Isaiah 58 - Is Not This the Fast I Choose?

SERMON TEXT:

Let’s open our Bibles together this morning to Isaiah 58.

Since we read the chapter in our Old Testament reading, let’s look together right now at verses 5-7.

[READ ISAIAH 58:5-7]

What is a fast?

At its heart, a fast is to willfully stop doing something that is otherwise good or healthy for a time.

Most often we think of fasting from food.

Abstaining from all food or some foods for a period of time.

We see Jesus do this, immediately after His baptism,

Matthew 4:1–2 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”

Now it has to be something that is otherwise good (or at least not evil);

You can’t FAST from sin.

You “put away” sin; you “mortify” or “kill” sin.

You can’t FAST from sin, because in a fast, you intend to return to the activity because it isn’t sinful.

Another term used in the Bible for this practice is “afflicting yourself”.

In two separate places in Leviticus, chapters 16 and 23, we read of the ordinance of God for His people to “afflict themselves”, to fast, on the annual Day of Atonement.

The one day a year that the high priest entered into the Holy of Holies and made a blood offering for the sins of himself first, and then the sins of all the people.

And that made this holy day unique in the calendar of Israel.

The other holy days were called “feasts” - times of celebration and plenty.

The feast of booths, the feast of Firstfruits, and the others - they were celebrations.

Even the typical offerings, the sacrifices brought to God through the temple, were to be eaten by the worshippers.

In no other place in the five books of the Law save these chapters on the Day of Atonement have I seen another mention of fasting.

So in our passage today, it might seem a little surprising that God calls His people out over the purity of their fasts.

We see lots of examples of fasting through the other parts of the Old Testament, but no real commandments or procedures given to the people to practice fasting or how to do it properly.

So how could they have had unpleasing, sinful fasts, particularly if they were ACTUALLY fasting?

We see the rotten core in verse 2 of our passage today:

Isaiah 58:2 “Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.”

It started out so well: Seeking God daily, delighting in His ways, delighting to draw near to God.

But then right there in the middle, we see that bitter root:

AS IF they were a nation that did righteousness...

They followed, they listened to God’s law, but they didn’t DO it.

They were hearers only, deceiving themselves.

Have you ever done that?

You convince yourself that you love God’s law, and then willfully break it?

You find comfort in worship, but it’s only comfort to your flesh?

You love your church, being there among the people of God, but for your own purposes?

Many is the young man who goes to church only to have the opportunity to see the girl that has caught his eye. - Done that.

I am certain there are many parents who look forward to going to church so that someone else will care for their child for an hour. - Done that.

Now there is nothing wrong with attending church with someone you are interested in.

And there’s nothing wrong with having nursery and Sunday School, and being thankful for the teachers who serve in that often thankless role.

But if that’s the reason someone attends church, their worship is polluted.

You see, in this passage, fasting is being used as a specific example to describe in general all the duties we owe to our loving God, who purchased us out of this world by the blood of His only Son, Jesus Christ.

Fasting stands in this passage for all the things we do for God.

Worshipping, obeying, practicing grace and mercy toward others - that is the point of this passage.

Fasting is just one aspect, but EVERY aspect of our service to God can be polluted unless we guard ourselves.

Even sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, the story of God’s incredible mercy and grace toward sinners, can be done in a polluted way.

Because sometimes we do good things for selfish reasons:

The people in Isaiah 58:3 asked: “‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.”

What he is saying is that “We fasted so God would see us”.

“We humbled ourselves, afflicted ourselves, so God would reward us.

The Pharisee cried out in his self-righteous prayer to God in

Luke 18:12 “I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’”

It is the cry of someone who feels like he is OWED something.

That God would be unjust if He didn’t bless the man who struggles so for the sake of the gospel.

What does Jesus say about those polluted thoughts?

Luke 17:10 “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.’ ””

No man can put God into his debt, even a little.

Were it not for His grace toward sinners, you and I would have no hope at all to anything but eternal damnation.

But that doesn’t keep us from measuring our faithfulness by how much we are seen to suffer, even if we bring it on ourselves?

Isaiah 58:5 “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?”

