Text: Isaiah 58:1-14, Title: Spiritually Forsaken, Date/Place: NRBC, 6/29/08, AM
A. Opening illustration: some local illustration of trying to help someone, or maybe a generic example of how things usually go with trying to help those who are struggling.
B. Background to passage: As we continue our series on our vision statement at NRBC, the next component in the statement is ministry to the less fortunate. There are hundreds of scriptures that teach us that God would have us to care for those individuals that are among us, both in a church sense, and in a community sense. And in my devotional time on Mon morning, God had me reading this text. And since I was going to be at SuperWOW this week, and I would have the time that I normally have, I decided the Lord must be wanting me to preach from this text. In particular this chapter deals with fasting and the potential spiritual dangers of it, but we are going to look at it from a broader perspective of any sort of religious discipline or practice, with fasting as an example. And how that sometimes “spiritual people” use “spiritual things” as excuses not to live right, and refuse to live out our duty to help others.
C. Main thought: Our religious service amounts to nothing if we do not share our light and blessings
A. Indifference From God? (v. 1-4)
1. After Isaiah’s instructions to preach with all his might against the hypocrisy of the nation, and chiding them as if they were “a nation that did righteousness,” God gives the complaint of the people as a witness against them. It was probably Yom Kippur, and they were fasting (afflicting themselves), specifically, and worshipping, giving, praying, etc. in general and yet God was not acting on their behalf. They were accusing God of indifference toward them (“has not seen, nor knows”). But their attitude reveals that they did not have the proper motivation nor the proper manner in their service. They were using worship, fasting, etc. to manipulate God into doing what they wanted. This was what the pagans did, and many in our day do. They were not fasting AND making war on sin. And if their attitude didn’t show through in their accusations, they demonstrated it on Sunday’s (their Monday’s) by the way that they treated people. God says that they exploited the laborers and the less fortunate, fighting and treating others unfairly. God always intended his people to be a blessing those around them.
2. Gen 12:2-3, Luke 3:8,
3. Illustration: “God doesn’t bless us just to make us happy; He blesses us to make us a blessing.” –Wiersbe, I think about our fast last year for FCW, and how it seemed that God didn’t do what we prayed so fervently for Him to do, the Christian businessman who gives to missions generously, but refuses to pay his workers above minimum wage or offer any kind of benefits, tell about the church that was taking up money at the intersection in Ft. Walton Beach to feed homeless children.
4. We have a sense of entitlement. I share it with you. I sometimes ask, why are we not growing as fast as we would like? As if God owes us, or must bless, or is unjust in not blessing. And sometimes it is worse than that. We prostitute worship, prayer, bible reading etc. to get God off our backs, and get Him to do what we want. Do you ever protest in your mind when things go awry about how faithful you have been, and what you deserve? The only proper worship, fasting, prayer, etc. is accompanied by a spiritual warfare upon the sin in our lives. And it is evidenced on Monday as we treat our coworkers graciously and fairly, or on Monday evening when we are harsh to our spouses, neighbors, or children. Because the evidence of genuine faith is proper desire, and proper actions. This is the fruit worthy of repentance. Failure to live righteously disproves the validity of our devotion on Sundays. Or other days as we drive past the hitchhiker or the homeless man or the unemployed and look down and make degrading comments about them in the safety of our vehicles.
B. Genuine Service (v. 5-7)
1. God likens them to a bulrush that bows down to “worship” in the wind in humility, then springs right back up again when the wind is gone. Then He describes the things that He says would accompany the fast that He calls for in a seemingly abrupt subject change. He describes the fast that He wants and its results. He goes from the condition of their heart in worship to their actions toward those under them. And there is a link. Every one of these characteristics deals with the treatment of the less fortunate and the slaves. God says, if you heart is right, then your actions will be right, and then the needy around you will be fed, clothed, housed, and treated fairly. And he seems to indicate that they may fast to feed the hungry, house the homeless in their homes, buy less expensive clothing so that they may be able to clothe others. And to see the need and ignore it is even more reprehensible.
