Joel 2:1-2, Joel 2:12-17; Isaiah 58:1-12; Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 5:20-21, 2 Corinthians 6:1-10; Matthew 6:1-6, Matthew 6:16-21.
A). A CALL TO WHOLEHEARTED REPENTANCE.
Joel 2:1-2, Joel 2:12-17.
An old elder once said to me that his only regret was 'the years that the locust has eaten' (Joel 2:25). However, there is no point in bemoaning what may have been, but rather our eyes should be on the here and now, and in the prospects beyond. In Christ Jesus, our wasted years are restored; and our failures, even as Christians, are forgiven.
The locusts, and their like, had eaten away many years of Israel’s history (Joel 1:4), with devastating results. Not only was the land wasted for the farmers and winemakers, but also the offerings of the LORD were cut off (Joel 1:9-12). Joy was ‘withered away from the sons of men’ (Joel 1:12)!
Joel’s reaction to all this was to speak into the ear of government and church leadership, calling for a national fast and a public day of prayer and humiliation before the LORD (Joel 1:14; Joel 2:15).
Some of Joel's language seems to suggest another event: that of an army invading from the north. But whether the threat is from nature or man, the LORD Himself called for nothing less than a wholehearted return to Himself. The reaction should be the same: national repentance, rending of hearts, fasting, weeping, and mourning (Joel 2:12-14).
Part of this repentance is not to question that we deserve the wrath of God against us, but to acknowledge it, and to take the stance of the king of Nineveh in Jonah's day, and of Joel here: Who knows but that He might turn from the intended destruction with which He so vividly threatens us (Joel 2:14)?
The ministers of the LORD were enjoined to join Joel in this initiative by weeping and saying, “Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: why should they say among the people, ‘Where is their God?’” (Joel 2:17).
The turning point comes just one verse later: ‘Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity His people’ (Joel 2:18). This is what will happen when they humble themselves and fast and weep and mourn, and cry to the LORD. Not moaning that they do not deserve this judgment, but acknowledging His justice, and appealing to His mercy.
Then the years that the locusts have eaten away are restored (Joel 2:25), the vats are full, rejoicing is restored, the rains come in their due season, there is plenty - and the people who worship the LORD are vindicated along with His great name. Even the groaning of creation (Romans 8:22) is abated.
We cannot change the past: but in Christ, God restores to us what would have been had we not allowed sin an entrance.
B). THE NATURE OF TRUE FASTING.
Isaiah 58:1-12.
Surprisingly, the only place where the law of Moses commands fasting is in the “affliction of soul” associated with the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:29-31; Leviticus 23:27-32; Numbers 29:7). This is apt, as it immediately associates fasting with repentance and forgiveness. The danger is that even a public solemn fast can be entered into glibly, as a matter of form and ritual, and without sincerity.
There are of course plenty of examples of individuals fasting. Moses famously fasted forty days and forty nights when he received the ten commandments (Exodus 34:28). Elijah similarly went in the strength of the food which he had eaten forty days and forty nights when he visited Horeb, the mountain of God (1 Kings 19:8). Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he also fasted forty days and forty nights, and was tempted by the devil (Luke 4:1-2).
David fasted when his child was struck with sickness (2 Samuel 12:16). Ezra the priest fasted on behalf of the people (Ezra 10:6). Daniel fasted on one occasion for “three whole weeks” (Daniel 10:3). Saul of Tarsus fasted three days as he awaited his instructions from the Lord after his conversion (Acts 9:9). Cornelius was fasting just before the commencement of the mission to the Gentiles (Acts 10:30).
It is also significant that the leadership of the church was in the habit of fasting. Paul and Barnabas were sent on their mission from Antioch with prayer and fasting (Acts 13:2-3). Likewise Paul and Barnabas themselves used prayer with fasting when appointing elders in the churches (Acts 14:23).
On occasion the whole company of God's people would fast. There were times of national repentance (1 Samuel 7:6); national mourning (2 Samuel 1:12); and national emergency (Judges 20:26). It would be good if the leaders of nations would take notice of this today!
Religious fasting is clearly commanded by the LORD in the book of Joel (Joel 1:14; Joel 2:12). After the destruction of Jerusalem the dispersed Jews set aside certain fast days for the duration of the exile (Zechariah 7:1-7). Jesus appears to take it for granted that His followers will also fast, but warns against hypocrisy (Matthew 6:16-18).
Fasting is associated with prayer (Psalm 35:13). However, God will not answer the petitions of the unrepentant (Jeremiah 14:12). Isaiah 58 also addresses the problem of hypocritical fasting.
