No. 39. >> We live in what has been called a pluralistic age and culture. Isaiah 44:6 through 8 really seems to make some claims that may not sit well with the modern age. How are we to understand the exclusive claims of Israel's God? >>DR. DANIEL L. GARD: To live in a pluralistic society means that we live in a society in which competing religious claims are given equal footing. In our American system, that's certainly constitutionally guaranteed to all of us. But it's within that pluralistic setting that the church speaks. To speak about God and how many gods are there, who is he? It's been said that the Christian faith, which is the faith proclaimed through Isaiah as well as through Jesus himself and the apostles, the Christian faith is at the same time the most exclusive and the most inclusive. It's exclusive because the claim is made in Scripture and the church is required to repeat that there is no other salvation except through Jesus Christ. That there is only one God. The blessed and holy Trinity. And any other gods are simply false gods. Yes, it's exclusive. But it is also inclusive. And the most inclusive religion. Because at the same time we proclaim that this great truth of salvation is not just for a particular set of people. But is, indeed, for all people. And that God in Christ Jesus upon the cross and through the empty tomb has redeemed the entire world. Now, Isaiah speaks to his nation. And thus, also to us about who God is. And this claim that the Lord alone is God. Let me read that text. Isaiah 44 Verses 6 through 8. This is what the Lord says: Israel's King and redeemer, the Lord Almighty. I am the first. And I am the last. Apart from me there is no god. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people and what is yet to come. Yes, let him foretell what will come. Do not tremble. Do not be afraid. Do not -- I proclaim this and foretell it long ago. You are my witnesses. Is there any god beside me? No. There is no other rock. I know not one. So the question is: How does a Christian respond when somebody makes the claim that, well, it just really doesn't matter what you believe as long as you believe in something or someone. Not an uncommon claim in a pluralistic society. We live in a time when I think everybody observes that the forces of evil seem to be stronger and stronger. And in fact, a hundred different things vie for our attention all the time. All of them claiming priority in our lives. Ancient Israel experienced a temptation that we share. And that is to listen to the voices of those things which would take the place of God in our hearts. Often these are simply idols. Not necessarily idols that somebody else created. But idols of our own making which have this remarkable ability to woe us with truly unfulfillable promises and very vain dreams. We often feel torn between the falsehood of idolatrous lives and the voice of the Lord. And yet, that voice of the Lord speaking through Isaiah and speaking through all the prophets and all of the apostles calls us to acknowledge this one thing. That the Lord alone is God. It's that problem which plagued the people of Israel in Isaiah's time. God would speak to them. But they would rather listen to the soothing lies of idols. And the prophets of those idols. So the Lord, through Isaiah, told them that the day was coming when they would not only lose it all, but that they would then remember that he, the Lord, had warned them about it. So these modern idols that influence your life, my life and the lives of the people that we serve also lure us into their own traps. For example, self indulgence. We're told that's the key to happiness today. Children are taught what is sometimes called value clarification. The system in which moral decisions are made not on the basis of an unchanging word. But rather, on the particular circumstances and feelings of individuals. No longer is there an absolute immorality. Everything becomes a gray area. The result of that is pretty clear in our society. I deal regularly as a Navy chaplain with young people who serve in uniform. And they simply come from the cities and towns and countryside of our nation. And they reflect that which shape them as they grew from children to the young adults that they are today. Many times there's very little sense of what is absolutely right or wrong. Practical results of that are manifold. A recent study I just saw estimates that over 30% of all college women are infected with the herpes virus. That's a frightening statistic. And one which results directly from a failure to understand that there is an absolute. And that absolute is God himself. Anything one does or runs to in time of trouble or despair becomes one's own personal god. It's not just a matter of the false gods such as Allah or the gods of other religions, which are the idols which tempt Christians. It's the idols that each of us determine for ourselves. A person has a false god when they fear, love and trust in anything other than the true God who calls them to fear, love and trust in him alone. Every god who is not the true God, though, is nothing more than a lie who will deceive and twist a human life. Above the muck and mire of a world which has lost sight of its creator, though, sits the one who has always been there. The one who is and has always been