Foreigners who have joined the Lord should not say, ‘The Lord will not accept me.’ (Isaiah 56:3 - NCV)
When Jesus cleared the Temple of the money changers and lamb salesmen, he was thinking of this expanded passage. It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be called a house for prayer for people from all nations.’ But you are changing God’s house into a ‘hideout for robbers.’ (Mark 11:17 - NCV) The Bazaar of Annas was set up in the Temple area set aside for foreigners. The Sadducees’ entrepreneurial scheming was putting a barrier between God and the people coming to worship him. It made Jesus angry that the poor and the alien would be exploited in the name of God.
Isaiah, more than anyone who came before him, made it clear that the blessing of Abraham was not reserved for the Hebrews, but that it was meant for people of all nations. Here, he lets the alien know that whether one is born a Jew or a Gentile has no bearing on being accepted by God; all are accepted the same. Foreigners are accepted the same as nationals. Outsiders are accepted the same as insiders. Damaged are accepted the same as whole.
We may be tempted to think there is some reason God would not accept us, but that is absolutely false. Likewise, we may be tempted to think people have to be just like us in order to be accepted by God, and that is just as false. As Bill Hybels says: You’ve never locked eyes with anyone who doesn’t matter to the Father. [1]
God, help me accept others just as you accepted me.
[1] as quoted by Mark Mittelberg, Building a Contagious Church, 37.
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