Engraved Invitation
Second Sunday After Pentecost (May 25, 2008)
Rev. Steven D. Spencer – Pastor Messiah Lutheran Church
Isaiah 49:16a
text for today is from the Book of Isaiah chapter 49 verse 16a. The theme for today is Engraved Invitation so please listen to the words once again with the theme in mind.
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. So far the text!
I don’t know how it is for you, but, this is the time of year I receive quite a few invitations. After all it’s the beginning of summer, time for graduations and weddings. The most important ones seem to have some sort of engraving on them saying things like: “You are cordially invited to the High School graduation of Miss Jane Doe” or those wedding invitations, Mr. & Mrs. Wesley Smith invites you to attend the wedding of their daughter Bertha May to Billy Bob Jones”. I recently received another type of invitation though. A special gold engraved invitation. According to the invitation I was hand picked, as a special customer to attend a one day car sale at a Dealership. So important was this event that I needed to RSVP within 48 hours to reserve my place. Only a limited number of customers were being offered this great deal and they needed to know how many cars to have available. My spot would only be held for 48 hours after that my seat would be reassigned. Respond now, RSVP or lose out on this VIP sale forever. Of course I must have been the only one in Salem to have received such an invitation. By the way I didn’t attend or RSVP.
God says in our text for today: “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” With these astonishing words, our Lord assures us of His continued faithfulness, faithfulness to a people, who are often filled with fear and disbelief. But what does it mean to be engraved on the Hands of God?
The passage can be divided into two questions.
1. What does God say in this text?
2. What does this text teach us?
What Does The Lord God Say In This Text?
Every word in this sentence deserves proper examination. It’s filled with great wisdom and richness. So let’s take this simple sentence, a word or two at a time and examine it closely.
I. Behold
The first word in our text is "Behold!" That is a Word of Wonder. A good example of this is 1 John 3:1: “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.”
Behold is sometimes translated as “See.” But not just with your eyes. It means to look, to perceive and to listen. It has a deeper meaning, which is to observe, to take notice, to recognize, all this so that you might understand. It’s a word of catechesis. A word telling us to listen and learn, become enlightened with the knowledge of what is being said.
Behold is also sometimes is translated as “Lo.” Lo tells us of something that is going to happen soon. Lo is a word of emphasis, it means pay special attention. (Matthew 28:20) is part of the Great Commission and gives us a good example of this: “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” When you hear Lo it is like seeing a lane change sign on the road. Something is going to happen soon; something will be added or removed, so pay attention!
II. Behold I
The second word in our text is I. Behold I! The engraver is God Himself. The Engraving or Inscribing of a People upon the Palms of His Hands is an Act of Salvation. John 15:16 says: "You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you, that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.” All those engraved invitations that you receive from family, friends and businesses ask you to do something. Or they ask something of you. A gift, a monetary donation your physical presence, whatever it is. But the engraving on the hands of God, require nothing from you. God chose you, not vice-versa. Romans 9:16 says: “It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy.” Your salvation is not dependent upon your efforts, but exclusively is an act of God’s mercy.
God takes a very serious interest in the act of your salvation. Zephaniah 3:14-17 says: “Sing, O Daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O Daughter of Jerusalem! The LORD has taken away your punishment; He has turned back your enemy. The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm. On that day they will say to Jerusalem, "Do not fear, O Zion; do not let your hands hang limp. The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." God takes a very personal interest in your salvation, He remains with you. He is present with His children, He present with His love.
III. "Behold, I Have!"
The word have is in the past tense. This work was performed by God before the world was even made. Way back in eternity, before anything was made that is made, when God dwelt alone in the indescribable glory of his Triune Being, He says, “Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” Ephesians 1:4 tells us: “For He chose us in Him (That is Christ Jesus) before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight, in love.” Before the very foundation of this earth, God chose us. An all knowing, all powerful God chose us. Do you understand what that means? God knew this world would fall. All the reason of man would be darkened. All our intellect, our ability to apply wisdom would fail and betray us. But God would not! No wonder God said in Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Or in 1 Corinthians 1:25 The foolishness of God is wiser than men. Our intellect may fail us, but God will not!
IV. Behold, I HAVE ENGRAVED YOU!
What a word! In ancient times, in certain oriental countries, men tattooed images of their loved ones on the palms of their hands. The word engraved can be translated, painted - Tattooed, inscribed or engraved even branded. When we draw a picture of someone, we might use a pencil or pen, chalk or charcoal, or a paintbrush and palette. But what did God use to inscribe you in the palms of His hands? Look at the palms of His hands to discover the engraving tools. Look at the hands of Jesus; do you see what I see? A crude hammer and iron spikes have engraved us in His Hands. “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
The holy ink used to inscribe us in the palms of His hands is nothing less than the Blood of Christ. Your names have been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). The Book of Life is the Hands of God, the very place where we have been inscribed in the palms of His hands in Christ own blood.
So what does this text teach us? Isaiah 49:15 says: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.”
You have no need to be anxious. You are written on the very hands of God. All your needs, all your concerns are known to God. You have union with God, a union of God’s grace. That grace not by your own doing but by the work of Jesus upon the cross. For by Jesus life, by His suffering and death and by His glorious resurrection you have been made a child of God. For you have been written in the very Hands of God, inscribed by the stakes that held Him to the cross. You have an engraved invitation to dwell in heaven forever, written in the blood of Jesus. That’s how much God loves you that He gave His only Son. In Jesus name, Amen and Amen!