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Isaiah 58:1-12
Psalm 112:1-9
1 Corinthians 2:1-12
Matthew 5:13-20
Have you ever attempted to call someone but kept getting static and even drops on the line? Have you kept trying to call and eventually the other party stopped answering? How about the other way around? What about calling a particular phone number that you were sure was correct but apparently was not, and after a couple of times, the other side of the call does not answer anymore. Have you been on the receiving side of either of these situations?
I think what happens eventually is that we no longer hear the phone ring, it is not a conversation that can be engaged in. It is full of static, garbled or just the wrong number so there is nothing to be heard and eventually we can even tune it right out.
The trumpet was often used to summon the Israelites to war. [1] In the reading from Isaiah today, he shouts out with a voice like a trumpet. This trumpet is a metaphor that would be very familiar to the Israelites. Isaiah is addressing the people of Israel, the ones that are now back in their home land after their exile. Many saw the exile as a punishment from God. The people are not happy, they have been through much during the exile and their Temple has been destroyed. Isaiah is trying to get their attention; he has some important news from God.
“In the ancient Near East, fasting was meant to influence a deity to act on behalf of the one fasting. Usually, a fast occurred to ease a drought, to abate a military invasion, to exorcise a demon, or to lessen the severity of a political or economic crisis.” [2] The prophet Isaiah gives new instructions from God for fasting. “This type of fast, different from other kinds of fasts, brings with it four personal blessings:…” [3] new life; healing; security; and a free-flowing relationship with God. [4] When this new way is followed, the Israelites respond to the needs of others and consequently, God now responds to their needs.
This may perk an ear or two here. If the Israelites respond then God responds. Yes, this goes very contrary to what you may hear in the Lutheran perspective. We are told that it is not our acts that prompts God to do for us but simply in God’s love, God provides what we need.
If you yell at someone, they may hear you but not understand at all what you are saying because they have simply tuned out the unwanted noise. What about a child that continually says; I want this, and that and this and that and those too and, and, and,…. Eventually the parent only hears “I want” and does not hear the rest. In both situations, the presentation was not done in the correct way; it was not done in a way that would allow the intended person to actually hear the needs and wants of the one making the request.
Going back to Isaiah, if we do, then God responds. So the real question here is why did’t God respond until the Israelites responded towards others? Every thing that the Israelites did was correct. They attended worship, fasted, fasted even more than required by law. When they put on sackcloth and ashes, fasted and worshiped, they were doing all the rituals but for the wrong reason. They were not responding to God for what God does for them. It was also not a response that was grounded in taking care of the widows, orphans and poor. All that they did, ignored the ones in most need, it was a show, one to seek something for them, not even something for others.
All the worship, fasting and ashes done for the wrong reason, clouded their cries. The cries to God were sent upward but on the wrong phone number, it was full of static, it was a garbled transmission that God could not understand, no longer heard. I don’t know but maybe, just maybe God was no longer able to hear the phone ring, no longer able to tune in the signal, had heard all the yelling but none of it made sense in how it was being done, being sent to God.
In verse 9 and 10 it says; “Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; (which can also be translate, the Lord will hear)
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, 10if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness”[5] Their light, the transmission of the prayer will be clear in the darkness, the communication without static, no longer garbled and God can now hear what is being asked for by his people.
Jesus throughout his ministry teaches that in our response to God, we take care of the least, the last, the lost. We are looking out for the widows, orphans and the poor that are spoken about in Isaiah. It is not about what we do so much as why we do. It is a response to God that in turn changes us towards others, how we respond to the ones in need through our response to God. “Isaiah redefines worship as a lived experience of being in “right relationship” with one another and with God…”[6]
“One year during Holy Week, a few Christians from well-endowed congregations in a major metropolitan area spent a night with homeless friends on the street. They were looking for the suffering Christ in the lives of those who spend their days and nights suffering from hunger, disease, and rejection. It was a chilly night, and rain rolled in close to midnight. Looking for shelter, the handful of travelers felt fortunate to come upon a church holding an all-night prayer vigil. The leader of the group was a pastor of one of the most respected churches in the city. As she stepped through the outer doors of the church, a security guard stopped her. She explained that she and the rest of their group were Christians. They had no place to stay and were wet and miserable, and would like to rest and pray. Enticed by the lighted warmth of the sanctuary, she had forgotten that her wet, matted hair and disheveled clothing left her looking like just another homeless person from the street. The security guard was friendly, but explained in brutal honesty, “I was hired to keep homeless people like you out.” As the dejected group made their way back into the misery of the night, they knew they had found their suffering Christ, locked out of the church.” [7]
Why is it we do what we do? Is it about being a disciple of Christ? Are we responding to God or expecting God to act a certain way because of how we act? Everything that needs to be done was done once and for all when Christ Jesus came and fulfilled the law by allowing Himself, God, to be hung upon a cross until death and rising again, in defeat of death, for us.
[1] Brett Younger, “Homiletical Perspective on Isaiah 58:1‒9a (9b–12),” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A, ed. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, vol. 1 (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 319.
[2] Carol J. Dempsey, “Theological Perspective on Isaiah 58:1‒9a (9b–12),” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A, ed. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, vol. 1 (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 316.
[3] lbid
[4] lbid
[5] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989), Is 58:9–10.
[6] Carol J. Dempsey, “Theological Perspective on Isaiah 58:1‒9a (9b–12),” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A, ed. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, vol. 1 (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 318.
[7] Andrew Foster Connors, “Pastoral Perspective on Isaiah 58:1‒9a (9b–12),” in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year A, ed. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, vol. 1 (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 318.