Snow! Some people love it and some people hate it. For me growing up in Idaho it was just a normal part of every winter that seemed to extend to Easter weekend most years. Lots and lots of snow. Snow can definitely cause us some trouble. I can remember when I was a kid, on Christmas break as we were headed to Wyoming to see family, we hit some ice and our car went spinning. We managed to stay on the road and came to a stop. We thought we had dodged an accident only to have the car behind us run right into the back of our car. Good thing cars back then, Ford Galaxie 500, was a bit of a tank. For me snow ment income as a kid. I had a regular contract with my next door neighbor to shovel their driveway and sidewalks every time it snowed. Then I would walk the neighborhood and see if anyone else would pay me to shovel their snow. For me snow was also connected to fun. We would build igloos and snowmen. We would shovel mazes through the snow in the backyard and play games for hours. And then there was the sledding. I think our church finally banned the annual tubing trip because it always seemed like someone broke and arm or a leg on those trips.
Today the prophet Isaiah speaks of snow in Isaiah 1. The prophet has been describing Israel's religious behavior as a nation. They had continued the religious activity but had lost the heart of the matter. Their religious activity had become something that God despised instead being pleasing to God. Good reminder for us today that we can be very religious without pleasing God.
Isaiah 1:15-20
When you lift up your hands in prayer, I will not look. Though you offer many prayers, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with the blood of innocent victims.
Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways.
Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.
“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.
If you will only obey me, you will have plenty to eat. But if you turn away and refuse to listen, you will be devoured by the sword of your enemies.
I, the Lord, have spoken!”
Isaiah reminds us that snow has the ability to cover things and make them appear clean. Snow has a way of taking the mess of the world and for a while making it peaceful and calm. God has a way of taking the mess of our lives and covering it with grace. This only happens when we get serious about the work of God and quit playing religious games. If our hearts are not in line with the work of God then our prayers will merely be words. If we do not seek to live as God leads us to live than our sins will remain and the consequences of our sins will remain. But if we obey and line our hearts up to the way of God, grace and peace are abundant.
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