and will always be the true Lord God. It's his judgments that are certain and true. Not only will the false gods of this world, whether they were the gods that templed the people of Isaiah's time or the gods that tempt us, every one of those false gods of this world will fail. Fail not only themselves but all who would serve them. As Isaiah speaking for the Lord reminds the people of his time and us, only one God exists. We know that one God to be the blessed and holy Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit. And he demands and is worthy of complete devotion. He desires to be not only the God of your heart. But also, the God of your mind and the God of your life. His solution to a very real problem that's posed in our text is one that I would like to focus on. That problem, though, first is this: How do we come into a right relationship with this one and only true God? Now, the solution to that is found in the Lord's claims about himself. Notice what he says in our text: Not only is he the one God who exists and who reigns forever. He is also the redeemer. Isaiah uses that word. He's the first and the last. Does that sound familiar at all from Jesus in the book of Revelation? He's the rock of his people. Now, redeemer is someone who buys back something that is lost. Years ago when I was a Vicar I had a pair of -- and still have a pair of pants that come from my youth. They are bright plaid bellbottoms, hip huggers. I plan to be buried in that particular pair of pants. My wife, we had just gotten married, was absolutely aghast when she saw them. And the church where I served as Vicar had a lady's yard sale at the church where people would bring in all sorts of things. And people from the community would come in and purchase them. I walked through there. And I saw my pants laying on a table. So I offered 50 cents for them. They gave me my pants. And I returned them quietly to my closet and waited until my wife found them. I heard a scream from the bedroom. My pants were redeemed. I bought them back. In a much more profound way, God proclaims himself to be redeemer of his people. He has bought us back. Not from a garage sale. But bought us back from the very power of sin and death and hell. And not with 50 cents. But with the holy and precious blood of his own Son. It's through this, this God who is redeemer, this Gods who is the first and the last and the very center of all that exists. In fact, all that exists exists only in him and through him. This is the true God. And this is how we know that true God. That he is the one who has, in fact, redeemed us. And the people who live in a very pluralistic world, a world in which false gods and idols constantly call. Yet, this one God who is above all and is, in fact, the only true God, constantly calls back: I am your redeemer. He is not only the true God who reigns forever. But he is the God who came into human flesh, taking on the circumstances of Israel. Taking on the circumstances of the time when Jesus walked the face of this earth with the incarnation. Taking on the life of all people of all time, including you. Including me. Including those whom we now serve. And those who will be served by Word and sacrament in all generations. And there is no other redeemer. That is a claim of Scripture that we cannot compromise, cannot in any way modify. There is but one redeemer. And Jesus Christ is that redeemer. He is the Savior. He is the one who has opened heaven for all people. In him and in him alone we are privileged to see and to know the true God. If you want to know anything about God, the one who spoke through Isaiah, you look at the person of Jesus. Because there he is. And it is in this one, this God who not only created, the God who not only lives forever and has reigned forever. But this is the one whom Isaiah speaks about and says to people who are about to go through the most troubling trial-filled time of the nation's existence that this God is their redeemer. Now, the question we need to always ask -- and sometimes we forget. The study of Scripture is not just a matter of reading ancient text. It is that. But it is living and enjoying those texts. It's hearing God's voice speaking not just to people of the ancient past. But to us. And the question that we must ask in light of Israel and their experience is: What idols are at work in our lives? Do they seem so strong that we can't overcome them? Well, the answer to that is very clear. No, you can't overcome them. Not if you try to do it by yourself. That's why the gracious, merciful presence of Jesus is so absolutely essential. Whatever has control of your life will not give you freedom. And so we cannot look within ourselves. We look to Christ, the all powerful Savior. The freedom that you and I enjoy, the freedom that Isaiah proclaimed to those who were about to live in captivity. And the freedom that you and I will proclaim to God's people for as long as God gives us breath, that freedom was won by the eternal one himself. The one who is our rock. The one who is the first and the last. The one who is the redeemer of Israel. May God in his grace show us the idols that, in fact, are in our lives. And may we find gratitude as he clings to us through Word and sacrament. Being our king. Our redeemer. Our rock. He is that rock of salvation.