Our Savior Lutheran Church
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod

Announcements and Reminders

New Role for Pastor

               I’ve been elected to serve as the Pastoral Advisor and serve on the board for the Pregnancy Care Center in Flint/Saginaw. I will attend their quarterly meeting and help with pastoral care as it comes up in the Pregnancy Care Center. They also work with the local area pastors with women who are looking for a church or for baptisms.

Isaiah 2 (EHV)

2 This is the message that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

The Glory of the Mountain of the Lord

2 This will take place in the latter days:

The mountain of the Lord’s house will be established

as the chief of the mountains.

It will be raised above the hills,

and all nations will stream to it like a river.

3 Many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

to the house of the God of Jacob.

Then he will instruct us about his ways,

and we will walk in his paths.”

For from Zion the law[a] will go out,

and the Lord’s word will go out from Jerusalem.

4 He will judge between the nations,

and he will mediate for many peoples.

Then they will beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into blades for trimming vines.

Nation will not lift up sword against nation,

nor will they learn war anymore.

5 O house of Jacob, come,

and let us walk in the light of the Lord.

The Glory of the Lord Comes in Judgment

6 But you, Lord, have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob,

because they are filled up with practices from the East

and with fortune tellers like the Philistines,

and they join themselves to the heathen.[b]

7 Their land is full of silver and gold,

and there is no end to their treasures.

Their land is also full of horses,

and there is no end to their chariots.

8 Their land is full of gods that are not gods.[c]

They worship the work made by their own hands,

things that their own fingers have made.

9 Mankind is humbled,

and man is brought low.

Do not forgive them.

10 Go into the rocks,

and hide in the dust,

from the terror of the Lord

and from the glory of his majesty.

11 The proud eyes of mankind will be brought low,

the arrogance of man will be humbled,

and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

12 There is a day coming for the Lord of Armies,

a day against everyone who is proud and arrogant,

against everyone who is lifted up—

he will be pressed down—

13 against all the cedars of Lebanon, that are so tall and lofty,

against all the oaks of Bashan,

14 against all the high mountains,

against all the hills that are lifted up,

15 against every tall tower,

against every fortified wall,

16 against all the ships of Tarshish,[d]

and against all the beautiful ships.[e]

17 The pride of mankind will be humbled,

and the arrogance of man will be brought low.

Then the Lord alone will be exalted in that day.

18 Those gods that are not gods will disappear completely.

19 People will flee into caves in the rocks

and into holes in the ground,

to hide from the terror of the Lord

and from the glory of his majesty,

when he arises to make the earth tremble.

20 In that day people will throw away to the moles[f] and bats

their worthless gods of silver

and their worthless gods of gold,

that they made for themselves to worship.

21 They will go into the clefts in the rocks

and into the crevices in the cliffs,

to hide from the terror of the Lord

and from the glory of his majesty,

when he arises to make the earth tremble.

22 Give up trusting in mankind.

All they have is breath in their nostrils.

What are they worth anyway?

Pastor’s Comments

               In verses 6-9 the Lord testifies against the prosperity of the people of Judah. They had filled up their land with gold, but also filled up the temple with idols and fortune tellers. What is the definition of success for Americans? Wealth, power, satisfaction with what you have earned or accomplished. What is the definition of success for Christians? Wealth is not always a sign of God’s favor. The people of Judah had turned away from the faithfulness of the covenant of God and toward worldly things. But Isaiah warns the “pride of mankind will be humbled, and the arrogance of man will be brought low.” Lest we think to solve any of our problems ourselves, God tells us, “Give up trusting in mankind. All they have is breath in their nostrils.” Christians turn to the Man Jesus Christ – the one who has breathed the breath of life into all men. His blood is worth more than gold and he poured it out to redeem you from the destruction deserved for the sins that Isaiah describes here.

Luther

Verse 2 The mountain of the Lord’s house will be established as the chief of the mountains.

               That mountain, He says, will be most highly praised, because from it the church receives its name and will be called Mt. Zion. Out of a physical mountain the prophet makes one that is spiritual and a kingdom that is spiritual. Therefore the church, or the kingdom of Christ, is an exalted mountain, the house of the Lord in a spiritual sense, because there it had its beginning in a physical way…. Thus the this kingdom will also be lifted up beyond all hills, all other kingdoms, principalities, and whatever is lofty on earth. No matter how much the church is sure to be harassed and trampled underfoot by death, sins, Satan, tyranny, and heretics, yet in this trampling underfoot it shall be exalted above all mountains. For no other kingdom is so firmly established, and compared with it all other kingdoms are filthy; the Assyrians, the Greeks, the Chaldeans, the Romans, etc. For that kingdom endures, overcomes, and triumphs over death, devil, and heresies. No other kingdom can do this. But this takes place by the Word alone. Very many kingdoms have been laid waste. The church remains victorious over all kingdoms and the gates of hell (Matt. 16:18).