Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged… “Come now, let us reason 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.” Isaiah 1:2-4; 18
As it came time to write the newsletter cover for the month of February, I got a severe case of writer’s block. I could not think of a topic to write on. It is still too early to write on Lent, which begins on March 1st, by the way, and it is a little too late to write about Epiphany. So I looked out my office window and prayed. When I opened my eyes, my idea was right before me: snow! As I looked around, I saw snow everywhere. It was on the rooftops, branches, cars, the road, and even people. My topic was right before me. Perhaps that is why this place is called Minne-SNOW-ta in the winter.
When the prophet Isaiah starts his book, we see a picture of God bringing his people Israel to trial. God calls the heavens and the earth to testify and give witness that God’s people have rebelled against Him. Even though He had brought them up out of Egypt and had saved them, they still had rebelled. The heavens and the earth were witnesses to this.
Unfortunately for the people of Israel, God continues on. He says how even the animals know their master and owner, but that God’s people do not. He calls His people “laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly.” God isn’t holding back. These people have even forsaken Him and have despised the Holy One of Israel, Jesus Christ.
God continues to build His case against His people in the following verses but there is shift in verse 18. Instead of passing a judgment and sentence on His people, He issues a pardon. He says, “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
Even though the people’s sin is evident and obvious before Him, He is willing to forgive them. He is willing and able to make their many and scarlet sins as white as snow. He is a merciful God.
Like the people of Israel, our sin is present and obvious before Him. Even though we can hide our sin and wrongdoings before people, we cannot hide them before God. Just as God was willing to forgive the people of Israel, He is willing to do the same for us. He is willing and able, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, to make our scarlet sins as white as snow. Even though they are like crimson, they shall become white like wool. He gives us this forgiveness freely, and He forgives us daily through baptism. Through the crimson red wine that we receive in the Lord’s Supper, we become as pure and white as snow before Him because of His grace and forgiveness.
As we will receive more snow in the upcoming weeks and perhaps months, let it remind you of God’s grace and forgiveness. Let it remind you of how God makes us white and pure like snow. Perhaps Minne-SNOW-ta isn’t a bad name nickname after all.
~Pastor Nick Kooi
(Originally published in Emmaus Footprints, Vol. XVIII, Number 7, February 2017)