sins to be forgiven, and then they go right back to enjoying the rewards of their lives with no thought for the oppressed, the orphaned and the widow (v. 17). What good is it for rulers to offer the required sacrifice of a goat for their sins, if their policy is oppressive to those without political power? Government, naturally enough, tends to favor the powerful. Legislation tends to follow the money. The political ideals of the Hebrew prophets are, however, that government should be looking out for the interests of those who need protection from the powerful.

5. Although Isaiah lets us hear only one side of the dispute, the other side is implied. The other side is the list of things you and I usually say in response to God’s commandments: “Yes, but…” “Now, you have to be realistic…” “Let’s be practical.” Put them together and you have a reasoned debate that gives the jury an opportunity to decide for one side or the other. Still, I’m partial to President Johnson’s misuse of the phrase, when he called not for a decision for one side or the other, but for competing interests and convictions to talk to one another, aiming for a mutually-agreeable compromise. That is a good idea for our very contentious time; people sling accusations and hard-line positions in politics and in the Church, with little room for reasoned deliberation. When I googled President Johnson’s phrase, I found two blogs that expressed the hope that people from both left and right in American public life would talk to each other, listen to each other, and try to find common ground with each other. Interestingly, one made that call from the right (http://ajustsociety.org/press/article_ideasinaction.asp?pr=1296) and the other from the left (http://www.orient-lodge.com/node/2382). Although most of what we hear is hard-liners from right and left shouting their demands and their litmus-test questions, there is clearly a strong desire among us to talk and listen to each other.

6. Isaiah concludes this argument for the prosecution with an invitation to repent. The Lord invites the people to argue it out with him so that they can be washed clean of their sin and enjoy together the prosperity of the land. God is convinced that he is right and that he will win the court case, and therefore calls upon the defense to change their ways. Stop justifying your oppression of the weak and your support of a society in which widows and orphans have no power; repent. We have lots of people claiming to represent the voice of God in our political debates. What if the Prophet Isaiah showed up at one of those debates; would he ask the questions that self-proclaimed spokespersons for God are asking? I am dismayed by how much attention is given to the personal faith of candidates for President. Sure, as a Christian and as a minister I would love for the nation’s leadership to share my commitments, but I am also an American, and I know that the Constitution of the United States says that “no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States” (Article VI). Rudolph Giuliani gave the best answer to the question of his religion: “That’s between me and my priest.” The Prophet Isaiah, I am convinced, would not care what denomination a candidate belonged to, or how evangelical or personal a candidate’s faith is, but would care what the candidate’s policies would be toward the oppressed, the widow and the orphan – or, in modern terms, the lower class, the elderly and young children.

So, the conclusion: Repent. Isaiah calls you and me as individuals and calls us as a nation to repent. I hope that people can reason together, that as individuals and as a people we can take a reasoned and calm critical look at ourselves. That is, let’s avoid beating our breast and crying out, “Oh, what sinners we are!” and let’s also avoid thumping our chest and crying out, “We are the greatest!” “Come, let us reason together.”

Remember the Prophet’s reason for calling for repentance: “you shall eat the good of the land.” God is not interested in smiting (Isn’t that a great word?) his people, in striking them down: God wants his people to repent, to change, to get with the divine program. That is why the call to repentance includes God’s promise to forgive and to help us do better.

In other words, let us take a reasoned look at ourselves, see where we need to repent, and ask for God’s help. God will help. You and I do not have to get it right all the time; we need only to be willing to repent and to trust God to help us. And that is enough.

Almighty God, ruler of all the peoples of the earth, forgive, we pray, our shortcomings as a nation; purify our hearts to see and love truth; give wisdom to our counselors and steadfastness to our people; and bring us at last to the fair city of peace, whose foundations are mercy, justice, and goodwill, and whose builder and maker you are; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Woodrow Wilson, 1856-1924)

Robert A. Keefer

Westminster Presbyterian Church

Clarinda, Iowa