When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? – Isaiah 8:19

Today’s Scripture Reading (November 13, 2013): Isaiah 8

Often it seems that we really have not thought through what it is that we believe. And funerals is sometimes the place where we are confronted with these beliefs. I have had the privilege of being called to perform the funerals of several people who have never had much contact with the church, but it is in these moments that they seem to be confronted with the question of what they really believe. And often what they really believe is a mixed up mess.

One of the things that we somehow believe is that our loved ones are looking down on us. And somehow we think that they have an influence on how we live our lives. And it is really just an extension of our belief in the Saints of the church – and especially the practice of praying to the Saints.  A number of years ago I had a conversation with a lady that wanted to talk to me about her practice of praying to Mary, the mother of Jesus. The reason why she had adopted the practice was because when she became a mother herself and she began to realize the influence a mother can have over a son. So she figured that maybe her prayers would be heard if she could just get Jesus mom on her side. Besides, there are some things that only a mother can understand.

But that is actually part of the problem. Whenever we find a substitute person to direct our prayers toward, whenever we start to pray to someone other than God, our prayers are stolen away from the one that actually can help us when we are in trouble. Isaiah desperately wants the people to understand that there is nothing that the dead can do for the living. Their time on the stage has past. He is not saying that they were unimportant – or even that they no longer exist. But he is saying that it is the living God that can shape how we live our lives today. Only the living can shape living.

For Isaiah, it was proof of the decay of the nation that the people had started to ask the dead for advice about the living. And it was a betrayal of God, the one who was truly in control.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 9