God’s “House of Prayer” Fearlessly Included Outcasts
Daily Scripture
Isaiah 56:3-8
3 Don’t let the immigrant who has joined with the LORD say,
“The LORD will exclude me from the people.”
And don’t let the eunuch say,
“I’m just a dry tree.”
4 The LORD says:
To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
choose what I desire,
and remain loyal to my covenant.
5 In my temple and courts, I will give them
a monument and a name better than sons and daughters.
I will give to them an enduring name
that won’t be removed.
6 The immigrants who have joined me,
serving me and loving my name, becoming my servants,
everyone who keeps the Sabbath without making it impure,
and those who hold fast to my covenant:
7 I will bring them to my holy mountain,
and bring them joy in my house of prayer.
I will accept their entirely burned offerings and sacrifices on my altar.
My house will be known as a house of prayer for all peoples,
8 says the LORD God,
who gathers Israel’s outcasts.
I will gather still others to those I have already gathered.
Daily Reflection & Prayer
This prophetic passage fearlessly proclaimed God’s radically inclusive welcome. Scholar Christopher Hays noted: “Foreigners were forbidden by law from sharing in the Passover (Exodus 12:43) and excluded from entering the sanctuary (Ezekiel 44:9)…. Isaiah 56 goes further than offering foreigners to be joined to the people: It invites them into the house of the Lord as priests…. To ‘minister to’ the Lord is a technical term for serving as priests. We can be sure much of the original audience would have been scandalized.” *
- The idea that God’s love extends to all nations, not just Israel, triggered fear in many Israelites who wanted to be the only “special” ones. You likely meet people with different backgrounds or beliefs. Do those who are different from you make you feel fear? Can you recall an interaction where you struggled to accept difference? How might God’s vision of a “house of prayer for all peoples” change your approach to welcoming people whose life experience differs from yours?
- Some people think Jesus totally broke with the Hebrew Scriptures. Not so. “Jesus too always seems to be inviting and welcoming people whom other people don’t think should be welcomed, such as lepers (Matthew 8:1-4), tax collectors (Luke 5:27), Samaritans (Luke 17:16, John 4:7–30), and children (Matthew 19:14)…. A lot of what Jesus walked around shocking people with was straight from the Hebrew scriptures. In particular, a lot of it was from Isaiah.” ** How can your approach, in and out of church, be more like Jesus’ approach?
Prayer
O God, your prophet was emphatic about your desire to include “all peoples” in your house of prayer. I’m thankful to be included. Help me rejoice in including others, too, in your family. Amen.
GPS Insights
Gwyn Thomas
Gwyn Thomas, who serves as Director of Donor Relations at Resurrection, wrote today's Insights. She is a Boston native who’s happily adjusted to Midwestern life. She loves working in ministry alongside her husband Blake, a Congregational Care Pastor at Resurrection Leawood. They enjoy life with their two children, and an unapologetically large orange cat named Tuna. When she’s not chasing toddlers, she enjoys pottery, traveling, and finding new favorite restaurants.
I feel an ache in my stomach when I pray for those who are without a home, who are displaced, uprooted, or forced out of their comfort. I deeply long for someone who is spending their day in a discomfort they did not choose to have security and belonging.
I haven’t had that experience myself, and so I hold onto hope that the scripture we read today from Isaiah offers comfort to those who need it most. The passage begins in verse 7:
I will bring them to my holy mountain,
and bring them joy in my house of prayer.
I will accept their entirely burned offerings and sacrifices on my altar.
My house will be known as a house of prayer for all peoples,
says the LORD God,
who gathers Israel’s outcasts.
I don’t know about you, but I want to go to that house of prayer. I run toward it in worship and in my own silent prayers. I feel the comfort of God’s home in my heart when I remember that His love makes space for all people.
One of my favorite poems came to mind as I reflected on how today’s scripture made me feel, and I wanted to share it with you as a reminder that God’s invitation is not exclusive or conditional. It’s generous and invites all people.
Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
© 2026 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Hays, Christopher B; Hays, Richard B., The Widening of God’s Mercy (pp. 107-110). Yale University Press. Kindle Edition.
** Ibid., pp. 112-113.
