In the name of our God who has made us, who bears our pain and sin and who makes us new, Amen.
Isaiah the prophet was never afraid to declare the word of God to God's people. When he saw that they were disobeying God's law and ignoring God's justice, he would denounce them, whether they were powerful princes and priests or ordinary people.
In today's reading he compares the King to a ruler of Sodom, and compares the priests to the people of Gomorrah. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by God for their wickedness, so Isaiah's criticism is very strong indeed.
The King and the Priests are still very religious. They offer the burnt offerings demanded by the Law of Moses, and they celebrate all the religious festivals carefully - the feast of Booths, the Day of Atonement, the Passover, the New Moons, the Sabbaths and all the other prescribed feasts.
But this is all wrong. God declares that these feasts and festivals are loathsome and wicked! And why? They are wicked because of the lifestyle of the nation and the people. The merchants are cheating their customers, the rulers are oppressing the people with harsh taxes and unjust laws, poor people such as widows and orphans are left without help.
Until these things are put right, says Isaiah, there is a curse on the people - God will not listen to their prayers nor accept their offerings.
These are strong words, but they point to a great truth about God. Justice and equity, respect and mutual care are the foundations of any relationship between people and God. True worship of God is only possible when the worshippers are committed to justice, mercy, respect and humility in their relationships with one another. Half hearted commitment to God and God's kingdom is utterly condemned by Isaiah. And not only Isaiah. In the book of revelation, John writes to the church of Laodicea with these words, "The Spirit says, 'Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth.'" God finds half-heartedness revolting.
Now, at first, we may find ourselves saying, "Well, what chance have I got? How can we possibly live up to God's high standard which Isaiah declares so passionately? How can we be sure that our worship here, today, is good enough for God? Are we in danger of being vomited out of God's mouth?"
The answer to these questions is that we don't have to worry, we have help, and that help comes directly from God. It is called grace.
When Paul, Silvanus and Timothy wrote to the church in Thessalonica they said, "Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." And they continued, "We always give thanks to you, brothers and sisters, because your faith is growing abundantly your love for one another is increasing." They said this because it was the grace of God and God's power working in them that made their faith and love grow. This was how the church in Thessalonica grew and this is how the church in Enmore and Stanmore can grow, through the grace, power, love and peace of God. When we let God fill us with these wonderful gifts, then wonderful things will happen in our lives and in the lives of others.
Now I could stop here, and we could all go away with good thoughts about God filling our lives with grace and peace. But I would not be satisfied - I want to know how God will fill our lives - how will God fill my life with grace and power, peace and love?
St Luke, in his gospel, gives us an example of how God works. It is the story of Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector. Now Zacchaeus was a particularly corrupt businessman. He had grown rich because he had cheated the Emperor and the people of Israel. How do we know? This was the way things were in those days, and in some countries, they are still like that. Even in Australia there are businessmen, leaders of great corporations, who are fabulously rich because they have been greedy and corrupt.
But Zacchaeus was different. He wanted to change - he wanted to live a life filled with God's grace and power, peace and love. We know this because he ran ahead of Jesus and climbed up a tree so that he could see Jesus. Zacchaeus was prepared to make himself look like an idiot because he wanted to see Jesus so much. And Jesus looked up and saw him and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So that's our first clue. If we want God's grace enough, then God will give it to us. God's Holy Spirit cannot come to an unwelcoming heart. Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you and you with me."
And that's the second clue. It actually comes from the book of Revelation, but it is the same as what Jesus said to Zacchaeus: "Come down, for I must stay at your house today." It is our meeting and eating with Christ Jesus which makes the difference, just as it did for Zacchaeus. Some people will say that it in the Eucharist, sharing the body and blood of Christ, we meet and eat with our Lord - and so we do. Others will say that it is in reading the words of Scripture that we encounter the Lord - and this is true also. The Anglican Church has always believed that we come to faith in Jesus through Word and sacrament. It is in sincere worship and in careful reading of the Bible that Jesus comes to us and shares his life with us. It makes sense, surely. Let's say you want to be a good footballer. You join a football club and start reading up about football. Maybe this is not a particularly good example, but, in a sense, the church is the Christian's club and the Bible is the textbook.
So we need to be passionate about our faith and want to love God whole heartedly; and we want to meet Jesus and to share and imitate his life.
The third thing that Zacchaeus did was to practise. Because he had cheated people, he said, "I want to do justice to those I have cheated. I will give half my possessions to the poor; and I will pay back four times as much to those whom I have cheated." It was only then that Jesus said, "Today salvation has come to this house." When Zacchaeus had met and eaten with Jesus he turned his words and his faith into action. This, then, was his salvation. Isaiah, looking down from heaven, must have applauded.
It seems, then, that in the story of Zacchaeus, God has shown us a practical example to those of us who want the grace, power, peace and love of God.
Firstly there is a passionate desire for the kingdom of God..
Secondly, there is the willingness to meet Christ Jesus in the worship of the church and in the study of Scriptures. And thirdly, there is the need to turn what we believe into action, so that God will make us worthy of his call, and will fulfil by his power every good resolve and work of faith, so that the name of Jesus may be glorified in us and we in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen