The Myths We Think Are True

 

Yesterday I read again Isaiah 56; where we are told an amazing promise:

 

⁶ And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord,

   to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord,

   and to be his servants,

all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it,

   and hold fast my covenant— 

⁷ these I will bring to my holy mountain,

   and make them joyful in my house of prayer;

their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices

   will be accepted on my altar;

for my house shall be called a house of prayer

   for all peoples. 

⁸ Thus says the Lord God,

   who gathers the outcasts of Israel,

I will gather others to them

   besides those already gathered. (Is. 56)

And I thought to myself:  God’s, all inclusive plan for the imperfect human creation.

There has been a persistent theme preached in pulpits down through history.  The theme is to be acceptable to God one needs to be perfectly good or        unapproachable.

I will call that a huge myth.

A myth, because no one is perfect and no one is unapproachable.

No secret there.

We all have faults.

We all have acted carelessly, or had impure thoughts.

So the conclusions we make, within our tiny little brains is: we are not worthy of God’s love, mercy or forgiveness. 

Another HUGE myth that we have been conditioned to believe.

So I invite you to think about those people Jesus hung-with the most.  Namely tax collector and sinners — the outcast of society.

Or, think about the mumbling — complaining — Hebrew mob who God was so very patient with; in a tough love kind of way.

for my house shall be called a house of prayer

   for all peoples. 

⁸ Thus says the Lord God,

   who gathers the outcasts of Israel,

I will gather others to them

   besides those already gathered.

That little word ‘all’ often gets left out of discussion on interpretation.