A Symphony of Holiness

Sometimes there are journeys in life, that we undertake without having a clue as to what's in store. Faith is one such journey, but that's rather broad. Tmsquared is a journey; even closer (or further!) from home, Isaiah is a journey.

Introduction to Isaiah

It has been written, in Peterson's introduction to the book, that Isaiah resembles a symphony, with the distinct 'movements' of judgement, comfort and hope. Being a classical music die-hard, I really liked this analogy, and, indeed it was so.

Another thing that struck me in the introduction, was the phrase "The Holy", which Peterson points out as Isaiah's title for God. He (Peterson) likens this overwhelming holiness to a revolution, not needlepoint. I'd begun my reading with this in mind, and several days later, I've learnt a few things about it.

First, holiness is not as straightforward as it might seem, and within it lies something of God's character, God's passion, God's will and God's plan. Secondly, holiness is not as easy as it might seem. I am anything but holy, and everytime I try to rise up out of the ashes of failure, I am sucked back in. There are far less (if any) glimpses of success than failure, in the pursuit of holiness.

Third, (and this is probably the great idea of holiness expressed in this book) holiness is unlimited. Actually, 'unlimited' fails to do it justice, for holiness is here described as something of God, that he wants to imbue every single atom in creation with. God wants to make everything holy!

It is said that holiness means 'set apart' or 'consecrated' for God's purposes. If this is so, then Isaiah depicts God as the Creator and Redeemer who made this world holy, and isn't going to rest until it's back that way.

Introduction to the Prophets

Rewinding for a moment, four statements in the Introduction to the Prophets caught my attention as they challenged the way I'm living and opened up new dimensions of faith to me.

1. The God of whom the prophets speak is far too large to fit into our lives. If we want anything to do with God, we have to fit into him.

2. [The prophets] don't explain God. If we insist on understanding them before we live into them, we will never get it.

3. If what seems like the worst turns out to be God's judgement, it can be embraced, not denied or avoided, for God is good and intends our salvation.

4. One of the bad habits that we pick up early in our lives is separating things and people into secular and sacred... Prophets will have none of this. They contend that everything, absolutely everything, takes place on sacred ground.

I'm sure these statements make sense. However, it seems that Christianity has been, for the most part, preaching the exact opposite lately!

Our version is this:

1. "If you want to go to heaven, you must accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour. Ask him into your heart."

What?! The God of this whole universe, into our heart? Sometimes I think making the decision for faith involves getting into God's heart, not calling him into ours, locking him in there, and throwing away the key until we need him.

2. With no offence to commentaries, we've been too particular about explaining God, hence the entire apologetics movement, to prove God in everything from science and archaeology to history and miracle testimonies. We try to break God down, dissect him, and claim we understand the Creator.

The answer, it seems, lies within seminary halls and the brains of theologians and pastors. And yet, C.S. Lewis, one of the greatest (if not the greatest) apologists of the 20th Century, was always one for mystery. His books delve more into exploration than explanation.

Maybe that's what we need now, a more generous kind of faith, that can open up, not obscure, wonder and amazement.

3. Almost without fail, whenever I read a book that touches on the subject of judgement (with the exception of C.S. Lewis and Brian McLaren), this line is almost always inevitably found within the pages: "Faith in Christ enables us to escape the final judgement"

Is judgement all that bad? What has happened to us, that makes us think of judgement as the condemnation and sentencing of mankind to hell? As McLaren put it, why can't judgement be seen as something more akin to quality assessment, like judging a painting or piece of music?

After all, God is the judge; our fear should not be of hell, but of his standards. I believe that God is less concerned with whether or not we 'escape' hell, than if we're heaven material. Oughtn't we live, not as blobs of clay worried about hell, but as saints on fire for heaven?

4. And finally, the sacred and the secular. The most clear-cut examples that I can think of at the moment (though there are plenty more), are Contemporary Christian Music and Friendship Evangelism.

There are some really great proclaimers to emerge out of Contemporary Christian Music, with Steven Curtis Chapman being at the forefront. But by and large, CCM as it is known, has become something of an attempt to 'secularize' the gospel by making it more acceptable and easily understood.

There was this recent project called "Hero: The Rock Opera" which sets the story of Christ's life against the backdrop of a futuristic world. While the attempt to make the gospel more accessible is to be applauded, the very label 'CCM' estranges many.

