August 16, 2026
Sermon for the 12th Sunday after Pentecost, 2026
Isaiah 56:1, 6-8
The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
The text for our sermon today is our First Reading from before, Isaiah 56:1, 6-8:
1Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
for soon my salvation will come,
and my deliverance be revealed. . . .
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,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it,
and holds fast my covenant—
7these 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.”
8The Lord God,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,
“I will gather yet others to him
besides those already gathered.”
Dear friends in Christ,
Ponder for a moment the wonderful blessings the Lord has in store for everyone who loves Him! Isaiah reminds us how the Servant has entered our world to be “pierced for our transgressions” and “crushed for our iniquities” (53:5). These blessings from His work inspires us to “break forth into singing and cry aloud,” (54:1). Earlier Isaiah had reminded us that the Lord welcomes everyone who is thirsty to receive these blessings (55:1). Like a friendly merchant in a lively ancient market, the Lord invites everyone to come and receive His free gift of grace: “Come, buy… without money and without cost.” (55:1). What more fitting way to respond than to sing joyful praises to the Lord, our Saviour-God?
Singing the praises of the Lord expresses joy and gratitude for such marvellous blessings. We really have nothing to complain about. Yet we can express our faith in other ways too. As this chapter of Isaiah begins, the Lord indicates what works will demonstrate such gratitude and joy for the blessings that are offered so freely.
Speaking through Isaiah, the LORD says, “Keep justice, and do righteousness,” and continues, “for My house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Again, he reminds us, “The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares, “I shall gather yet others to Him besides those already gathered.” So, what is Isaiah talking about? What does it mean to “keep justice, and do righteousness”? Isaiah clearly explains God’s intentions. He writes elsewhere, “Cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:16-17).
What links are there between defending the orphan, pleading for the widow, and making God’s house a welcoming place for all nations? Weren’t God’s people in the Old Testament standing up for others and inviting everyone into worship? Maybe we should go back to Isaiah’s time to better understand what was happening.
Isaiah had been sent by God as a prophet to Judah. This was after the nation of Israel had split into two parts: ten tribes in the north, called Israel, and two tribes in the south, called Judah. Isaiah had prophesied during a particularly difficult period in their history. Two of the worst kings of Judah, Ahaz and Manasseh, reigned during Isaiah’s ministry. Ahaz sacrificed and burned incense to other gods. He even sacrificed his own son to another god. He also took gold and silver from the temple and gave them to the king of Assyria to prevent an attack on Judah. Manasseh was even worse and reigned longer. He built altars for other gods throughout Judah and in the temple, sacrificed his own son, practised witchcraft, and consulted mediums and spiritists.
The kings were not the sole individuals in Judah who engaged in actions displeasing to the Lord. Numerous Jews practised behaviours similar to those of the kings, including worshipping foreign gods and creating idols. What was especially troubling to God in these passages was the conduct of His chosen people towards one another, especially those on or near the bottom rungs of society. He condemns His people for not acting like His people. He is denouncing those who ostracise those whom He has invited to His house.
Orphans and widows occupied a position near the lower end of the social hierarchy. They lacked legal rights, and an adult male advocate was necessary to defend their interests. An illustrative example of this is the story of Ruth and Naomi in the Book of Ruth. When Ruth’s and Naomi’s husbands passed away, Naomi returned to her hometown, Bethlehem. Due to their difficult circumstances, Naomi changed her name from Naomi, meaning “pleasant,” to Mara, meaning “bitter” (1:20). She explained that the reason for this was that the Lord had afflicted her by taking away not only her husband but also her future and her legal rights.
You see, the connection between keeping justice, doing righteousness, and God’s house being a house of prayer for all is that God uses us to extend His love to people. He uses us to proclaim His message of love and salvation.
He uses us to show compassion and kindness to those who are afflicted or mistreated. He uses us to help those whose rights have been trampled. He uses us to bring people into His house and His kingdom, “for (God’s) house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
In our society, who would be considered an ostracised person? Criminals, people of another race, immigrants, welfare recipients, the jobless, or people of another religion. Who do you think?
