Our Work and God's Work
By Rev. Caitlin Childers Brown
Pastor and Minister of Service & Community
Isaiah 56:1, 6-8
Thus says the LORD: Maintain justice, and do what is right, for soon my salvation will come, and my deliverance be revealed. 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, all who keep the sabbath, and do not profane it, and hold fast my covenant--these 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. Thus says the Lord GOD, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, I will gather others to them besides those already gathered.
In our staff meeting this week, we spent some time as a group praying and meditating on the lectionary passage of Isaiah 56:1, 6-8. It was a precious time of prayerfully considering what sort of house of prayer God is creating for us on a personal level and here at Highland Hills. One thing that bubbled up for me during that conversation was how in so much of scripture, there is God’s work and there is our work.
In growing a garden, we have our work in front of us. We plant in the seasons as we are told, we water as we are able, weed the bed for space to grow, and do our best to keep critters from eating our plants. But in growing our gardens, we can’t predict, prevent, and control everything. We have to trust that the plant will grow on its own. We do all we can to make our gardens thrive, but we cannot do it all.
The passage in Isaiah is a little like that. In following God and trying to be faithful, we have our work in front of us: doing what is right and maintaining justice, trusting that God will continue to gather and make a house of prayer for all peoples. Just like letting our plants do their thing is a difficult task in letting go, so too is our work of remembering that our house of worship is God’s first and foremost. Ultimately God will gather as God does, and our part is to be faithful. This means no matter how many items we have planned and possibly overplanned, or how tired you are from the long season of church transition, or how hopeless you feel, take heart in remembering we are just partners in this adventure of Church. I take heart in remembering we serve this work of God and not of man. As God says in this passage in Isaiah, “I will bring them to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer." Thanks be to God!
Grace and Peace, Caitlin