Now just to give you the answer key for these questions, let me help:

Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself?

No.

Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?

No.

Will you call this a fast [this kind of worship], and a day acceptable to the Lord?

No.

Now you may be hearing this and ask: But isn’t fasting also called “afflicting yourself”?

That certainly sounds like a good occasion for sackcloth and ashes and a bowed, weighed-down head.

That’s obviously what the Pharisees thought because Jesus corrected this very thought:

Matthew 6:16–18 ““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.”

But it is this mistake, this idea that true service to God, even in fasting, is something hard, something crushing, that weighs down the soul, that Isaiah is correcting.

That’s what the people had been doing wrong.

That’s what WE often get wrong.

Service to God, service for Him, is meant to RENEW your strength, to bring you joy.

Look at all the promises He gives for REAL worship:

Isaiah 58:8–9 “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,”

Isaiah 58:11–12 “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 58:14 “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.””

Do you DELIGHT in the Lord?

Really DELIGHT in Him?

Or is your service to Him one of compulsion or grim duty?

Is that grim and woeful duty the kind of service God desires?

Think about it: is that the kind of service YOU want from people?

In something as trivial as going through a drive-through to get some food: is there a difference between someone who loves to be there and someone who is just counting down the minutes until their shift ends?

When you work with someone, do you want them to be happy to be there, or just biding their time and doing their work until it’s time to leave and go home?

In your home, is the day easier if you resent the chores you have to do?

Of course it isn’t.

Grim and begrudging service weigh on your heart as well as the hearts of the people around you.

And God loves a cheerful giver - whatever is being offered.

God is delighted when you are DELIGHTED in Him.

When you obey because you love Him supremely, because you delight in Him and His Law.

1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”

When we love God, even His commandments aren’t burdensome.

Even afflicting ourselves, fasting, is an act of adoration, and act of devoted love.

But we dare not stop there, or else it seems like our devotion to God is all about us.

It isn’t.

Isaiah 58:6–7 ““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?”

What if fasting wasn’t about us at all?

What if our obedience wasn’t for ourselves?

What if we should forego some pleasant meal so that we can lavish that meal on someone else?

What if we should adopt some toilsome work to free someone else from the burden of their labor?

What if we should allow ourselves to be limited for a moment so that another could be free?

This isn’t really simply about providing a pragmatic reason for fasting.

It’s not like we need a positive reason to deny ourselves or our flesh.

Think about the JOYFULNESS of the actions God is giving us here:

Feeding the hungry.

Clothing the naked.

Caring for the homeless.

Freeing the enslaved.

And all of them done with pure joy of the heart.

Not just because we are earning a reward in heaven, but because being the obedient servant of God is its own reward RIGHT HERE AND NOW.

Caring for others is that good work that God has ordained for us to do from eternity past - the pleasant privilege of the child of God.

Two things fight against this height of glorious service: Selfishness and fear.

Selfishness - for our time, for our stuff, and for our hard-earned money we have other leisure plans for.

We have been learning these verses this month:

1 John 3:16–18 “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”

Fear works against our obedience as well.

We have this nagging fear that if WE give away our surplus, there will come a time when WE are in need ourselves, and we will wish we had it back.

Brothers and sisters - That is just another mask of faithless selfishness.

Faithless because it assumes God has given you this stuff for you to build bigger barns for.

Faithless because it is the thought that God can’t or won’t take care of me in the future, and He will cause me to suffer.

I can assure you, though - if our all-wise and loving God wants to carry you through trial, there is not enough money in the world to prevent His will.

And in His love, even the uncomfortable and unpleasant things He takes you through will be proven to be the BEST way in the end.

Hear His promise again: Isaiah 58:11 “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.”

God never abandons His people.

He will never leave you if you are His child through Jesus Christ.

And you will find His promise faithful and His word completely true.

You can rest in Him, like the reference to the Sabbath at the end of our chapter:

Isaiah 58:13–14 ““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.””

There is nothing you have that God hasn’t given you.

There is nothing you inherited that God didn’t prepare.

There is no ability that God didn’t endow you with.

He loves His children, and will ensure you are held in His strong hand.