2. 1 Cor 13:1-3, James 2:15-17, Zech 7:10, Ps 37:21, Pro 29:7, Matt 25:35-40,
3. Illustration: talk about poverty stats in Tifton, tell about Thabiti Anyabwile’s message at T4G conf about seeing others and saying “just like me” regardless of differences,
4. Much of our repentance and worship is like that reed, up and down, kind of like youth camp religion. Many times we can listen to a powerful message, and not be affected in our own souls in the least. Our first problem is that we don’t love God, and therefore love what he loves—people. And from this we must repent and ask Christ to fill our hearts with love, and our eyes with vision. Tell about just riding around the neighborhood in Ft. Walton. One of God’s core attributes is that of hesed. And as we are transformed into his image, our lives should exhibit that compassion and loving-kindness for people, especially those that are lost, hurting, suffering, or poor. South Georgia/Tifton has a poverty problem. And we feel really spiritual that we have allocated 1% of our budget to local benevolence. And there are other areas where money does go to aid impoverished people locally (Mell Bapt), nationally (NAMB and GBC), and internationally (IMB), but the responsibility for helping those individuals within the sound of our voice rests squarely upon our shoulders. But let’s face it; throwing money at the problem is not helping. We must find ways to really help people who truly want help from Christ. We must develop a min or program that will actually help with job skills and placement, money management, food and clothing. And this will require people, time, and a willingness to be there for those who can’t be there for you. Doing benevolence in the same way will not overturn poverty in Tifton. But having the association do it all for us is not a biblical option either. And yes, some don’t want help, and some won’t stick with it, and some will take advantage of us, so what!
C. Benefits of Humble Ministry (v. 8-11)
1. God also promises blessings if we are faithful to care for others. In this text he promises that His light would shine through, that healing would come to the nation, that God’s glory would be their protection from the rear, that prayer would be answered, that they would be a light to the nations, that God would be their guide continually, that they would be satisfied with Him, and that they would become a watered garden (which of course was a welcome sight in a land devoid of water; it symbolized delight, peace, and prosperity, even to the other nations).
2. Ps 41:1, Luke 6:38, Deut 30:16,
3. Illustration: “God is more anxious to bestow his blessings on us than we are to receive them.” –Augustine, “You need only ask at night before you go to bed, "What did I do to Jesus today? What did I do for Jesus today? What did I do with Jesus today?" You have only to look at your hands. This is the best examination of conscience.” –Mother Teresa,
4. What more could a church ask for! Our reason for existing as a church is to put on display the manifold wisdom of God to the world, and God promises to do exactly that when our faith is genuine to the point that it is lived out. And who wouldn’t want healing to come to our church? And prayer to be answered? And us to be a light to the nations? And be guided by God continually? And become a watered garden to Tifton? Of course we all would. So the question is whether or not we are willing to ask the difficult questions of our own faith and practice, and see if we are really living it out. Business as usual church is not getting it done. This is not a call to do better, faster, and more, but to consider radical change in the way that we approach faith and church. Now, a word of caution, we don’t want to do all these things simply to manipulate God into doing what we want; that would put us right back in the shoes of the Israelites and the pagans. We live it out, because we love Him, and seek to keep his commands—the answer to the catechism question about how to glorify God. If we fail to truly minister to the needy by our means, we will have no room for complaint if our church is never a great light and glory to Christ.
A. Closing illustration: Lay out the vision of being a church that people come to because they know that they can help, if they are willing to put forth the effort to really change their lives. Imagine that people might want to move into our area, so that they can find Christ. Imagine what it would be like in a few years to have a church plant come forth from all the disciples that we have made because we were willing to invest time, and not just money. Imagine the people in heaven that will glorify God for sending people that truly loved them right where they were, but were willing to confront them with the demands of the gospel, and walk alongside them as they work and turning their lives around and following Jesus in the way.
B. The conclusion is that Tifton has a major poverty problem, and even though we cannot fix it, God can, through us.
C. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
• Is Christ Exalted, Magnified, Honored, and Glorified?