Uniformity of worship can sometimes obscure the righteous from the unrighteous, the sincere from the insincere worshippers of God. There is no doubt as to the presence of outward conformity in the opening two verses of our chapter, but there is an underlying irony in the phraseology.
God's people are seen and heard to be “crying aloud,” but have yet to discover their transgression. They behave as if their righteousness was not in dispute, and yet they have forsaken the ordinance of their God (Isaiah 58:1-2).
There is a difference between praying and “saying prayers.” It is the difference between engaging with God, and acting out a sham. This is the root of the word “hypocrisy,” and even as Christians we must be wary of it.
“When you fast,” says Jesus, “be not as the hypocrites” (Matthew 6:16). They make every appearance of fasting, but their hearts are not right. They only want the praise of men, and “verily” they have the reward they desire!
When we are only going through the motions of true worship it is easy to blame God when things go wrong. “We did our part,” we say, and we presume that therefore God should do His part. We want to find fault with our covenant God, yet it is He who finds fault with us (Isaiah 58:3).
The fast day, He accuses, is no different from any other day. We treat it as we do the Sabbath, working (Isaiah 58:3), doing our own thing, finding our own pleasure, and speaking our own words (Isaiah 58:13). There is ongoing strife and debate, exploitation, and argument, just like any other day (Isaiah 58:4).
God knows the difference between true fasting and false. True repentance is a gift from God, and a profane person may well fall short of finding it even though they seek it, like Esau, with tears (Hebrews 12:17). No amount of grovelling and genuflection will hide the inward nature of a hypocrite (Isaiah 58:5).
True fasting will lead the liberated soul to seek relief and liberty for others (Isaiah 58:6). After all, the gift of forgiveness is a gift to be shared (1 John 2:1-2). This is basic to the gospel, where deliverance is proclaimed to the captives (Luke 4:18).
When the Babylonians were outside the walls of Jerusalem, the King of Judah made a covenant with his people that they should set free their Hebrew slaves. The princes and the people obeyed, probably because it meant they had less mouths to feed during the crisis, but when the enemy withdrew the slaves were brought back into subjection (Jeremiah 34:8-22). The whole transaction was thus shown to be hypocritical.
True fasting will give out bread to the hungry, shelter the outcast, and clothe the naked (Isaiah 58:7). This is “pure religion and undefiled” (James 1:27). These things will make the difference between the righteous and the unrighteous on the day of judgement (Matthew 25:31-46).
When our approach to God is sincere, then we will enter into the fullness of the covenant blessings for which we yearn. There is light and liberty, health and healing, righteousness and sanctification, and the LORD will go before us and be our rear-guard (Isaiah 58:8). We who have heard His call and answered, “Here am I LORD, send me” (Isaiah 6:8) will now call on Him, and He will answer “Here am I” (Isaiah 58:9).
When our “religion” consists in more than outward rituals, and our deeds follow our souls in pity to the poor, then the LORD will guide us, provide for us, and make our land as a watered garden (Isaiah 58:10-11). This is a spring from which not only do we draw water for ourselves, but in a surfeit of abundance we shall have more than sufficient for others also. The only wealth which we properly desire is the type of prosperity which spreads itself abroad for the benefit of others.
There is a promise of blessing for those who keep the true fast, repent and walk in God's way. Their children shall rebuild the old waste places, and they shall dwell in the paths of righteousness. The breach in the covenant shall be repaired (Isaiah 58:12).
Furthermore, those who keep the Sabbath and the fast days not out of custom but out of a changed heart and a new life, will find their delight where they have sought it: in the LORD. They will reap the benefits of heavenly citizenship even whilst they are still here upon the earth (Isaiah 58:14). Then at last they shall enter into the fullness of their salvation in the glory hereafter.
C). A SPRINKLING WITH HYSSOP.
Psalm 51:1-17.
In this solemn Psalm of repentance, we dive in (headfirst, as it were) with a plea for mercy. The verbs “have mercy… blot out… wash me… cleanse me” (Psalm 51:1-2) all appear to be in the imperative: but they are in fact plaintive pleas based in the fact that there is no redemption outside of God Himself. This is the task of the awakened conscience: “I acknowledge my transgressions; my sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51:3).
Although our offences are often manifested in the pain which we bring to others, sin is first a slight to the character of God. I have wronged Bathsheba, David could say; I have wronged her husband Uriah; I have wronged my general Joab; I have wronged my people as their king: but above all, I have wronged God. Before I can even begin to go about my job of seeking reconciliation with these other people, I stand at the bar of God: “Against thee have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight” (Psalm 51:4).
