Keys of Life – Service August 29, 2004
Isaiah 58:9b-12
According to the advertisers, what brings life?
Lotto Super 7 TV Ad
Destinator
Professor Posh
Jesse Streets
The Splurger
Cosmetica
Relaxo
2-Weeks-Notice-Man
Email Spam
Money
Weightloss
Sex
It’s easy to believe them – the message is relentless – there was even TV advertising when I was pumping gas the other day!
We can find ourselves saying “I’d be much happier if…
Keys of Life according to… Scripture
· Following the Good Shepherd
· Being filled with the Spirit
· Gratitude
· Abiding in Jesus
· Watch and Be Ready
· Weeding
· Intentional Relationships
¨
In ancient times, they had a key to life that we might not list today – placating the Gods. In all the ancient stories – the Iliad, the Odyssey, Oedipus Rex – the main plot involves ticking the gods off through lack of respect, or not giving sacrifice or disobeying their self-serving orders. You didn’t have to change your life or anything, you just had to keep the gods happy through respect, worship and sacrifice. Keeping the gods happy was similar to keeping a spoiled child happy.
The problem in Israel was that they believed the advertising and they applied the same concept to God Almighty – they thought that they could do as they liked as long as they went through the ritual worship and didn’t blaspheme.
In Isaiah 58 they are angry because they felt like they were coming through on their end of the deal, but God wasn’t reciprocating.
Isaiah 58
1 "Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 ’Why have we fasted,’ they say,
’and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
"Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for a man to humble himself?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD ?
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness [1] will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the LORD’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the LORD ,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob."
The mouth of the LORD has spoken.
We did the stuff to keep you happy God! We worshiped, we prayed, we fasted! And you did nothing! Wad up?
God responds by saying that he could care less about their religious play acting, what he wanted to see was righteousness, justice and service to the poor.
I want to center in on one key to life that God gives them
- service to the poor
“and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.”
11 The LORD will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your light will rise… doesn’t that sound like life? The KEY is spending yourself on behalf of the hungry
Service to the poor as a key to this life
Where as the Splurger might teach you how to spend on yourself to give you all that you wanted out of life, God calls us to spend ourselves on behalf of the poor.
While L’Oreal wants you to buy their products “Because You’re Worth It tm” God wants us to serve the poor because they’re worth it.
Dr. Karl Menninger, the famous American psychiatrist, once gave a lecture on mental health & was answering questions from the audience. One man asked, "What would you advise a person to do if that person felt a nervous breakdown coming on?" Everyone there expected him to answer, "Consult a psychiatrist." To their astonishment he replied: Leave your house, go across the railroad tracks, find someone who is in need, and do something to help that person.
"Without exception, I have found that every person who was sincerely happy, radiantly alive, was living for a purpose or a cause beyond himself."
- Abraham Maslow
God, through Isaiah, calls to do more than just give alms to the poor, to pass pocket change to pan-handlers - he calls us to go beyond our comfort level and spend ourselves on behave of the poor. – then our light will shine forth. If ever there was a call to burn out for Jesus, this is it! God is calling us to give up our comfort, and even our needs, to meet the needs of others. The key to life here is not charity, it is sacrifice.
If you’re feeling like your life is too dark, the way into the light is not through serving yourself more, by giving yourself the little treats that you like; the way into the light is through spending yourself on behalf of the poor!
1 John 3:16-18
16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
Service to the poor as a key to the next life
Matthew 25
The Sheep and the Goats
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, ’Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37"Then the righteous will answer him, ’Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40"The King will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
41"Then he will say to those on his left, ’Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44"They also will answer, ’Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45"He will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
The way that we are judged according to Matthew 25 is on how we cared for those less fortunate. The sign that we are saved, that the Holy Spirit resides within us is that we serve the poor!
Rick Warren says “If I have no love for others, no desire to serve others, and I’m only concerned about my needs, I should question whether Christ is really in my life. A saved heart is one that wants to serve.
Philippians 2
5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature[1] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[2] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death--
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
The reason that Jesus is exalted to the highest place is that he was a servant – an obedient servant of God and a caring servant of the poor.
How?
1 John 3:18
18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
Do we all need to become Mother Theresa? (It would be nice) but no – be yourself, with the poor – we are to spend our gifts, not someone else’s. What ever gift God has given you, “spiritual” or not – use it to bless the poor: computers, finances, job skills, compassion encouragement, evangelism, healing, prophesy… Bless the poor!
Service to one another (for another sermon)
I really wanted to make this point, but I’ve already gone to long, but suffice it to say we must extend our service to our sisters and brothers in the church as well.
John 13:14
Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.
Galatians 5:13
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
John 13
35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
Conclusion:
FULFILLING MY TASK
“[Most people] act as if they were simply dropped down in creation and have to entertain [them] selves until [they] die. But we [Christians] were sent into the world by God, just as Jesus was. Each of us has a mission in life.
Jesus prays to his Father for his followers, saying, “As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” We seldom fully realize that we are sent to fulfill God-given tasks.”
SOURCE: Henri J. N. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey, April 23 reading.
Group talk
This is a counter-cultural idea – what about the “yeah but…s”
