It's humbling to see yourself in Scripture

Isaiah chapter 28 speaks to so many.  Or rather, it speaks loudly to my many shortcomings and faults.  Maybe yours, too.

Pride
To the haughty and proud he says, "Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim's drunkards....He will throw it forcefully to the ground.  That wreath, the pride of Ephraim's drunkards, will be trampled underfoot."  Everything you boast about--your wealth, your possessions, your beauty--all of it will burn.  By way of contrast, he says this:

In that day the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown, a beautiful wreath for the remnant of his people.  He will be a spirit of justice to him who sits in judgment, a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate. --Isaiah 28:5-6

I had to go to traffic court yesterday.  In my flesh, I started harboring a certain hatred toward the judge.  I recalled the episode of "The Big Bang Theory" where Sheldon went to traffic court and when his arguments failed, he insulted the judge.  I smiled.  I thought a moment about asking the judge, "Isn't your mother proud, putting you through law school so you could impose fines on these fine people, take time out of their day, and make them subservient to you so that the township can reap a few dollars."  But then I looked at the people assembled there.  They were guilty.  I was guilty.  There was only one woman there who pleaded not guilty, and she would have to battle with the prosecutor to prove herself innocent.  Humbly, I began to repent.  The judge was doing his job.  He was performing a public service.  He was standing up for law and order in our town.

Those who believe the Bible says we shouldn't judge are wrong.  We should discriminate between right and wrong.  We should judge among ourselves who is worthy of honor and who is not, who is in need and who is not.  And the caveat that Jesus said in Matthew 7:1, that everyone loves to misquote, is about being careful in our judgment.  Verse 2 says, "For in the same way you judge others, you yourself will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."  What a sad, sad world we would live in if people like the traffic judge I briefly stood before to enter my guilty plea, if people like that could read our minds.  "Oh, so you think I'm a failure? I'm at the bottom of the legal barrel?  You are no super success, yourself.  I sentence you to sit in a room with your more successful class-mates, and let them hurl insults at you for not being so successful."  Luke 6:37-38 places Jesus' thought more in context:  "Do not judge, and you will not be judged.  Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.  Forgive, and you will be forgiven.  Give, and it will be given to you.  A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap.  For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."  Put aside your pride, and seek justice for all, and help for those battling evil.

Dogmatic Orthodoxy
Back to our text.  Isaiah 28:9 and following start speaking to the dogmatic, the fundamentalists who believe you must work you way to salvation, to become righteous before He will accept you.  Verse 10 says, "For it is: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule, a little here, a little there."  We all know people like this.  We may even at time be people like this.  "You have to be like us to be a Christian," we may say.  In contrast, God says He came to give rest and refuge, not rules and regulations.

To whom he said, "This is the resting place, let the weary rest"; and "This is the place of repose"--but they would not listen.  So then, the word of the Lord to them will become: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there--so that they will go and fall backward, be injured and snared and captured. --Isaiah 28:12-13

When I was in high school, I viciously attacked other Christians, because I was trying to defend the doctrines of my own denomination.  If I had spent half the time sharing Christ's love with the lost that I spent haranguing  fellow Christians, there would have been a revival in my school.  I got so hung up on my own church's doctrine that I missed out on the message.

You may have seen the phrase, "Hoisted by his own petard."  It is a phrase found in Shakespeare's Hamlet that literally means, "Blown up by your own bomb."  Applied to this scripture, it is as if God is saying, "I really want to show you love, and give you rest.  I want you to relax and be who I made you to be.  But you have all these rules that you think you have to follow.  If you refuse to give up the rules, then fine: live by them until they crush you.  And when you are wounded and broken, come back and see me.  I'll still be here."

Living a Lie
Some people believe in a cause for which they are willing to die.  Some may see that as admirable.  It can only be admired if the cause is the cause of Christ.  Everything else is a covenant with death.  Verse 15 says, "You boast, "We have entered into a covenant with death, with the grave we have made an agreement....for we have made a lie our refuge and falsehood our hiding place."  Many good people devote their whole lives to a cause, and then become disillusioned because the cause falters, or the leaders are found to be corrupt.  Not so with God:

So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed. --Isaiah 28:16

Of course we know that Jesus himself became the cornerstone.  1 Peter 2:7-8 says, "Now to you who believe, this stone is precious.  But to those who do not believe, 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone' and 'a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.' "  1 Corinthians 3:11-15 says, "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.  If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, it will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light.  It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward.  If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames."

There is a popular commercial series for Direct TV entitled "Get Rid Of Cable".  It has been much parodied on YouTube, so you have probably seen it.  Each spot starts with a problem posed by the Cable Company, and a person's reaction to it.  This reaction leads to improbable results, causing more ridiculous outcomes, like a person feeling powerless dealing with the cable company.  In this example, he end up dressing up as a superhero and not only causes injury to himself but places himself in an embarrassing position.  The tag-line is, "Don't fall in a sky-light and land on a dinner table; get Direct TV."  The sheer ridiculousness makes it memorable.  Next time you see one of those commercials, think about taking up a secular cause.  Think about pouring your entire body, soul and fortune into this cause.  Then think of the worst thing that could happen--the leader is disgraced, or the comrades in arms sell out to an evil idea.  Then think of God's Day of Judgement, when everything is tried by fire.  You will still be saved, but with the smell of fire and brimstone on your clothes.  Don't go to heaven with the smell of fire and brimstone on your clothes.  Base your life on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ.