This was a short talk that Eugene just gave on Sunday as we go through a series focusing on gender roles according to scripture. It was an encouragement to me and I pray that it would be to all of you as well.
Having been a member of Capitol Hill Baptist Church for the past three years, one of the things I’m thankful to God for is how our congregation has grown more diverse. In a world still divided along ethnic, cultural, economic, and gender lines, the diversity of God’s people is a distinctive display of his glory.
But on this side of eternity, such diversity also brings challenges to the church. In fact, one of the first difficulties faced by the early church was caused by cultural differences between the Greek-speaking Jews and the native-born Jews. A recurring theme in the NT is how different Christians – Jew and Gentile, slave and free, rich and poor, male and female - can dwell together in unity.
It is no different for us. How can we, as Christians from many different backgrounds, preserve our unity amid diversity? How do we as individuals and as a congregation think about our ethnic, socio-economic, and gender differences? Are our views shaped more by the culture or by Scripture?
Our passage tonight is Isaiah 55:1. Let me read the first five verses.
While preparing for this talk, one of the questions I was asked most often was “What does this verse have to do with gender issues?” I, too, wondered the same thing when the text was first assigned to me. On deeper reflection, however, I saw that Isaiah 55:1 addresses not only gender, but also the broader issue of diversity in the church. The key word in this verse is “all”. “Come, all you who are thirsty.” The gospel call goes out to all without distinction or exception. The invitation to trust in Christ for salvation is universal in scope. Indeed, the universality of the gospel is what establishes the diversity of the church. The way we think about diversity must therefore begin with the gospel. I hope to make two points to flesh this out more.
I. Everyone needs the gospel
The context of Isaiah 55 makes this clear. This chapter represents the climax of a section that begins in Isaiah 40. God comforts the remnant of Judah by promising to save his people. He is Yahweh, the covenant Lord, who unlike the idols is all-powerful and all-wise. God will accomplish his saving work through a Suffering Servant. This Servant will make atonement by bearing the sins of many. He will be pierced for the transgressions of others, so that they might be forgiven by a holy and just God. But the Servant’s saving work will extend beyond the Jews. He will be made a light for the nations, so that God’s salvation might reach the ends of the earth. There will be a new people of God, encompassing both Jew and Gentile.
All this culminates in the universal invitation of 55:1. The gospel is for all. God’s plan of salvation is not restricted to any particular ethnic group. No, the purpose of the gospel is far grander than that. It includes all the nations. This should challenge us in our evangelism. Our God is an evangelist. He invites all to repent of their sins, and to trust in Jesus Christ for salvation. Is the scope of our evangelism more restricted than his? The gospel invitation transcends race, status, and gender. I pray that our evangelism as individuals and as a church might increasingly reflect this.
American or not, white or minority, rich or poor, educated or not, professional or working class, male or female – we all need the gospel. Without Christ, our standing before God is the same, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of our creator God, who made us in his image. We are all thirsty for God’s salvation. We thirst for a righteousness that only God can give to us in Christ. We all have an urgent need that can only be satisfied by something outside of ourselves.
We are also those who are spiritually bankrupt. We have no money to buy and eat. All of us come empty-handed to God and receive his salvation as an undeserved gift. We are justified by faith alone in Christ alone. From beginning to end, our salvation is by faith, not by works. Having begun by faith, are we so foolish as to think we need to earn God’s continual favor through our own efforts? Brothers and sisters, our obedience is the result of divine grace, not the cause of it. Yes, we will fail to obey perfectly. But this makes Christ and the gospel that much sweeter to us.
Our salvation is free, but costly. Hence Isaiah speaks of “buying”. But the price is not ours to pay. It is impossible for us to satisfy the demands of God’s holiness and justice. No, the price has already been paid by God’s Suffering Servant. Christ has accomplished for us what we could not do, in order to save us from what we deserved. He was made sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. This ought to humble us. Such gospel-centered, Christ-exalting humility is essential for preserving the peace and unity of a diverse church. Ask ourselves: What do we have that we did not receive? If then we received it, how can we boast as if we did not receive it? God shows no partiality. We must all come to him through Jesus Christ.
The gospel is for everyone. Jesus himself shows the universality of the gospel invitation in John 4, where he alludes to Isaiah 55. Jesus said: “Whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Who is Jesus speaking to? Not a Jew, but a Samaritan! And not only a Samaritan, but a woman! And not only that, she was a moral outcast for she was an adulteress! Everyone needs the gospel!
Our distinctions are not obliterated by the gospel. There will still be Jewish and Gentile Christians, rich and poor Christians, as well as male and female Christians. But the beauty of the gospel is that it creates for all of us a new, common identity in Christ that surpasses these differences. The world seeks to foster unity through uniformity, but the gospel creates unity amid diversity. One writer put it well: “Diversity, instead of detracting from the glory of the church, enhances it. How much more beautiful is a building constructed of stones of different shapes and sizes than is a structure of blocks all of which look alike!”
II. We are all one in the gospel
This brings me to my second point. Isaiah 55:1 teaches that we are all one in the gospel, because we have all received the same Holy Spirit. “Water” in Isaiah is an image of salvation, as well as a metaphor for the Holy Spirit. Isa 44:3 says: “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.” This promise was fulfilled in Acts, where the preaching of the gospel was accompanied by the Spirit coming upon both Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female. All of us who have trusted in Christ are partakers of the same Holy Spirit. Through Christ, we all have access in one Spirit to the Father. There is one body and one Spirit – just as we were called to the one hope that belongs to our call – one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all.
We have all been united to Christ by faith, and the Holy Spirit dwells in us all. There can be no greater unity than this. Do we realize this? Our church membership is an expression of this profound spiritual unity that we have with one another. Given the oneness that we have in Christ, what are we doing to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace? How much are we crossing ethnic, economic, cultural, and gender lines to love one another and build one another up in the faith?
In the gospel, God has united all things in Christ. We have been reconciled to God, and we are all members of God’s household. Therefore we rejoice with one another, and we sorrow with one another. When we love one another in Christ, the unity we show is a powerful testimony to the world of the truth of the gospel.
In Christ, we all have an equal standing before God. We often think of equality in functional terms, that we are equal only if we are able to do the same things. Our culture measures someone’s worth by what they do or have accomplished. But the Bible’s concept of equality is greater than this. We are equal not because of what we do, but because of who we belong to. And we all belong to God, who has purchased us with the precious blood of Christ and given us the Holy Spirit. We are all one in Christ.
Conclusion
The communion of which we are about to partake reminds us of our unity in Christ, who gave his life as a sacrifice for us. Although we are many and diverse, we are one body, because we all partake of the one bread. This is why Paul warns against eating and drinking without discerning the body. If there is disunity among us, then we are not partaking of the Lord’s Supper in a right way. Brothers and sisters, may the Lord search our hearts and help us to repent of the sins that undermine our unity in Christ!
Through Christ, God has freely lavished on us the wine of joyfulness and the milk of spiritual nourishment. We come as undeserving guests to this feast of rich food that God has provided. And we look forward to an even greater feast, when we shall see the resurrected Christ face to face and be with him forever.
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