The question then arises: how should we respond to them? Do we copy the inadequate example frequently observed in our surroundings? Do we replicate the actions of the Jews as described in our First Reading today? Do we succumb to our human nature and treat them according to our perceptions? Do we engage in those behaviours that provoke God’s displeasure? Should we stop to help strangers, or pass them by? Perhaps we aid those within our immediate environment or those who enter these premises; however, the majority of individuals are elsewhere. How do we interact with them? Do we uplift the discouraged man or woman? How do we respond to individuals who treat us poorly? Do we reciprocate their behaviour, or do we strive to show them compassion? The reality is that we frequently mistreat those who are ignored, excluded, and marginalised.
Often, we treat others poorly because of our lack of compassion. We are so self-centred and selfish, always looking inward. We like to think more of ourselves than anyone else. Often, we hesitate to assist others in need because, just like the Jewish community, we occasionally behave as if we are superior to others, particularly those who do not share our level of religiosity. Our inflated self-opinion often leads us to treat others disrespectfully, especially those outside our church. At times, we exclude individuals because they do not believe in Jesus, and we tend to look down on those who are not part of our community.
One great example of this in the Bible is when the apostle John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw a man driving out demons in Your name, and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” Jesus responded, “Do not stop him. No one who does a miracle in My name can, in the next moment, say anything bad about Me, for whoever is not against us is for us” (Mark 9:38-40). We must never seek to prevent others from preaching and proclaiming Christ, even if they are not part of our group, and must be careful not to judge those outside our group. We must never become so wrapped up in our own exclusiveness.
Cliques are quite common in schools, and you start noticing them as early as preschool. Some children naturally hang out together, while others may not connect at all. Things can become even more complicated in primary and high school, where students often learn to label one another—or even use more hurtful means of exclusion. But what about adulthood? Often, we push others away just because they aren’t part of “our crowd.” It’s something that can linger in our minds throughout our lives, as our imperfect nature sometimes influences us.
God has done what we could not and has achieved righteousness for us. Jesus carefully followed all the commandments on our behalf, fulfilling them perfectly. He took on the role of outcast to save us, enduring rejection and grief just as Isaiah described: “He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” Despite being falsely accused by Jewish officials, “like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised and we esteemed Him not” (Is. 53:3). He was handed over to Roman authorities and sentenced as a criminal, all while carrying our infirmities and sorrows. Hanging on a cross, He bore the suffering we deserved because of our sins—crushed and pierced for our transgressions. Jesus took the punishment for all of our sins—our pride, our biases, everything that separates us from God. The good news is, all these sins have been paid for, and “the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed” (Is. 53:5). He has paid the price for us all. Then, on the third day, Jesus rose to prove that our sins are forgiven and our account is completely cleared. He has done it—bringing salvation and new hope.
Even today, He continues to show His love and grace. He still offers the blessings of His death and resurrection. Through baptism, our sins have been buried with Him, just as He was laid in the tomb, and when He rose to new life, so do we. He has graciously given us His perfection as a beautiful gift. Isaiah reminds us, “though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool” (Is. 1:18). In the Lord’s Supper, Jesus once again takes away our sins and shares His perfect righteousness with us. Through His body and blood, given and shed for us, He reassures us that we are part of His family—never an orphan, but His very own. We are not left out; instead, He gives us a name more wonderful than sons and daughters—a name that lasts forever and will never be taken away. He gives us His own name. Because of this, we are His children, truly loved and accepted by Him.
Dear friends, “the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to Him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be His servants, everyone who keeps the Sabbath and does not profane it, and holds fast My covenant,” are the same in God’s eyes, no matter who they are or where they have come from. God declares that His house is “a house of prayer for all peoples.” God desires the spread of the gospel to all the world. When Jesus said, “Make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19), He expressed the same thought that these verses express. When Paul stretched the kingdom of God to the Gentiles in Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome, God gathered other nations into His family and made them His people. As the gospel has spread throughout the world, the Lord has gathered still others to be His people, the assembly of believers of all nations of all times—His church, who are blessed with everlasting names. He will bring them to His “holy mountain.” They will repent, leaving behind all evil and sin and will dwell with God. He will give them joy in His “house of prayer” and “their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on My altar.”These blessings are for all those who have joined themselves to the Lord by faith in Jesus, the Servant of the Lord. The Lord has spoken and said, “It will come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved” (Joel 2:32). May it be so. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Downloads