Upgrades in the kingdom!
Isaiah 56
God is calling His people as they begin their return from Babylonian exile to embrace the outcast.
Whereas the law in Exodus and Deuteronomy banned the foreigner and the eunuch from worshipping the Lord, here in the salvation God is offering from exile, all are welcomed. Can you imagine the distress of having been forced to become a eunuch because you served in the royal palace of Babylon knowing you would not be welcome home once you return to Jerusalem? Most probably Daniel and his three friends all felt this. Or the foreigner who converts to Judaism but is himself not embraced by the Jew?
Our God of salvation over-rules the Deuteronomic law by saying if they keep the Sabbath and honour Him as best they can then they will be accepted. It is not the outward, physical state that counts, but the spiritual state.
Our God of grace states that for the eunuchs whose name will literally be cut-off once they die will have an everlasting name, a memorial within the Temple. For the foreigner, this Temple is their place of prayer as much as for the Jew. It is for all nations.
Our God of missions states that there will be others who are still to come. He is referring to the gentiles, to us, who will also come to Him. We are all outcasts brought in by grace.
“When a Christian sees prostitutes, alcoholics, prisoners, drug addicts, unwed mothers, the homeless, refugees, he knows that he is looking in a mirror. Perhaps the Christian spent all of his life as a respectable middle-class person. No matter. He thinks, Spiritually I was just like these people, though physically and socially I never was where they are now. They are outcasts. (Spiritually speaking) I was an outcast”: Tim Keller, Ministries of Mercy.
An outcast saved by a gracious, missionary God will always welcome the next outcast into the Kingdom.
No one deserves an upgrade but everyone can have one.
Missions Paul 