We are not making excuses when we have recourse to observations about our tendency towards sin. David is not slandering his mother when he suggests that he was ‘conceived in sin’ (Psalm 51:5) - he is rather recognising that the tendency to sin is inherent in the human character. We are left without excuse once we realise that, not only did we inherit Adam’s fall, but we were equipped with a sense of right and wrong, even from the womb (Psalm 51:6)!
Once again, the Psalmist makes his plea, but this time he mingles it with faith: “Purge me, and I shall be clean… wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow… make me to hear joy and gladness, that I may rejoice” (Psalm 51:7-8). The purging is with hyssop, an aromatic herb used in the sprinkling of blood at the first Passover (cf. Exodus 12:22). Significantly it was also used for the cleansing of lepers (cf. Leviticus 14:6-8).
David was faced with the leprosy of sin in his own life. The penalty for both adultery and murder was death, with no provision for their forgiveness in the Jewish faith. Yet somehow, he believed that God could provide a sacrifice (cf. Genesis 22:8), and blood could be sprinkled even for his sins!
Well, just like Abraham was provided with a ram for a sacrifice in lieu of Isaac (cf. Genesis 22:13), the LORD had already provided a lamb for David. Oh, this was a Lamb which had not yet been sacrificed: yet it would be true to say that Jesus’ blood was sacrificed for the sins of His forebear (cf. Matthew 1:1), just as surely as it was for ours too. Thus, God is seen to be both just, and the justifier of those who believe in Jesus (cf. Romans 3:25-26); and to hide His face from our sins, and blot out all our iniquities (Psalm 51:9).
Having been purged of sin, we will then be able to enter into the positive benefits of reconciliation with God. We shall be satisfied with nothing short of the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives (Psalm 51:10-12). Then we shall be equipped to teach others, and see others converted to the Lord (Psalm 51:13).
Yet still the faithful plea continues: “Deliver me, and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness… open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth thy praise (Psalm 51:14-15). There is no other sacrifice which can be made for our case, but the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ (Psalm 51:16). “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise” (Psalm 51:17).
D). RECONCILIATION, AND GRACE TO FOLLOW.
2 Corinthians 5:20-21; 2 Corinthians 6:1-10.
As an ambassador for Christ, Paul was pleading with the Corinthians - on behalf of Christ - that they go on being reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20).
We may feel that this is unnecessary: if we are ‘called out ones’ (church), and ‘set apart ones’ (saints) (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:1) - then are we not already reconciled with God?
Such a boast betrays a failure to recognise that, along with the once-and-forever experience of a true conversion to God-in-Christ, there continues to be the on-going necessity of being sanctified. Have we not, at times, failed God, and found it incumbent upon ourselves to repent, and to ‘recommit’ ourselves to God? Paul goes so far as to warn the Corinthians of the possibility that they might have “received the grace of God in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1).
Without being too morbid or introspective, it is necessary from time to time to give ourselves a spiritual health-check. Even in all the busyness of the Christian life and walk, are we really fully-committed to the relationship at the heart of our lives: being reconciled to God? Or does our Christian life need a shot-in-the-arm to engender a new enthusiasm?
I am not advocating a new experience, but rather a getting-back-to-the-basics of our Christian life. Time to read, and to reflect; to meditate, and to pray; and to stop, and to listen to God. We may not be able to ‘go on retreat,’ but it is surely to our advantage to ‘make time’ for God - who has, after all, done so much for us.
What has He done? Well, “God caused Christ, who knew no sin, to become sin for us; in order that in Christ we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). If we are going-on being-reconciled, then it makes sense that we must be going-on-being-made-righteous. Quick pulse check: how does that show in my life?
In his earlier letter, Paul had spoken of himself and others as ‘God’s fellow-workers’ (1 Corinthians 3:9). The word for “fellow-workers” gives us our English word, ‘synergy,’ which speaks of a combined effort, a co-operation with God if you will. It is not that God lacks anything: He could create, train, and grow Christians all on His own. But what a privilege for ministers to be involved in the formation of His creation, the nurturing of His ‘babes-in-Christ’ (if they will allow themselves to be nurtured and ‘trained up’ in the ways of the Lord).
In this later letter, Paul again employs the ‘synergy’ word (2 Corinthians 6:1), indicating that he and others are workers-together, presumably with God, and perhaps even with the Corinthians (and ourselves?) if they (we?) will just get on board with the programme.
