Today marks the first Sunday of Advent, the season in the Church’s calendar leading up to the festival of Christmas, where we honor the birth of Jesus the Messiah, and His first coming to earth. It is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the coming of Christ, both at His nativity and also His Second Coming. Our Old Testament reading for this first Sunday of Advent comes from the Prophet Isaiah. He has an important message for us, as we seek to prepare our hearts for the coming Messiah.
So many people are under the mistaken belief that their good deeds and good works will earn them a place in heaven. They like to look at their good works, things like donating to favorite charities, giving a tithe of their income at church, helping out at the local soup kitchen or homeless shelter, helping handicapped or mentally challenged children, and they think they are impressing God. They take their good deeds out and polish them up like nice shiny silver and gold coins, hoping to present them to God at the end of their life, saying “See! Look what I’ve done! I deserve heaven.” However, as Isaiah says in our passage, all the good deeds we do are in comparison to God as filthy rags (vs. 6).
Isaiah used very strong and graphic words in this passage to describe exactly what all of our good deeds amount to. They aren’t just like dusty or dirty dust clothes we use to clean up the house, as unclean as that may be. The Hebrew words Isaiah used were referring to bloody and contaminated bandages and rags soaked in blood and body fluids. Something that we would cringe at and want removed immediately from our sight. Isaiah tells us that is what all of our good deeds amount to in God’s sight. No amount of good behavior can make us righteous in God’s eyes. Our good behavior only amounts to dirty, polluted rags or bandages in God’s eyes and nothing more (vs. 6). Something we want to quickly toss away. Sin makes us so unclean that we cannot approach God, no more than a beggar in rotted rags can come to a king’s table. The best we do is infected and polluted with sin.
If we come to God, demanding acceptance on the basis of our “good deeds”, God will show that our “righteousness” is nothing compared to His infinite righteousness. God’s appearance is so intense that it is like a consuming fire that burns everything in its path (vs. 1-3). Our sins make us so impure that it is only by God’s mercy that we are saved. If our salvation depended on the good we do, no one would be saved. Our salvation cannot be bought or earned by us. It comes by grace alone. When we see the awe-inspiring character of God, we realize our own condition and need of salvation. Our only hope is faith in Jesus Christ. Only He can cleanse us, and bring us into God’s presence.
Isaiah also shared with the people in this passage that there is no other God besides Yahweh, who will act on behalf of those who have put their faith and trust in Him, and who wait upon Him (vs. 4). The Apostle Paul quoted this verse in his letter to the church in Corinth (I Corinthians 2:9). When we wait for God in faith, He will act on our behalf, often in ways we cannot even imagine. The process of seeking guidance from God can be slow, so waiting is important. Running ahead or manipulating circumstances is a mistake. The Lord acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. He has our best interests in mind. God won’t give His children bad things, only good. We don’t like to wait. However, God brings His blessings on those who do. He is the Divine Potter and we are the clay (vs. 8). He molds us and shapes us in ways that sometimes hurt. However, He always deals with us in love.
As we close, we need to remember that no amount of good works will ever make us acceptable in the eyes of God. It is only by faith and trust in the Lord Jesus that we have acceptance with God. When we have called upon Jesus as our Savior, then we can trust that God will act on our behalf. Let’s stop trusting in our own efforts, and instead trust God’s love and mercy for us.
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