Listen to the audio of today’s Reflection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-february-11-2025
Isaiah 58:1-12
True Fasting
“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.
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 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?
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 them,
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 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 on 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.
It’s pretty unusual for us to base Reflections on readings from the Old Testament, and it’s even more unusual for us to base them on readings from the books of the Old Testament prophets. But even though it’s around 2,700 years old, today’s reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah seems surprisingly relevant to the life of faith in the 21st century.
Let’s start with this: If you asked a bunch of modern-day Christians what the Old Testament prophets spoke out about, I think people would say they were mostly concerned with two things: the worship of false gods and sexual immorality. And both of those problems really were on the minds of the prophets, who understood themselves to be speaking the word of God into their culture.
As far as worshipping false gods is concerned, the Bible scholars and historians say the Hebrew people seem to have been constantly falling into the sin of worshiping the false gods of their pagan neighbors. Archeologists have unearthed several ancient “garbage dumps” that were full of smashed idols of these pagan gods. Their theory is that from time to time, a faithful ruler would send the army from house to house to seize all the idols and smash them. Even King David, who is identified in the scriptures as “a man after God’s own heart,” seems to have had an almost-life-sized idol of some sort in his own home. So the worship of pagan gods by the Israelites really was a major problem addressed by the prophets.
And there’s also no question that the prophets spoke out against sexual immorality. But lots of people are surprised to learn that they were much less focused on the issue than you would guess from listening to contemporary Christians. The prophets frequently criticized Hebrew society as “adulterous,” but it seems that most of the time, they were using that term as a metaphor for the worship of foreign gods, not really talking about sexual morality at all.
What surprises lots of modern followers of Jesus when they dig into the books of the Old Testament prophets is that in speaking through the prophets, God focused a great deal of his criticism on his people’s injustice toward the poor and the vulnerable. And today’s reading is a perfect example. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God is complaining that the covenant people are ‘acting religious,’ but were failing to share their blessings with the poor and the needy among them. In fact, God accuses them of systematically exploiting their workers, failing to provide for aliens and allowing the well-to-do to oppress the poor.
This is a reading that should really bother us, it seems to me. It should particularly bother people who talk about wanting to go back to being a ‘godly nation,’ but whose idea of a godly nation seems to mean one that prohibits abortion and same-sex marriage while allowing exploitation of the poor and the needy. It’s very difficult to square this passage from Isaiah with advocating for the reduction of benefits for the poor so the taxes of the well-to-do can be cut.
I’m sure readers who consider themselves conservatives are getting irritated, but in our society, people who consider themselves liberals should probably be almost as uncomfortable about this passage. Lots of fashionable stores and clothing brands rely on sweat shops that underpay their workers. Lots of popular cell phones are produced in factories that are known to drive their workers so hard some commit suicide. Contributing to the injustice of our society is a sin just about all of us share in.
As followers of Jesus, we have a special responsibility to do what we can to assure that the society we live in provides for the poor and the marginalized. And sorry, but that means being willing to make personal sacrifices to help them. If our attitudes toward the social and economic systems are entirely based on our own personal interests, we should be honest enough to admit it. And then we should face the fact that we can’t claim to be morally superior to the Hebrews God was speaking to through Isaiah.
Ever since the dawn of his relationship with humankind, God has been consistently communicating two ideas: First, that when he blesses people, be blesses them to share those blessings with those in need. Second, that no one can really claim to be serving him faithfully if they tolerate injustice and exploitation. And our master made it plain that he takes those things very personally – whatever we do to others, he says, we do to him, too.
Let’s pray. Lord, in all that we do, help us to be mindful of those who struggle with poverty and need. Guard us against self-righteously looking for excuses not to make sacrifices to help those who have less than we have, and against turning a blind eye to the exploitation of others when it serves our own interests. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
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