Isaiah 45:1-7.                      The Lord is in control??                  19/10/14

 {1)  "This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armour, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: {2} I will go before you and will level the mountains ; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. {3} I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. {4} For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, I summon you by name and bestow on you a title of honour, though you do not acknowledge me. {5} I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, {6} so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. {7} I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.

 This reading here this morning is a very good one for us to contemplate over and meditate on as we are faced with very serious and dangerous world conflicts and a rapidly growing Ebola epidemic. As much as we have not yet seen the full extent of the impacts of these terrible events, we know that it will change many things and bring disaster for many people.

 These events will, of course, raise many questions for people the world over. How can people in this day and age do such terrible things, to in many cases innocent people? How come we with all of our great advances are not able to control this terrible epidemic? Where is God in all of this? How can he allow such tragedies? Does he care?

  In light of this reading, perhaps God has a far bigger hand in this, than we might initially think.

 Now, there is a question for us to contemplate! God involved in world affairs: in the rise and fall of nations: In the epidemics and problems of life. Surely he is a God of love and blessing, not of extending difficulty on people’s lives? Surely he would not want to bring disaster on our fine, upstanding western cultures? Why would he want to bring ruin on nations and individuals? Surely he is a God who wants us to be healthy, wealthy and happy? I am sure there are many other questions in this regard, as well.

 It is here then, that I believe this text has much to say to us. Here, God says with regard to Cyrus a king of Persia that he will be helped to defeat nations and be given great wealth. He will be strengthened so that he can become a great and mighty king over much of the then known world. Here remember that Cyrus did not acknowledge the Lord or have any regard for him. Yet God tells that he will make him great; that he will use him for greater purposes. God is involved in human affairs; even of those who have no regard for him. Why?

 What is going on here? Here listen again to what God has to say. I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.

 The Lord is in control; even though Cyrus and all the people thought they could live without and apart from him. Cyrus’ god and the god’s that the nations had created for themselves, would all come to nought, even though the people looked to them and trusted them. The Lord would work through Cyrus and others, to use them for his greater purpose. So that people may know that he is the LORD, and there is no other.

 Along with that we have his other great purpose for using Cyrus and the destruction of many other nations. He says: For the sake of Jacob my servant, of Israel my chosen, he will ensure that Cyrus has the ability to do these things. For the sake of maintaining his promise of sending the Messiah to save mankind from its sin and rebellion he raises up Cyrus. So that the remnant of his people now held captive in Babylon might one day return to Jerusalem and maintain the peoples from which the Saviour would come, he uses Cyrus.

 God controls history so that Jesus Christ could fulfil his promise of being the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world. His aim throughout is for people to look to him and know that they are forgiven and assured of eternal life in heaven. He brings prosperity and creates disaster in order to achieve this goal. He uses Cyrus in order to see that this happens. Here remember again that these words were said before these events even took place. The Lord is in control.

 Again Israel was restored to Jerusalem, there the nation continued on even though they again and again turned their backs on the Lord. Jesus was born, lived, suffered and died, just had been promised with the express purpose so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me: That there in him alone is the forgiveness of sins and the assurance of life and salvation. He does it all so that we his creation who have rebelled against him may have and know the love of God in Christ Jesus: That we may know that he is what is central to our lives and all that we think, say and do.

 That brings us now to today once again and the events that are unfolding before us. The same Lord and the same purpose is at work in our midst. Despite the fact that we again have rebelled against our God and turned to and trusted in our almighty dollar and the great weaponry that we have to ensure that we can make peace; we have our trust in our science to give us a healthy and happy life that is free from major diseases; we have openly accepted homosexuality and sex outside marriage and many other moral issues that are outside of what God permits and knows is good for humanity. We are more and more trusting in that which we have created for ourselves. At the same time we are giving less and less thought to God and who he is and his place in all of this.

 Even within Christianity we are more and more moving away from the centrality of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. We are shifting our thinking from the truth of God’s Word, to what we want Christianity to be.  Yes even we in the church have turned from where we should be in our thinking.

 I believe that God is here seeking to draw us back to himself. Very much, the eyes of our western affluence has turned away from Jesus Christ and his death on the cross, and we have more and more trusted what we can create for ourselves. Selfishness and greed has been promoted as ideals that are to be strived for and to be achieved at all costs. We have made the human achievement that which is revered throughout our world and we have worshipped what it can do for us.

 So we find as we look around us that we have more and more abandoned the Lord and all that he has done for us through Jesus and his death on the cross. We pay lip service to the Lord; and yet we all too often worship capitalism and selfism with our hearts and our lives. When we look to God and his Word we look with a mindset that is very much centred still on what our world has to offer. In many cases we find that the modern world, has even shaped the teachings within the modern ‘chistian’ scene as well: the focus is not Jesus and his death on the cross, but something else.

 Is it any wonder then that God will be at work in our world to bring down these false gods that we have made for ourselves and which very much obscures that which is central for us and for our salvation. Without doubt he is surely wanting to use these situations that we have brought about by our greed and selfishness to help people once again to see and acknowledge that he is the LORD, and there is no other; apart from him there is no God.

 We can be quite sure that God will not be acting any different today than he has throughout history. His focus and his reasoning for his involvement with our world will still be to ensure that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides him. For the sake of his people and in particular for the sake of his Son Jesus Christ and his death on the cross, he will be using, even people who do not acknowledge him, to do his work of ensuring that his people and his promised are not destroyed. Yes he has brought us prosperity, but now because we have become so corrupt in our use of it, he will be at work to create these disasters so that we not longer trust the creation but the Creator and Saviour himself.

 So hear again what God himself says: I am the LORD, and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things. So let us turn back to him once again and let us pray that he would help our world that has become so misguided to once again see and know that he is the only Lord; and that Jesus Christ and his death on the cross is what is central to our lives as we live them out every day. The Lord is in control so let us give him all glory and honour, now and always. AMEN

  Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish