Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 56:1, 6-8 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 56Thus says the Lord: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. Verse 6And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant- Verse 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. Verse 8Thus says the Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.
Devotion
We hear it often, whether from the pulpit, in a Bible study, in church community conversations. When we hear it, it rattles us. If we fully sit in the magnitude of it, we find ourselves uncomfortable. It means new. It means learning. It means being confronted with our prejudices and stubbornness. It means my way, my interpretation, my traditions, my habits, the way I like worship to happen will be examined, altered, moved, and adapted. It means where I sit and who is next to me in the sanctuary will not be the same. It means change.
All are welcome. Those beyond the ones already gathered. The foreigners, the eunuchs, the outcasts. All are claimed. In verse 5, omitted in today’s reading, the Lord says, “I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”
All are gathered. The foreigners, the outcasts—and you!
Prayer
Lord, help us to maintain justice and do what is right, welcoming the foreigners. May this house be your house and may our church community be a house of prayer for all peoples. Amen.
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