What God Expects of His People

Isaiah 58:6-12

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?

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.[1]

Religion does not impress God. I realise that am speaking broadly, and it is thus necessary to state that I am speaking of religious exercise performed without awareness of the presence of God. When we imagine that we can somehow coerce God into doing our will, we err. Mankind has the dismaying habit of attempting to reduce worship to a series of rituals, thinking that punctilious care in performing mere rituals will please God. It was true of ancient Israel, and it is true of our day.

It would be one thing if I were to condemn liturgical churches for the rites and rituals that mark their devotions, and no doubt some who listen to me would suggest that such negative assessments may perhaps be warranted, but evangelicals and those identified as belonging to free churches often fall into the identical trap of depending upon religious observance instead of seeking the presence and the power of God’s Spirit. Consequently, we often do not know what to look for as evidence of transformed lives.

What does God expect of us? What is God looking for from the worship offered? What should be occurring in our lives as result of worship? Such questions should be asked (and answered) for each of us who name the Name of Christ the Lord. When we ask what God expects of us, we discover that He has already provided an answer.

Hard Questions for Evangelical Christians — In the opening verse, Isaiah is commanded to Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet [verse one]. The Prophet’s voice is to be used to expose hypocrisy, to reveal to the people their rebellion. Tragically, the people would have contended that they were doing what God commanded and that they were worshipping Him. The people performed their religious duties—worshipping daily, apparently delighting in seeking God, even praying for righteousness [verses one and two]. Their devotion, however, was a charade, a sham, a mere pretence.

The people were anything but godly. They performed religious devotions in expectation of receiving a return on their investment. One example that Isaiah uses is the practise of fasting. The people ask, Why have we fasted, and you see it not [verse three]? What you need to know in order to understand the specious nature of this complaint is that God commanded only one fast of the people, and that was the Day of Atonement.

We are informed about the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 23:26-32, Now on the tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy convocation, and you shall afflict yourselves [fast] and present a food offering to the Lord. And you shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whoever is not afflicted on that very day shall be cut off from his people. And whoever does any work on that very day, that person I will destroy from among his people. You shall not do any work. It is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. It shall be to you a Sabbath of solemn rest, and you shall afflict yourselves. On the ninth day of the month beginning at evening, from evening to evening shall you keep your Sabbath.

So, the Day of Atonement was to be an observance that included a time for a holy convocation, a time to afflict themselves (or to give up eating [New Century Version]) and to present a food offering to the Lord. This was meant to be a day of rest, a day to refrain from work. What should have been obvious, and was not, that though it was a solemn occasion when the high priest was to make atonement for sin, it was not a joyless time. “It does not invalidate a religious act if people find pleasure in what they are doing.”[2]

The fourth verse begins with what must have surely been a stunning exposure. You fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Their self-imposed fast always ended in a fight, so that must be what their fast was for! What they intended as a means to influence God ended in bringing out the worst in the human spirit. Imagine the edginess resulting from unspiritual families spending the day in increasing hunger!

A similar condition afflicts us who are evangelical Christians. We perform all the rituals that are so familiar and that make us so comfortable, only to return to the remainder of our day unfulfilled and unsatisfied. There are people who attend the services of the church, arriving angry and continuing sullen throughout the service, only to return home unchanged. They glare at the preacher and react visibly and negatively whenever something is said they don’t like. Instead of weighing the veracity of the statements, they inwardly seethe. They are not unlike the people Isaiah condemned.

There are churches that believe that they “hired” a preacher, and therefore if the preacher does not meet the expectation of a board, then church can “fire” him. These board-ruled churches treat the congregation of the Lord as though it were some business or private firm. They are not unlike the people Isaiah condemned.

There are people who go through the motions of singing, of saying prayers, of tolerating sermons, and who then continually complain that the services are boring. These same people never consider that if their hearts were not prepared to meet the True and Living God, it would not matter what was done, or what efforts were expended, they would still fail to worship. They are not unlike the people Isaiah condemned.

Because you know when to stand or when to sit does not mean that you worship. Because you know the words to a familiar song, or because you sing it heartily, pumped up by repeated exhortations to praise the Lord, does not mean that you have worshipped. Because you dutifully endure the sermon, does not ensure that you will worship the Lord. Far too many of us fall under the condemnation Isaiah pronounced because we go through the motions automatically, and thus we render a performance instead of worshipping the Risen Son of God.