It is probably this that has caused bands like U2 and Evanescence to break loose from the chains of CCM. To them, the spiritual and material worlds can't be separated. Spiritual expression isn't something that merits the invention of a new genre; it is only natural (or supernatural!).

Truth be told, they are far more influential than CCM artistes, for they voice spirituality as something that arises out of this world, out of the supernatural creation, not something that's disconnected altogether. And they're no less Christian.

The other, Friendship Evangelism, can be considered something of an oxymoron. Shouldn't they both be as natural as breathing? Does this point to unhealthy conquest, as in 'making friends to win them to Christ'? Sometimes we fear that we make friends without preaching the gospel, so the term is coined. But if indeed we live lives of obsession with God, nothing can stop the gospel.

On the uglier side, sometimes for the sake of 'evangelism,' the friendship is discredited. We must learn to drop ulterior motives, and allow true spirituality to emerge out of the ashes of our complicated, Pharisaical religion -- for indeed, that's what it's become.

Indeed this has come about simply because of an erroneous assumption that there is a time for friendship, for evangelism, and for friendship evangelism. And what is this evangelism? The preaching of the 'Gospel of Getting Butts into Heaven'. If we live honest, contagious, righteous lives (really authentic, not oh-so-holy righteousness!), will not the kingdom spread naturally? It will be, in a word, inevitable. (Again this brings to mind the sacred vs secular problem)

Pages of Isaiah

It has been pointed out that the 66 chapters of Isaiah parallel the 66 books of the Bible, with the first 39 being messages of judgement (Old Testament) and the remaining 27, messages of comfort and hope (New Testament).

As I read through, I made notes on passages that stood out for one reason or another. As with the other reflections, I would have quoted them here if not for the very reason that they would take many more pages. There is too great a wealth and depth of thought in Isaiah, that I can only say this: If you haven't read it, read it. If you have, read it again!

Certainly there are themes, and a few I took note of, apart from judgement, hope and comfort, are prophecies of the Messiah, God's majesty, sin and repentance, and God's Kingdom. Holiness is the thread throughout them all.

I believe they are all intertwined: Because of who God is, he can stand for nothing less than perfection. As such, there is the need for judgement to wipe out sin, but only when we repent. God is incapable of forgiving until he has our permission. C.S. Lewis drew out an example of this in The Great Divorce, in which an angel asks the ghost of a man, time and again, whether he can slay the 'lust' sitting on the man's shoulder in the shape of a Lizard. God can do nothing until we ask him to.

And judgement (this is an idea from McLaren) is not the force that propels people to hell, but the fire that cleanses us from sin, that we may be free to live a righteous life. It is like a torch that shines in the dark, a power that detects, diagnoses and destroys evil.

The other theme of hope and comfort, is possible (indeed, inevitable) for the same reason -- because of who God is. He cannot tolerate life with us because of sin and corruption, he cannot bear life without us because we are his. And so Chapters 40-45 are all about who God is, because it is in his character that we draw comfort.

It is in God's Kingdom that the culmination of judgement, hope and comfort will take place. His Kingdom on earth as in heaven. And it is by his Messiah that he brings this to effect. And so we find that the prophecies of the Messiah all point to the very personification of God.

Call this a hunch, but I think the people who believed Jesus, believed because they saw something in him that was obsessed with God -- to the extent that he might actually be God. That Jesus is almost nonexistent today, sometimes I think even less among Christians. The Christ we know and preach is some disconnected entity who can be relied upon for healing, protection and guidance -- little else.

Can we blame the world for giving up on him? In response to allegations of what many call 'a thin ecclesiology,' Bono of U2 once said, "The Jesus I believe in used to turn over tables" and "God is much bigger than that" -- or something to that effect.

What more can I say?

Compared to my past entries, I daresay this is probably the most disoriented and messy. (Oops, that reminds me of Messy Christian!) I guess it's like trying to fit the Pacific into a jar or emulate the chorus of heaven with a church choir.

Isaiah is too overwhelming! This is not to say that I fell backwards and landed prostrate under a blinding light when I read it, but that it brought me to some places I never knew, and some places I'd always thought I knew, but now know differently. It was every bit as refreshing as it was piercing.

This is probably the greatest book of the Old Testament so far. Although the Wisdom books are my favourite, and provide much more food for thought, Isaiah has it all: prophecy, history, rhetoric, poetry and mystery. (That last sentence... I typed everything until poetry, and was kind of stuck thinking of one more element, then the most obvious word suggested itself!)

In a nutshell, I can only say one thing: Read it and see for yourself!!