Paul quotes Isaiah 49:8 where, in an accepted time, a season of grace, a day of salvation, Jesus is given as a covenant to the people of Israel; and faithful preachers are sent from Israel to restore the earth, so that the meek may inherit it. Whatever God may have done in our past, the word remains: “behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).
The Apostle then does something that he has made it clear he does not appreciate in others: not for the first time, he BOASTS: “We give no offence in anything, that the ministry be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God…” (2 Corinthians 6:3-4a). This is with a purpose, as earlier indicated: ‘that ye may have somewhat to answer them which glory in appearance, and not in heart’ (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:12).
The list that follows is not boasting of gifts, or accomplishments, but is a factual account of what the Apostles went through. Two lists of hardships (2 Corinthians 6:4-5; 2 Corinthians 6:8-10) surround a modest list of virtues in which everything which has violently been taken from them is restored “BY THE POWER OF GOD” (2 Corinthians 6:6-7).
When I was in Junior School in England (ages 7 thru 10), we had a game called ‘Follow My Leader’. Somebody was designated Leader, and the rest would all follow him or her, doing as they did. If they jumped, we all jumped; if they hopped, we all hopped; if they raised their right hand, we all raised our right hand.
Back in 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul said, ‘Be ye followers of me, EVEN AS I AM ALSO OF CHRIST’. Not so strange perhaps: earlier he had beseeched the Corinthians ‘Be ye followers of me’ (1 Corinthians 4:16); and urged his churches elsewhere, ‘Brethren, be followers together of me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us’ (Philippians 3:17); and in Hebrews we read, ‘Be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises’ (Hebrews 6:12).
However, following Paul and his companions is not the point, but being ‘Followers of God, as dear children’ (Ephesians 5:1); so that Paul can encourage, ‘Ye became followers of us, AND OF THE LORD, having received the word in much affliction, with joy in the Holy Ghost’ (1 Thessalonians 1:6).
Paul exhorted the Corinthians, “not to receive the grace of God in vain” (2 Corinthians 6:1). Let us always be open to that grace, and to the daily manifestation of it in our own lives, and in the lives of others.
E). ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE.
Matthew 6:1-6; Matthew 6:16-21.
“All the world’s a stage,” Shakespeare reminds us, “and all the men and women merely players.” “And one man,” continues the playwright, “in his time plays many parts…” (As You Like It, Act 2, scene 7).
Jesus’ teaching on almsgiving, prayer and fasting in the Sermon on the Mount is replete with the language of the stage. We are not to do our alms in order to be seen of men (Matthew 6:1): to do so is just theatre. To do things for mere appearance (Matthew 6:5) is just showy, ostentatious, pretentious display (Matthew 6:16).
Jesus calls the people who are motivated from such self-glory, “hypocrites” - actors! Hypocrites like to have their deeds of charity trumpeted abroad (Matthew 6:2); they publicise their private prayer (Matthew 6:5), and make a great show of their supposed self-denial (Matthew 6:16). They seek the praise of men in order to feel good about themselves!
We are told of a Pharisee who “prayed with himself” (Luke 18:11-12). This is well said, of course, because he certainly was not praying to God so long as he was only comparing himself with the despised publican. It was not the Pharisee who that day went down to his house justified before God.
The hypocrite seeks applause (Matthew 6:2). Never fully content to receive it, he may seek increased applause. Encore; encore!
“They have their reward,” says Jesus (Matthew 6:2). They have the reward they want in this life (Matthew 6:5), and that is the only reward they are going to get (Matthew 6:16). They will find that, when the cheering has at last died down, they have nothing at all (Matthew 6:19).
Our almsgiving is to be with dexterity, metaphorically speaking, so that we eradicate sinister motives (Matthew 6:3). The deed is done before the all-seeing God. His approval is reward enough in itself (Matthew 6:4).
We have not entered God’s court when we court publicity, so we are challenged into the closet (Matthew 6:6), into the storeroom where the Father is already laying up our heavenly treasures (Matthew 6:20). Private prayer should be just that: you (singular), alone in the presence of the all-knowing God (1 Samuel 2:3). The reward on the day of reckoning will be public (Matthew 6:6).
True Christianity is not the dour, miserable affair which some of its play-actors portray (Matthew 6:16). So when we fast, we must wash-and-brush up in our usual manner (Matthew 6:17). The approval of God is far more to be desired than the applause of men (Matthew 6:18).
When we go about our pious duty without drawing attention to ourselves, we are laying up treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:20). The God who reads our hearts and motives better than we can read them ourselves (Matthew 6:21) will make an open show of His approval at the final curtain (Matthew 25:34-40). What greater plaudit can we possibly require?
