Sermon Audio: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ministrybymail

“I was sought by those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ To a nation that was not called by My name. I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people, Who walk in a way that is not good, According to their own thoughts; A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face; Who sacrifice in gardens, And burn incense on altars of brick; Who sit among the graves, And spend the night in the tombs; Who eat swine’s flesh, And the broth of abominable things is in their vessels; Who say, ‘Keep to yourself, Do not come near me, For I am holier than you!’ These are smoke in My nostrils, A fire that burns all the day. “Behold, it is written before Me: I will not keep silence, but will repay—Even repay into their bosom—Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together,” Says the LORD, “Who have burned incense on the mountains And blasphemed Me on the hills; Therefore I will measure their former work into their bosom.” Thus says the LORD: “As the new wine is found in the cluster, And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, For a blessing is in it,’ So will I do for My servants’ sake, That I may not destroy them all. I will bring forth descendants from Jacob, And from Judah an heir of My mountains; My elect shall inherit it, And My servants shall dwell there.” KJV

I want to start with a question: Which is easier—to offer a conciliatory hand, an olive branch, to someone who has wronged you repeatedly, or to offer a conciliatory hand to someone whom you have wronged repeatedly? That’s a difficult question to answer. It can be incredibly hard to extend our hand while admitting our fault. It’s humiliating to confess that we are the problem. And when we are the problem—again and again—we grow tired of humbling ourselves, even if we know we’re to blame.

Now imagine that you weren’t in the wrong, but in mercy, you offered your hand to the person who wronged you. Let’s say, for example, a neighbor carelessly threw a cigarette into the hay in your barn. Your barn burned down, and you were badly burned in the fire. Your neighbor doesn’t even check in to see how you’re doing and doesn’t say sorry. Instead of harboring resentment, anger, or suing him, you go over to his house, extend your hand, and say, “Our friendship is too important for me to lose it over things. I forgive you.” But your neighbor spits on your hand and your offer. “I don’t want your forgiveness,” he says.

When someone spits on your offered hand, how long do you keep standing there with it outstretched? That’s pretty hard, too, isn’t it? God stood offering His hand to a people as bad, as ungrateful, and as hard-hearted as that neighbor. They were rebellious. They had done far worse than be careless with a cigarette. They had blasphemed God’s name—and spit on Him.

Our text tells us some of the ways they had done this. They worshiped idols on every hill and mountain. Even when they claimed to worship Him, they did so in ways He had explicitly forbidden. That, for example, is what was wrong with burning incense on bricks. As it says in Exodus 20:25 NKJV), “And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it.” So even if it might not seem like a big deal, it was. They carelessly—or purposely—did exactly what God had said not to do.

What’s more, they didn’t just worship trees and metal statues—they went creeping through cemeteries and caves at night, hoping to talk to spirits and chase after goosebump experiences. Then, when God sent prophets to warn them of their evil and call them to forgiveness, if they would just take His hand—what did they do? They told the prophets and the Lord: “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am holier than you!” They defiantly called their sin “holiness.”

God said all this was like smoke in His nostrils. He had done nothing to wrong them. He had only done good. They had wronged Him continually, and yet He kept extending His hand, kept offering peace—and they kept spitting on it. It was like hot smoke in His nostrils. How long could you bear burning smoke in your nose without turning away? How many times could your offer of mercy and friendship be spat upon before you would finally withdraw it?

Thankfully, God is full of mercy. We might give up quickly, but He bore it for generations. Still, that long-suffering patience had come to an end:

“Behold, it is written before Me:
I will not keep silence, but will repay—
Even repay into their bosom—
Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together,”
Says the LORD.

God would no longer hold out His hand to be spit on. He would no longer remain silent. He would punish them.

And yet—even as it seems His hand is being withdrawn—it is still being offered. Notice what God says about the grapes. Even if most of a cluster is bad, you don’t throw the whole vine away. You search for the good grapes—the ones that can still make good wine.

Yes, God would bring destruction upon Jerusalem for their sin and their rejection of His grace. They would be slaughtered, their cities destroyed, their children taken into captivity. But He would not withdraw His offer of forgiveness or His promise of a Savior.

“So will I do for My servants’ sake,
That I may not destroy them all.
I will bring forth descendants from Jacob,
And from Judah an heir of My mountains;
My elect shall inherit it,
And My servants shall dwell there.”

Most of Israel were bad grapes—but God didn’t destroy the vine. A few were spared. And through the humbling fires of captivity, they would stop spitting on God’s offered hand. Through the Spirit, they would take hold of it with faith and joy. They would rejoice in God’s mercy, in His offer to be their God, their Savior.

For these people, God would do far more than refrain from suing them over a burned-down barn. He would provide a future. He would provide an Heir of His mountain. That Heir is Jesus—the promised Ruler from Judah who would lead His people to inherit not just land but heaven.

This is what God is offering to the whole world with His outstretched hand. This is what He is offering us. The Almighty, whom we have wronged, still says:

“I was sought by those who did not ask for Me;
I was found by those who did not seek Me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’
To a nation that was not called by My name.”

Even here in Isaiah, God was speaking of the Gospel going to the Gentiles—to us. After Pentecost, this truth burst forth even more clearly: the outstretched hand was also for them, for us.

Did we or our ancestors seek God? No. When Paul brought the Gospel to the Gentiles, they hadn’t known it. But the Holy Spirit worked in their hearts. They saw their guilt, their idolatry, their pagan ways. And then, wonder of wonders—they saw God’s grace. They saw that despite it all, God had sought them out. He had stretched out His hand. And oh, how they cherished that hand.

There was a great gulf of sin between them and God. They could never have crossed it. But God did. In Jesus, He offered a hand to lift them from sin and bring them to heaven. And boy, were they glad for that hand. Aren’t you?

Israel despised that hand. They preferred the graveyards and idols, the latest thrills and spiritual fads. They didn’t want grace.

Take note of your own heart. We, too, have a sinful heart of unbelief that would spit on God’s outstretched hand. We have a heart that would rather chase experience than hear—again—that we are sinners forgiven by grace. The same sinful heart that hates to admit wrong would just as soon reject God’s forgiveness in Jesus.

We think, “I would never be like that neighbor. I would never spit on God’s offer.” But we do. Every time we’re unwilling to confess our sins. Every time we refuse to forgive. Every time we harden ourselves and forget the mercy extended to us. How can we receive God’s grace with open hands and yet close our hearts to those who’ve wronged us?

So yes—we are like those people. Admit it—so that you don’t become like them, cut off from God’s Savior.

See His hand—still extended. It is extended despite your sin. It is extended despite your failings. That’s mercy.

That hand that crosses the gulf is Jesus. And the Spirit gives us the faith to take hold of that Hand rather than reject it. And boy, are we glad for that hand. Amen.

—Pastor Aaron Ude

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Rapid City, SD

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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.