As I’ve been spending some time with the book of Isaiah recently, I’ve been struck by the prominence of the theme of beauty. As Isaiah begins, God’s people, have in their idolatry, become corrupt. They are ugly. But almost as soon as that reality is set forth God promises to make his people beautiful again.
Consider this! We live in a time when the Church’s worst enemy often seems to be the Church itself. Scandals, hypocrisy, insensitivity, and disunity abound. And yet God plays to beautify his people such that outsiders will long to be a part of it and God himself will take joy at the sight of it.
As this picture unfolds in Isaiah 62, God gives a surprising instruction. He speaks of “watchmen” on the walls, people meant to stay alert in the protection of the people of God. And he commands these watchmen not to give God rest until God establishes his people and makes them a praise for the earth. God says, “Don’t stop praying, don’t leave me be. Keep asking, keep longing, until my promises are fulfilled.”
I believe that God has called both Redemption and Trinity to be beautiful churches for the sake of the world. To be so characterized by love, humility, integrity, and generosity that the world cannot help but see God’s glory through us. And I think that means that we are told to keep pestering God—to keep asking, to keep longing to see him do this remarkable work, for the glory of his name.
Would you please pray with me, that God would make us increasingly beautiful?
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