Isaiah 58:1-12 (Amplified Bible)
Isaiah 58
1CRY ALOUD, spare not. Lift up your voice like a trumpet and declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins!
2Yet they seek, inquire for, and require Me daily and delight [externally] to know My ways, as [if they were in reality] a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God [in visible ways].
3Why have we fasted, they say, and You do not see it? Why have we afflicted ourselves, and You take no knowledge [of it]? Behold [O Israel], on the day of your fast [when you should be grieving for your sins], you find profit in your business, and [instead of stopping all work, as the law implies you and your workmen should do] you extort from your hired servants a full amount of labor.(A)
4[The facts are that] you fast only for strife and debate and to smite with the fist of wickedness. Fasting as you do today will not cause your voice to be heard on high.
5Is such a fast as yours what I have chosen, a day for a man to humble himself with sorrow in his soul? [Is true fasting merely mechanical?] Is it only to bow down his head like a bulrush and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him [to indicate a condition of heart that he does not have]? Will you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord?
6[Rather] is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every [enslaving] yoke?(B)
7Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house--when you see the naked, that you cover him, and that you hide not yourself from [the needs of] your own flesh and blood?
8Then shall your light break forth like the morning, and your healing (your restoration and the power of a new life) shall spring forth speedily; your righteousness (your rightness, your justice, and your right relationship with God) shall go before you [conducting you to peace and prosperity], and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.(C)
9Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. If you take away from your midst yokes of oppression [wherever you find them], the finger pointed in scorn [toward the oppressed or the godly], and every form of false, harsh, unjust, and wicked speaking,(D)
10And if you pour out that with which you sustain your own life for the hungry and satisfy the need of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in darkness, and your obscurity and gloom become like the noonday.
11And the Lord shall guide you continually and satisfy you in drought and in dry places and make strong your bones. And you shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.
12And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of [buildings that have laid waste for] many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Let us pray.
Well here we are getting ready to prepare our hearts and minds on Lent. This is a time where we prepare our hearts and minds in reminding ourselves about the passion that Christ had on us. This is a time that we commemorate the time where he fasted forty days and forty nights in the desert.
We normally make the occasion by giving up a bad habit of some sort. The thing that most people give up is sweets during this time period as way of observing the season, but needless to say that they eat half a pound cake with their Easter dinner. I speak on that as one of authority because I did that one year. That was a bad year for me… I did a lot of emotional eating.
But the purpose of doing this is not give up a bad habit for forty days and then go back to it. The psychology behind all of this is that if you can give up a bad habit for forty days, then you should have that bad habit licked, but people go back to the same ole same ole. That’s not what God wants.
But when we talk about fasting, the prophet Isaiah is setting some folk straight. Isaiah tells us that we need to shout. And it’s not just any shout… we need to let out a full throat shout! We need to let out a shout that is subject to make the foundation of this church shake because should hold nothing back when we worship because when it comes to God we are made out of glass. Now, many of us may have cracks in us, but guess what… God says to us that he can still use us to let our light shine through. So what if we have impurities because glass can be recycled, but when we go through the heat… we will be fortified and better than before.
Isaiah is telling in us what’s wrong with our lives. We are busy, busy, busy… we study about God… we appear to law abiding citizens and God-honoring. We ask God what’s the right thing to do…
He’s saying in verses 4-5 that we complain and ask stupid questions. Why do we fast and Lord you don’t look our way? Why do we humble ourselves and you don’t even notice?
And then Isaiah delivers a blow that he people of Israel was not ready to hear. He said let me tell you what God isn’t mess up about ya‘ll…. The bottom line of fasting is to gain something, and to get closer to God. We drive employees too hard, we bicker and fight, and we swinging mean fists at each other, and got too many people that are just too willing to get down on a dime.
But the history behind this passage was that you had people who went to worship God as if they were truly law abiding… but what they were really doing was practicing the perverted religion of the Assyrians. Behind closed doors these folk were worshiping other gods…And it just didn’t stop there… They were always looking for next big thing… the next new “In” religion to practice instead of people staying true to what really was the deal.
That sounds like the world of today. We look for everything else to give us meaning, but needless to say…you can’t ever go wrong if you just stay true to the One. That’s just like a drug dealer coming to church every Sunday and tithing his drug money… thinking that he or she is doing the right thing by praising God and giving lofty tithes… but as soon as 12 o’clock hits… he’s in the streets at the trap house killing the poor people that have gotten addicted to that stuff because he would rather ruin lives and tear families apart than to just get a real job. Or to put on a less drastic scale, you screaming and shouting Amen on Sunday and then on Monday, you cussing out your co-worker.
That last one touch me… I shamed own self with that one! I’ve done that! Help me Jesus because I’ve been caught read handed on that one. If it wasn’t for the blood…I wouldn’t have the will to want to do better!!!
Isaiah also tells us that this is not the kind of worship that God wants, and it’s not the kind of worship that God wants from us today. He doesn’t need pseudo humility. We don’t need to find comfort in the latest fad, but we need to find comfort in Almighty God.
So whatever you decide to give up, make sure that you take comfort in God because there are some days when it will tough. I suggest that during this lent season… keep a bible handy with you for comfort.
But this is the kind of fasting that God is looking for: According to Isaiah tells that God wants us break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the work place, free the oppressed and get rid of debts. Now I really like that one because I would love for someone to tell me that I don’t have pay my student loans back!
Not on that but God wants us to share food with the hungry, invite people in our homes that we wouldn’t normally do on a regular basis, we need to make sure kids have coats for the winter whose parents can’t afford them, but most importantly we must be available to our own families. Doing these things… that’s what makes us righteous. And when we call out for help God will be there!!!
And when do that we will be full of life! We will have life in the most emptiest of places. God will show us what to do and where to go. We’re not gonna want to gossip or give up on living life. Our light will glow bright in the dark and well have a glow about ourselves. We’ll look like we have been bathing in sunlight! God is gonna give us strong bones and firm muscles! The rubble of our past lives will be made new. We will be a well watered garden! Our springs will gurgle and never run dry! We’ll be known as people who can fix, restore, rebuild, and renovate! We will be able to make this community livable again! We can do that!
But we gotta make that effort! We have to recognize where our abilities come from! God tells us “I will give you a full life in the emptiest of places!” So if God says it, then it must be true! God does not lie! God may get angry, frustrated, hurt, disappointed, and feel cheated, but God will not lie!
Whatever you plan on giving up for lent let it be the end of a bad habit. Don’t go back to it… you can do it! You God carrying you through! We aren’t victims… and more importantly we are not victims of our circumstances.
This needs to be an opportunity to get closer to God. God doesn’t want for us to go back to our old ways… he wants to take us higher and I’m ready for ride because I’m expecting God to give me that abundant life in a desolate land! The question is that what you want for yourself…
A spin that I usually do during Lent is something that will enhance my walk with God. I’ve tried giving up something, but I eventually go back to that bad habit depending how stressful my life is. But when I have a closer walk with God, I end up doing that bad habit because I’m more aware of things surrounding my circumstances. One year, I wanted to make sure that I prayed more, so I started keeping a prayer journal, and I did that for ten years. I’ve told God my darkest secrets and deepest woes and every time I unleashed my torment and misery to God, I was liberated and able to live life with a new outlook and better understanding.
So the object during lent, so matter what you decide to do… make sure that you expect to get closer to God, and when that happens you will be a full life in the most emptiest of places. Amen! Amen! Amen!
