Rev. David Holwick ZM Book of Isaiah series
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
November 21, 1993
Isaiah 1:10-20
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I. "Grinchy" title for a Thanksgiving sermon.
A. Pleasant sermons are expected on such a day.
B. Isaiah's people did, and he shocked them.
C. Instead of praise and comfort, he condemns them.
1) People compared to Sodom and Gomorrah. 1:10
2) What would God say to America, 363 years after Plymouth?
II. Religion alone can't hack it.
A. Israelites went at religion in a big way.
1) "Multitude" of sacrifices. 1:11
2) They mobbed the Temple area. 1:12
3) A full schedule of special holy days. 1:13
B. In the strongest possible terms, God was fed up.
1) He "hates" their feasts. 1:14
2) He doesn't listen to their prayers, he hides. 1:15
3) Reason: their evil lifestyles. 1:15
III. Why did God reject holidays?
A. Did the prophets reject religion, accepting only personal faith?
1) Old liberal tradition, but not in favor now.
2) Better - prophets reject phony religion.
a) Get right with God, then worship.
b) Just going through motions without a faith commitment.
B. Often it seems as if we have no faith, or religion.
1) Dick Van Dyke once told of a little boy who was dining with
his parents at the home of an elderly man.
The boy watched the old man bow his head and speak in a soft
voice.
The youngster turned and asked his mother,
"What did Mr. Bryan say to his plate?"
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2) How many American homes will feel comfortable praying to
God out loud?
IV. Beyond sentimentalities.
A. Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday, remarkably unsullied.
1) Yet how thankful are most Americans?
2) God is often left out.
B. The blessings are ours, we earned them!
David Russell, a pastor in Union City, Tennessee, tells about
Nathan, a precocious three-year-old in his church.
Nathan's parents were trying to introduce him to what it means
to be in church.
One Sunday they gave him a one-dollar bill that Nathan was to
place in the offering plate.
When the plate moved down Nathan's pew, his parents held it in
front of him and told him to place the dollar in the plate.
Nathan balked.
Finally his mother gently took the dollar from him.
She placed it in the plate, and it was passed on down the pew.
Suddenly the stillness of the offertory was shattered by a
voice demanding,
"I want my dollar back! I want my dollar back!"
Nathan had been robbed and he wanted everyone to know it.
His parents tried in vain to quiet their son, but he was
insistent, "I want my dollar back!"
Everyone in the congregation was fighting a losing battle
against laughter.
Throughout the remaining strains of the organist's meditative
tune, the only thing most worshippers heard was,
"I want my dollar back!"
Eventually, his parents gave Nathan another dollar to hold
and he was content enough so that the congregation could
make it through the Doxology.
Pastor Russell says that as he stepped into the pulpit, he
knew he needed to talk about what had happened.
Looking out at the smiling faces he said,
"We shouldn't laugh.
It may be that Nathan is only voicing the feelings that some
of us have after having given to God.
We do so, not joyously but out of a sense of obligation.
We do so unwillingly.
We may not say it, but some of us think it,
"I want my dollar back!"
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V. Preparing yourself for good thanksgiving. 1:17
A. Learn to do right.
B. Seek justice.
C. Encourage and defend the oppressed, fatherless, widows.
D. Evangelicals are often self-centered, sentimental.
1) God wants to see real changes in us.
2) He also wants to see changes in our society.
VI. Thankful for cleansing.
A. God is reasonable.
1) His rage against religion is not a tantrum.
2) God's ways always make sense - in the long-run.
B. God can make us clean, though we are dirty. 1:18
1) The worst sins can be forgiven.
2) God looks at us, and sees nothing wrong.
a) Important aspect of justification.
C. Positive attitude and obedience necessary for blessing. 1:19
1) Eat - or be eaten. 1:20
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