Old Testament | Isaiah 1:10-20 (with Nick Locke)

Opening Song:
Tend by Emmy Rose, Jessie Early, and Michaela Gentile

Lyrics:
In the landscape of my life
You don't rush through any season
You always take Your time
A careful hand a gentle guide
You take what's dead away
And You prune what's running wild

(So) be the gardener of my heart
Tend the soil of my soul
Break up the fallow ground
Cut back the overgrown
I won't shy away
I will let the branches fall
So what You want can stay
And what You love can grow

Through the winter I'm still alive
What You've planted in the dirt
Is ever reaching to the light
You prepare me for darkened times
You'll sustain what You have started
And You'll teach me to abide

I'll remain in You You'll remain in me
And I will trust Your timing
I'll remain in You You'll remain in me
From the start until the ending
'Cause You will know better
Passage:
Hear the word of the Lord,
you rulers of Sodom!
Give ear to the teaching[a] of our God,
you people of Gomorrah!
11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.

12 “When you come to appear before me,
who has required of you
this trampling of my courts?
13 Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
17 learn to do good;
seek justice,
correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
plead the widow's cause.

18 “Come now, let us reason[b] together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
they shall become like wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land;
20 but if you refuse and rebel,
you shall be eaten by the sword;
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

Musical Reflection:
Prelude in C Major, BWV 846 by J.S. Bach

Prayer:
Father, what we know not, teach us; what we have not, give us; what we are not, make us; for the sake of your Son our Savior. Amen.
-Old Anglican Prayer