For those who want a change from the Gospel

Trinity 7 – Isaiah 44:6-8 (Related)

Today’s passage raises a question which is as relevant today as it was in the time of the OT. There is not, and has never been, any doubt that Jewish religion is thoroughly monotheistic. The central affirmation of Judaism, the Shema, calls on the people to know and believe this: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one’ (Dt 6:4). But what exactly does that mean? Whilst we think we understand the phrase, it can actually mean several different things, all of which are hinted at somewhere or other in the OT.

Does it mean, for example, that Yahweh is the only God for Israel? We know that the worship of Baal worked a bit like the Anglican parish system: you worshipped the particular Baal in whose patch you lived. Move away, or go on a journey, and you would have a different Baal looking after you. This mindset raised huge questions for the Israelites when they were exiled to Babylon. Should they now be joining in with the worship of the local Babylonian gods, since they were now on a different electoral roll? The prophets who were calling people to remain faithful to Yahweh weren’t necessarily denying the existence or the validity of other gods: it was just that Yahweh was the one for them.

Or does it mean, in a similar vein, that among all the gods Yahweh was the greatest, and therefore the best one to worship? That’s the kind of theology behind the worship song ‘Our God is greater’. Other gods might have some power, but Yahweh’s was far superior to anyone else’s, so he was the best one to worship. That just makes sense.

This also raises questions about the mission of Israel. Was their job to call all nations to the worship of Yahweh, or rather was it simply about remaining faithful to their own God and leaving the rest to get on  with theirs, inferior though they might be? See what I mean? A seemingly simple statement may not be quite as clear cut as it at first appears.

It is generally reckoned, though, that our old friend Deutero-Isaiah took this debate to a whole new level, and today’s passage is typical of many such passages in his writing. He is the first prophet to state clearly and emphatically that Yahweh is the only God full stop. Anything else which claims that role is a nothing, even though they might be given physical bodies by their adherents. The chapters around this passage are a scathing condemnation of so-called ‘gods’ who cannot move, but have to be carried around, who cannot see, hear or think, who are completely unable to predict the future, and who at best could be most useful as firewood for cooking your tea. ‘Apart from me there is no God’ cries out the prophet in Yahweh’s name, and the rest of the chapter expands on this rather in the manner of a stand-up comic who uses sharp observation to tell us all what is really going on and make us laugh at ourselves because that’s exactly what we do.

Once we grasp this truth, the mission of God’s people becomes manifestly clear. It is to show all the other nations just how wrong and misguided they are, and to call them to come to the true and only God and follow and worship him. From him alone is wisdom for living to be learned; in him alone is hope and salvation.

You don’t need me to apply this vital message in today’s multi-cultural world. Most Christians presumably believe that Jesus is our God, and many have presumably chosen to believe in him because they think he is the best. But when it comes to our attitudes towards other so-called gods, that is not so clear. It’s probably not a good idea for Christians to worship Vishnu, but is it OK for Hindus? The rise of the pluralism which believes in the equal validity of all systems of belief, which asserts that all roads lead to the same place and it doesn’t much matter which one we follow is a taken-for-granted assumption in our tolerant postmodern world. If we buy that, what does it say about our mission? It seems very non-PC to suggest that the job of Christian mission is to tell others that they are wrong and that they need to believe what we believe in order to be right (which is actually what pretty much all religions really believe, by the way). Maybe Deutero-Isaiah has something important to say to today’s Church, as important as it was for 5^th century Israel.