Thursday, October 24, 2013

Sour Grapes



We all know how disheartening it is to do something in vain. The gardener is disappointed that her new flowers are drowned by driving rain. The builder is frustrated by the footprints in his freshly poured concrete. We are disappointed when something brand new doesn’t work right, but perhaps there is no waste as great as the waste of a life.

How does one waste their life? It happens when we spur God’s grace. Paul was concerned that the Corinthians were wasting God’s grace: “As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1). If all we want out of God is acceptance without transformation, we are receiving God’s grace in vain.[1]

Isaiah gives us a parable about grace. He makes a contrast of God’s generous gifts and care with our disappointing choices. This parable shows how God planted a vineyard expecting to receive a good crop of grapes, but what he harvested was wild—stinking grapes. What went wrong? Isaiah writes: “Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit” (Isaiah 5:2).

If you are still making excuses for why you are not living your life the way you would like—a life that honors God, then you are caught in a web of deceit. Some people are convinced the reason they have a bad marriage is—they have a bad spouse. Others don’t like their work because they have a bad boss. Did you know that God is not into accepting excuses? He doesn’t let us get away with our cover-ups. God wants each of us to see the problem right where it lies—inside of each of us.

Isaiah holds up six wild bunches of grapes as a picture of what was wrong with the people of Israel. Each bunch begins with a “Woe,” which is a sad word describing the disappointing grapes. The first is a picture of how greed destroys us, “Woe to you who add house to house and join field to field till no space is left and you live alone in the land” ( Isaiah 5:8).

Though construction has changed since then, human nature hasn’t changed one iota. The people sought to get more and better things living as if God wasn’t around, and they didn’t have any responsibility to their neighbor. Their greed caused them to crave for more and never be satisfied.

The second bunch shows how addictions rob us, “Woe to those who rise early in the morning to run after their drinks, who stay up late at night till they are inflamed with wine. They have harps and lyres at their banquets, tambourines and flutes and wine, but they have no regard for the deeds of the LORD, no respect for the work of his hands” (Isaiah 5:11-12).

Here the prophet’s words are more far reaching than just alcohol; he is using alcohol as an illustration. It is about our pursuit of pleasure with no regard for God. He is talking about the addictions that control our lives.

The third bunch represents the burdens of sin that blind us, “Woe to those who draw sin along with cords of deceit, and wickedness as with cart ropes” (Isaiah 5:18). What may have been so clear now is blurred because of our sin. We carry with us resentment, bitterness and even hatred. We draw it along behind us from one year to the next. Our sin deceives us and makes us doubt God’s love and power. It makes us cynical and unbelieving.

The fourth bunch shows how we rationalize our sin, “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,
who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20).

We redefine sin. We change the labels. We reject the law of the Lord! Political correctness is so arrogant that it redefines God’s commandments. What God has commanded is no longer commanded. We are now cultured and informed, so we now know more than God.

The fifth bunch unveils our self-portrait. We have way too much self-confidence, “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight” (Isaiah 5:21). Sin teaches us how to justify our sinfulness through our false reasoning.

The sixth bunch shows how the inside affects the outside, “ Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine and champions at mixing drinks, who acquit the guilty for a bribe, but deny justice to the innocent (Isaiah 5:22-23).

The word woe means the opposite of blessed. These people are really in a perilous situation, but they don’t know it. All the above sour grapes describe the inner condition of his people. The inside affects the outside.

How many of these sour grapes are present in our lives? God’s grace can transform us—only if we allow him to change us. Then the fruit of our lives will be good fruit—acceptable to him. Our lives will bring honor and glory to him. It’s my prayer that God’s grace be allowed to transform you and not be poured out in vain on your life.



[1] Raymond C. Ortlund, Jr. Isaiah (Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL 2005) p. 65.

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