“Surrounded By Salvation!”

Scripture Text: Isaiah 25:10-26:2

In 1977 Oscar Romero, a quiet, traditional cleric, was consecrated Arch bishop of San Salvador. Deemed a safe bet by government authorities, his installation service was even used as an excuse for more government- sanctioned murders. The killings radicalized Romero, prompting him to agree with the sentiment circulated by the priests aligned with the poor people of the country: The church is where it always should have been: with the people, surrounded by wolves.

The church has always been surrounded by those who wish to destroy it. Christ experienced that. The disciples experienced it. Paul both did it and suffered under it. And throughout the ages, Christians of all walks and all ages have known it. Why? Because the church, if it is to stand beside Jesus Christ, must also be standing with oppressed people, in spite of the number and strength of the oppressors, wherever they may be found. And while we do, Christ stands with us.

Read Isaiah 25:10

Moab is both a nation to the east of Israel and Judah, as well as a representation of those nations and peoples who stand in opposition to them.
Some history regarding Moab:
- Moab was the eldest son of Lot’s oldest daughter, who, as you may remember, had gotten him drunk and had sex with him after their escape from Sodom. ( Genesis 19:30-38) They then migrated to an already populated area and settled in. Moab’s descendents apparently became the dominate family, and the nation was renamed for him.
- Moab was the last area that the Israelites crossed before they entered the Promised Land, and this is where Moses died and was buried. (Deuteronomy 34:1-12)
- The nation constantly harassed Israel through raiding parties and limited invasions.
- Moab would also fall to the advances of Assyria, but when that nation was conquered, Moab regained her identity.
Israel and Moab had a long history, over 800 years, of animosity, and Isaiah was playing on that difficult relationship to represent all who had caused problems for the Hebrews.

The mountain that is referred to in verse 10 is “Mount Zion” – the holy city of God, as well as the faithful who live there. The hand that rests on them is a hand of protection and blessing, but the other hand will be one of judgment against all who have opposed His faithful. Verse 10 - “They will be trampled under [foot] as straw is trampled down in the manure.” I don’t know how many here have ever worked in a barn, but straw that has been used as bedding, walked on and thoroughly messed up with urine and feces, is simply removed and taken out to the fields as fertilizer for other corps. In and of itself, the straw is now useless and can never be reclaimed.
“In that day of the Lord”, all who have opposed and oppressed God’s people will be worth just as much as straw in manure!

Read Isaiah 25:11-12

And no matter how much the wicked of this world will try to rescue themselves from the manure of their own making, no matter how hard they try to stay afloat, how skilled and clever they may be, how much pride and success they may have had in the past, they will fail. Hallelujah!
“Their high and fortified walls will be laid low”. Their strength, their security, their prestige, their authority will no longer exist – it had been raised up from the earth, and it will be taken back down to the earth.

The faithfulness of the Lord will not fail His people. He will triumph, and so will His.

Read Isaiah 26:1-2

As strong as the walls are that protect the worldly around us, they will fail. As scorned as the walls of the church may be, as much as they are mocked, the strength and security and prestige and authority of Jesus Christ will reign long after the power of the world ceases to exist. And that is a promise from god Himself.

“Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith.” (26:2)

I might rephrase this to say “Open the doors of the church, that all who seek the righteousness of Christ may enter, that all who seek His power, His blessing, His glory, His wisdom, His faith, may find it within.”

May it be so with us!

We finish this message with the rest of Arch Bishop Romero’s story:
The martyrdom of a rural priest furthered Romero's radicalism. Against official policies Romero began to support new liturgies and worship services more relevant to the poor and oppressed. He called for the church to become the voice of those whose voices were stopped up. Romero became more and more of a thorn in the government's side.
On March 24, 1980, Archbishop Oscar Romero celebrated Mass from behind the altar of the Chapel of the Divine Providence in San Salvador. As he raised the elements and proclaimed, This is my body given for you ... this is my blood shed for you, a single shot was fired. Romero collapsed, his heart pierced by an assassin's bullet.
The word sacrament comes from a Latin word used for the loyalty oath a Roman soldier took to the emperor. A soldier took a sacramentum to serve the emperor faithfully, even to death. Similarly, when we drink the cup and eat the bread, are we not renewing our vows to be faithful to Christ, until death? Archbishop Romero knew the meaning of Sacramental discipleship. He stands as one of the great Christian martyrs of our time.
--Christopher C. Walker, “Connecting With the Spirit of Christ, Evangelism for a Secular age” (Nashville: Discipleship Resources, 1988), 104. (From Homiletics On-line

Jesus Christ was faithful to the Father and to us, even to the point of death. As we receive these sacramental elements today, we remember not only Christ’s faithful service to us, but also the faithful examples of those who have lived, and served and died in their life with Christ.

May it be so with us.