For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant—to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever. And foreigners who bind themselves to the Lord to minister to him, to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant— these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” The Sovereign Lorddeclares— he who gathers the exiles of Israel: “I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered.”
(Isaiah 56:4-8 NIV)

The temple had all kinds of restrictions, which were intended to force Israelites to reckon with God’s holiness. They were not intended to exclude people from God or each other. Shocking their sensibilities and cultural expectations, God intended to honor eunuchs who worshiped him, even memorializing them on the temple walls! This was incomprehensible.

God intended to make his house a place of prayer for all the nations. May the true impact of those words thump us. The temple wasn’t for the people who funded it, built it, and cared for it. It was for all, even and especially those who were distant and different in language, culture, and ethnicity. God’s house was for the whole world because his heart was for the world.

Prayer for the Week

Heavenly Father, we are in awe and celebrate that you love all peoples of the world. Would you cause our arms to open as wide as yours are? Would you cause our honor to extend as far as yours does? Would our love be as confounding as yours is? We ask that you show us anything in our hearts, attitudes, speech, beliefs, or behaviors that are keeping us from being like you so that we may repent and follow you. We ask that you make our congregation a mosaic of faces from all cultures, just as you intended your house to be. Amen.