“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
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.
‘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.
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.
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the LORD?“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?
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 them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.–Isaiah 58.1-9 (NIV)
In today’s passage the old prophet takes Judah (and us) to school. God reminds us through Isaiah that all too often we get our end and means mixed up. Too often, we broken humans focus more on doing things that are supposed to keep us humble and focused on God rather than remembering that things like fasting and prayer are simply the means to that end. Simply put, they are means to help us remember that Jesus is Lord and we are here to obey and serve him, not ourselves.
As God points out through Isaiah, God is not interested when we make his means our end. If we do not come to him in prayer with an open, honest, and humble heart in which we know God is God and we are not, we can expect God to ignore our prayers. He is not interested in helping us in our efforts of self-aggrandizement. Likewise, if we fast and then act in ugly ways toward others because of it, or if we act in ways that draw others’ attention to the fact we are fasting (an act of self-aggrandizement), God is not interested in that either. That is not a sacrificial act on our part. We are simply going through the motions because we think doing so will make us righteous in God’s sight and the sight of others. We are making the means an end.
No, what God wants from us is for us to love him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. But there is the rub. Most of us simply cannot or will not do that on our own without some incentive.
The incentive, of course, is the cross of Jesus because it is the symbol of God’s eternal invitation to end our exile from him.
As we have seen before, as long as we do not fully appreciate the folly, hopelessness, and utter futility of the human condition and our ability to fix ourselves so that we can live in God’s Holy Presence, we will never begin to appreciate the wondrous thing God has done for us. But when, by the grace of God and the power of his Spirit working in us, we start to comprehend the mess we are in and begin to see the cross for what it is, it changes everything for us. It makes us fall in love with God all over again (or for the first time). It makes us fall to our knees in humble prayer and thanksgiving to God for ending our exile from him. It makes us confess that Jesus is Lord and we are not.
And when that happens, we begin to act like Jesus is Lord. We begin to show our love for him, in part, by demonstrating our love for others, and this is an end that is pleasing to God. What does that look like? Isaiah tells us in today’s passage. We will be implacably opposed to injustice of any form–real injustice about which God is concerned, not the injustice of our own making or that reflects our personal or political agendas. We will look out for society’s poor and most helpless and move to do something to help them. We will honor our fathers and mothers. We will feed the hungry and clothe the naked. We will heal the sick and tend to the brokenhearted. The list is endless because the world’s needs are endless.
Doing any of this, of course, requires a heart that is not self-centered. It requires a generous spirit and a willingness to not be the center of attention all the time. It requires a heart that is compassionate and truly cares about people and their needs. This is where the spiritual disciplines of prayer and fasting, et al. (the means) come in because God can use those means of grace to help create in us the kind of generous hearts and spirits that are pleasing in his sight.
And of course when we start demonstrating our love for the Lord Jesus and our willingness to obey and serve him, we are providing the world a witness of what the Kingdom of God looks like and how God intends to set his world aright. Talk about an opportunity to live your life with meaning and purpose!
But doing this will be costly. With the Spirit’s help, it will entail putting to death all that is in you that wants to rebel against doing any of this. It will mean that we will face ridicule and opposition. We will have to suffer for the Name’s sake. Don’t believe me? Look at the opposition Jesus aroused as he showed folks in his society what the in-breaking of the Kingdom looks like. That, among other things, ended up getting the Lord of the universe crucified, and he warns those who would follow him that the same thing will happen to them.
Yet if Jesus is who he says he is, the cost pales in comparison to the benefits. We who love Jesus and act as if he really is our Lord have new life and new creation. We no longer serve ourselves but rather the God who loves us and gave himself for us, and a powerful way to serve God is to serve others. What an amazing thing it is to think that the very Lord of Creation is willing to use us, warts and all, to help him usher in his Kingdom here on earth. If you can’t find meaning and purpose in that, I’m not sure you will ever be able to find meaning and purpose in your life.
Does this mean that we are to ignore the means of Christian discipline–prayer, fasting, reading Scripture, receiving the sacraments, Christian fellowship, acts of service? Of course not. These disciplines are tried and true means to a greater end. They help us better demonstrate our love of Jesus and our faith in him. But they are not ends in themselves and we must always be on our guard to make sure they don’t become ends. Here are two good questions to continually ask yourself. “Why am I doing what I am doing? Who do I want to ultimately get the glory?” Answering these questions honestly well help ensure that you don’t get your means and end confused.
Oh yes. There is one other critical piece to all of this. Notice carefully to whom God is addressing through the prophet. It is not individual Jews; it is the nation of Judah. God expects us to act together as his people, not as autonomous individuals. In other words, God intends those who declare Jesus as Lord to be part of Jesus’ body, the Church. Only then will we be obey God fully and act like Jesus really is Lord. Working together as Christ’s body is God’s will for us to show others what the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom really looks like. Sure, we have to do our part as individuals, but we also have to be faithful collectively as Christ’s body, the Church. God did not create us to be Lone Rangers. He created us to live, work, and serve together and that is how he can best use us to love and serve him, and to minister to his broken and hurting world.
Keep your means and end straight. Use the means of grace to help you love and obey Jesus together. When you do, not only can you expect the Power of God to work in you to help him accomplish his redemptive purposes for his fallen world, you will also be able to enjoy the benefits of Christian fellowship and mutual accountability along the way. Doing so will bring you strength in your weakness and a heart full of joy, meaning, and purpose. If that sounds like something you can sink your teeth into, take the plunge and give your life to Jesus. He will take you on the ride of your life.