Really! God Said That

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

Yesterday my co-workers and I met the new students who will be coming to our classes. These are juniors and seniors who have transferred in from another school. It was an eclectic group with a couple of them coming from a small private school on our island, one coming from Japan, and the rest coming from various states within the US.

We sat and talked about who they were and where they were from. We gave them an insight as to what we expected as teachers and asked them what they expected as students. We didn't get too deep into these expectations because today, when we meet all of the juniors and seniors who will be in our classes, we plan to go over all of the rules and regulations more in depth.

Our rules are not over-bearing. As a group of teachers we don't believe in pomp and circumstance. We say the same thing every year to every group of young people we meet - "Just do your work to the best of your ability, striving to become better as the year progresses." You see, it's not so much how you do it, it's why you do it. This is something the people of Judah had forgotten.

Within the first chapter of Isaiah we are told exactly what the rest of the book will be about. We are introduced to the themes of "death and destruction if you, as a people, don't change" and "yet, in the end, everything will be okay." Isaiah gives the people of Judah, and to an extent us, the message that things are going to get bad because you aren't doing the right things for the right reasons, but if you start doing the right things for the right reasons, life will be good again. The message continues, however, to tell us that either way, God is with us and hope lives eternal.

I find it interesting that in the middle of today's passage is an invitation by God to "argue it out." The presence of God is eternal. God never leaves our side. Ever since the stories of God walking with humankind in the garden at the very beginning of the bible we find that what God really wants is to be in relationship with us. All God wants is to walk with us and talk about the things that are going on in our lives; good and bad.

God isn't interested in our personal gifts to God. God isn't interested in how large or ornate our churches are. God isn't interested in what we give to God in the name of God. God is interested in how we "seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, and plead for the widow." In other words, God wants us to take care of each other and to allow God to be there along the way.

In the next few weeks my job at the high school will become more focused on helping students fill the gap between where they should be and where they are academically. I will build relationships and hope that the students will come to understand that I'm there to help, not to condemn. I hope I can consistently remember that God wants to be along the journey with me.