A Sermon on Isaiah 58:6-12 for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity. Delivered by Pastor Caleb Strutz.

It’s not uncommon that Brianna will ask me to do something for her. It’s usually something small and something reasonable. “Can you get me a glass of water while I’m with the baby,” or something like that. I would much rather do that than deal with a screaming infant, so I know that that’s a fair trade. Sometimes I cheerfully comply, but other times there’s a little groan or I’m dragging my feet, to which my wife responds, “Oh, well you don’t have to do it, then.” Sometimes that means that she’s a little annoyed with me, and rightfully so, so I double down and say, “No, it’s fine, it’s not a big deal,” but it’s already too late. The issue was never whether I would do the little task, but whether I would do so lovingly and eagerly instead of lazily or reluctantly. She isn’t looking for mere compliance, she wants me to be happy to help.

The prophet Isaiah called out the Israelites at his time for mere outward compliance. They think that they’re doing the right things, that they’re doing what they’re supposed to do, but their heart is clearly not in it. As we listen to Isaiah’s rebuke and his vision for the life of a believer, we learn what God wants, not just outward compliance, but the heart.

So (you don’t need this.)  Isaiah is serving as a prophet in a critical point in Israel’s history. At this point, the Assyrians have taken away the northern ten tribes of Israel into captivity. Only Judah and Benjamin remain. The Assyrians almost got Jerusalem, too, but their siege was broken when the angel of the LORD killed 185,000 of them in the night (Is 37). So the people in Jerusalem and Judah have been this close to being taken away, too, but they haven’t learned their lesson.

After the faithful king Hezekiah dies, the people turn back to their wickedness, so Isaiah warns them of the pending exile under the Babylonians unless they shape up. But they don’t think they’ve done anything wrong.

Earlier in the chapter, they’re described like this, “they seek Me daily, And delight to know My ways … They take delight in approaching God. ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’” (v. 2-3). It seems like they’re doing everything right! They certainly think they are. Why is God upset with them? But there’s a problem.

Yeah, they’re “being religious,” yeah, they’re fasting, but Isaiah writes, “in the day of your fast you find pleasure, And exploit all your laborers. Indeed you fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the fist of wickedness” (v. 3-4).

They’re fulfilling their religious duty, but they’re exploiting people, taking advantage of them. They’re fighting and arguing while they’re fasting, while they’re supposed to be doing something spiritual. They’re jumping through all the hoops, but that isn’t having any effect on how they actually live their lives.

When we look at the history of Israel, sometimes we’re tempted to stand with the prophets and just lay it on them. “How could they? I would never.” And while our sin might not be as obvious or as blatant as the Israelites here, I think we can detect these same tendencies around us and within us.

In the United States, the president is sworn in by placing his hand on the Bible, Congress always opens with prayer, all of our money says “In God We Trust,” but how often is our world and our country cold and silent to pain and suffering, driven by self-indulgence, profit, and the bottom line, while countless people are dehumanized?

Even within the churches, how often are pulpits only used for political platforming or promoting the preacher’s ego? Going through the motions, doing the “right things,” while sin runs rampant everywhere else.

The Israelites thought that their religious activity should gain something from God. They hear Isaiah rebuke them and predict destruction, but they say, “We’re fasting! We’re doing what we’re supposed to do! Doesn’t that count?” How often do we, too, try to use our religious activity to gain something from God?

“Well, I go to church every Sunday, and I’m in Bible study, too! God can’t be that mad with me.” “I pray regularly and read my Bible, surely God will overlook this little thing.” But that’s not how it works.

And when we look at what God wants us to do, we make excuses. “Share your bread with the hungry?” “They just need to find a better job.” “Bring to your house the poor who are cast out?” “The homeless? Surely they’re on the street for a reason.” “To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?” “God’s sounding like a revolutionary here, come on!”

You see the double standard here? We think God should reward the things I do, but when He asks me to go outside of my comfort zone, then we’re not so excited about the good works. Isn’t that what’s going on with the Israelites? Of letting God change your life, but only so far. Isaiah is rebuking us.

But just as it’s wrong for the Israelites or for us to try to get something out of God by our religious activity, it’s also wrong to see the blessings pronounced in our text as the result of doing the actions commanded. We do have “ifs” and “thens,” but they don’t quite track that clearly. Right, the whole point is that that’s not how this works. And when we look at the blessings, we see that all of this is only possible by God’s grace.

Isaiah says, “Then your light shall break forth like the morning.” We don’t have any light. We aren’t the source of that light. But God’s light shines on us. He scatters the darkness of sin that surrounds us and is in us. His light is our light only because we have received it from Him. And Isaiah describes the Savior as “a light to the Gentiles” (49:6). Jesus is “the Bright and Morning Star” as He describes Himself in Revelation (22:16).

“Your healing shall spring forth speedily.” This isn’t the healing we enact on others, but the healing that we receive from God. We are broken and sick with sin, but “by His stripes we are healed” (Is 53:5). Through Jesus’ suffering and death, foretold by Isaiah, we receive healing for our souls.

“Your righteousness shall go before you.” We aren’t righteous in ourselves. But on the basis of what Christ has done for us, God declares you righteous, not guilty, because the punishment for your sin has been placed on His Son.

All of this is only possible because of God’s great love for us. His light, His healing, His righteousness are made ours in Christ.

And it is that which makes it possible for us to please Him, to do the things He has told us to do, not to gain anything from Him, but as our response to the love and grace that has been shown to us.

When Isaiah rebukes the Israelites for their fasting, it’s not because fasting is wrong or bad. No, God commanded it, He wants it to happen. The problem was that it didn’t expand to the rest of their life. The solution wasn’t to stop those religious observances, but to embrace the natural connection that worship has on the rest of your life. The answer to empty ritual isn’t no ritual, but meaningful ritual.

We gather together not for this single hour of your week to stay contained. But we come together on Sunday for this to propel us through the week to come. We are strengthened and built up by God’s Word, we are fed and energized through the Supper, and we are motivated to carry over what goes on here to everything else, too. And then we come back again, at the end of a long week, to reflect on what we’ve done well and what we’ve done wrong and do it all again.

And there will be times when we are challenged by what we hear. But this is God calling us to grow. God does want the hungry fed, the naked clothed, and the homeless housed. He wants us to fight against injustice and oppression, whatever that might look like. It says it right here.

God is clear on some of the things He wants us to do. But He doesn’t spell out the detailed solution or push any proposed policy. And you’ve been here a lot longer than I have, you have a better feel of what needs to be done and what you’re capable of than I do, so I’m not going to spell out anything super concrete either. But when we are inspired by the generosity of God that we have received, how can we do anything but be generous to those around us? When we see how we have been liberated from sin, death, and the devil, it’s only natural to mirror that liberation from whatever else might oppress those around us.

So I’ll leave you to ponder what that looks like, and I’ll help in any way I can, but I’ll also be sure to give you what you need to do that. To give you God’s love and grace, forgiveness and peace, Christ’s Body and Blood, so that you leave here energized and inspired for the paths God has in store for you. Amen.