Devotion • January 16
Scripture Reading
Isaiah 56:6–8
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. (NRSV)
Reflection
These verses belong to the last major division of the book of Isaiah, and they contain some of the most universalistic language of salvation in all the Bible. Verses 1–5 single out the “foreigner” and the “eunuch,” two groups of people that other parts of scripture considered outsiders to God’s covenant with the descendants of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah. and promise them “an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”
Clearly something has shifted. So by the time we hear the best-known phrase from this passage, verse 7’s “house of prayer for all peoples,” we’ve been primed. If we know this phrase as Christians it’s because Jesus employs it in the Jerusalem temple, or at least some version of it. Only Mark’s Gospel has Jesus quoting the entire verse as he’s driving out the money changers, saying, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations ... but you have made it a den of robbers” (Matthew and Luke only quote the “My house shall be a house of prayer” part while omitting “for all nations”).
The difference in how the Gospels quote Isaiah 56:7 seems significant to me because it feels like the prophet’s emphasis is more on “all people” than it is “house of prayer.” This portion of his oracle is specifically about “foreigners,” that their worship in the temple will be accepted by God. It concludes with a word that still others will be gathered to those outcasts.
The vision of Isaiah in these verses clearly rhymes with the dream we in the United States are pursuing today, the dream that Dr. King articulated so powerfully on the National Mall, that “one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’”
That all people will ultimately find their welcome place in God’s house is the vision behind, beside, and ahead of the dream we work every day to realize.
Prayer
God of all, as you gather all people and all nations to yourself, open our eyes to dream your dream in our time. Use us as instruments to break down barriers and build up bonds of common humanity, so that, through us, all might see the prophet’s vision come to life. Amen.
Written by Rocky Supinger, Associate Pastor for Youth and Worship
Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church
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