Today we continue in chapter 58. One thing I didn't want to leave unsaid about verses 1-3 is that we must never approach God in that way. I ran into an example this week of a child who had been raised in the church and was active in the church but as an adult lost his job. He prayed and believed that he got no answer and therefore has declared himself an atheist. Trials reveal the heart and this person, despite all earlier appearances, was using God as a lucky rabbit's foot. He was willing to serve God as long as it worked. God condemns this sort of approach. There is the way that seems right to a man but then God shows where the heart of man fails and misleads. First of all we need to confess that this is a common attitude in service to God and repent from this when God shows it to us in our hearts. Secondly, when we see a man's sin nature show up like this (for example, a person who gave ever appearance of loving God who then declared himself an atheist) then we need to make sure we are more amazed by Grace than the fallen nature of man. What I mean by that is that you should not be amazed that someone's sin nature leads them astray after pretending to be a believer. You should be amazed that the Holy Spirit keeps you from falling away.
Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD?
Isaiah 58:4-5
God says that the only thing produced by their fast is quarrels and fighting. Think of a bunch of folks who are only fasting to satisfy a selfish desire and living together with low blood sugar. It is just a question of the first punch. The fasting had become ritualized and was expected to result in a product. They worked under the assumption that bowing plus sackcloth and ashes would get them what they wanted. God said they only got quarreling as a result of low blood sugar. Their voices never got past the ceiling.
"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Isaiah 58:6-7
When we fast God's way then He wants our hearts and actions to be lined up. Our compassion and our surrender to God's agape love should be the driver of the fast.
We are to use the resources from our self sacrifice (the fast) to stand against social injustice, feed the hungry, house the homeless, cloth the naked, and not forget to bless our own families. We are supposed to do this without looking like we are fasting. Of course all of this, can only be accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus speaks about heart attitude in times of fasting and the proximity of His teaching on where you store up treasure is no accident.
"And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:16-21
So you set yourself aside temporarily to bless others. We are in "Lent" as we approach Easter and this has traditionally been a period in which Christians fast. So you may take some of your resources and give them up to bless someone else.
Find a way to use the reduced resources to draw you into closer fellowship with God and move the value of those resources to people who need them. Ask God and see if He has some ideas.
Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, 'Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.
Isaiah 58:8-12
God says over and over that you must allow the Holy Spirit to make you selfless and repent from being selfish. However, we don't want to hear that and effectively stop our ears. We say "yeah but" thing so fast we can't hear what God wants us to do.
Keep in mind that this isn't a method. It is the right way to submit yourself a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1). God says that it is reasonable (in light of His grace and mercy) to put aside what you want and use the value of those "wants" to bless others. And when you give up a meal, or a new "something", or cut corners in some other way, then you haven't done anything praiseworthy.
You have simply done what a servant should do for his master. Pre-Lenten celebrations like Mardi Gras vividly show that any fast that follows is false and pointless. Jesus told us how we should approach our duties as servants. It is an attitude you need to have.
"Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and recline at table'? Will he not rather say to him, 'Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink'? Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.' "
Luke 17:7-10
When we give up what is ours and to someone else then we've only done our duty before God. We have done nothing meritorious. We are Gods servants and He calls us to be servants to others. God will set us as a light on a hill if we obey. In a land that loves darkness we may not be loved but we will be part of God's movement and see revival.
Our obedience doesn't manipulate God into blessing us. That was the very error that God criticized in the first part of Isaiah 58. God blesses us because of His grace and mercy. God makes special demands on our time.
"If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the LORD honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the LORD, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken."
Isaiah 58:13-14
God tells us to watch our step on the Sabbath. In other words, be careful and think about your activities. The Sabbath is not normally a fasting day but a feasting day. You don't seek your own pleasure or live without considering God's demands on your day of rest. You seek God, you seek to be pleasing to Him in a special way, and you focus on Scripture.
The real feast of the Sabbath is in the heritage of God's promises and covenants to the Old Testament saints. We find ourselves in these covenants as we live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
I realize that dealing seriously with an observation of a day of rest is an alien concept in our society. We could certainly say more about the move from Saturday to Sunday as well. However, keeping a day holy to God is not ritual law or legalism. If you make it legalism then you'll be back at the beginning of Isaiah 58 wasting your time.
I'd like to simply say you need the day to focus on the things of God and rest. That is true enough. If I could simply convince you that you'll be healthier and happier then maybe you'd consider working to observe this rest from your labors to focus on God. However, the problem we have is that you'll be ignoring a command of our Holy God.
When you pray the Lord's Prayer you have been saying "hallowed be Thy name". We each need to take a serious look at God's commands that are related to hallowing His name. If we are going to ignore a holy day within the week then we should stop referring to the 10 commandments since we only see 9.
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