If in preaching the message I merely apply rhetorical techniques designed to make myself appear polished and capable, I have no right to expect God’s commendation. Unquestionably, I would rather a preacher spoke earnestly out of personal experience with the Lord God than hear a polished performance that is devoid of spiritual power. Similarly, when a worship team presents the musical selections for that day, if the efforts of the team represent only a performance, they have not worshipped. Again, I would rather witness a team that was less polished, but which was zealous for the Lord’s glory, than to hear a great musical presentation that drew attention only to the singers and the instrumentalists. Tragically, too many evangelical churches are being reduced to entertainment forums competing for a decreasing portion of the evangelical pie.

In one church I encountered a man who was deeply insulted that I dared rejoice whenever someone responded to the invitation. “They didn’t pray ‘the prayer,’” he whined. He had a technique, and if his technique was not followed precisely, an individual could not be saved. Michael Horton has ably warned against this error. “Technique-centered evangelism is wrong because of the way it treats God like an absentee landlord.”[3] That man had deluded himself, but no more so than many evangelicals that insist on a formula instead of grace operating through faith.

Instead of sound doctrine and biblical preaching, we evangelical Christians too often settle for evangelistic techniques, thus moving closer, ever closer to a man-centred message. “If it works, do it,” we say. So, we become utilitarian in our use of God and in our use of others. We “hire” an evangelist to do what we refuse to do, hoping he will accomplish in a few days what we are unwilling to do in the course of years.

We exalt technique and therefore assure ourselves that the biggest church enjoys the richest blessings of God. Perhaps we need to be reminded that there is a difference between a mob and a church. Technique can indeed gather a crowd, but teaching that crowd the truths of God’s word requires effort and diligence and constant dependence upon the presence of God’s Spirit. Too often the God we worship is created in our own imagine. As Horton has observed, “The biblical God celebrated by the American people was a civil servant who was elected by the people to serve their interests.”[4]

Some years ago, Professor Reginald Bibby described Canadian church life as increasingly defined by marketing concepts, or in his words, “religion à la carte.”[5] Perhaps this should not be so surprising. Advertising has shifted perceptibly during the past century from being primarily textual to being primarily graphical. Similar currents in the churches have moved worship from a focus on the Divine known through His Word to a focus on what is received, mediated through sound bites and multimedia presentations. We no longer seek God, we seek self-fulfillment and self-actualisation.

“In consumer religion, Christianity becomes trivialized. Its great mysteries become cheap slogans. Its majestic hymns are traded in for shallow jingles, often sung off the image from an overhead projector, much like an advertising executive uses to sell a client on an ad campaign. And its parishioners, now unashamedly called audiences, have come to expect dazzling testimonies, happy anecdotes, and fail-proof schemes for successful living that will satiate spiritual consumption.”[6]

Consequently, the churches of today seem intent on competing with one another to present the best programming, to have the liveliest music, to be the most entertaining. Doctrinal preaching is disparaged and an effervescent “theology lite” is substituted for strong doctrine. In short, a strange form of instruction frequently characterises much of what passes as the message of the day; it is intended to make people feel good about themselves above all else. Then, when God fails to meet our demands, we pout.

God Expects Transformation, not Form — We assume that the Faith of Christ the Lord is defined through what we do. However, it is His work that is vital, not ours. It is what God does through us that is important, and not what we imagine that we do for God. This is not to excuse laziness in the Christian life, but it is to put matters into perspective. Labours expended in the power of the Spirit are evidence of Christ’s blessing, but efforts that simply expend energy demonstrate nothing of eternal significance.

God was not rejecting fasting, but God was insisting that a fast was validated by a life transformed into doing what was pleasing in His sight. In our own worship, singing songs while unwilling to serve as the servant of the Lord is a meaningless endeavour. Reciting prayers and presenting offerings while failing to fulfil the command of God to tell others of His mercy is an exercise in futility. Listening to sermons—indeed, preaching sermons—without realising the presence of the Risen Saviour, is void of value.

God points to three particular areas in which a transformed life will be revealed [verse seven]. First, His presence will have an impact in society—we will be concerned for justice. Second, the transformed life will be concerned for individual needs. Lastly, the individual transformed by God’s grace will be concerned for his own family.

Evangelicals have long scoffed at liberal churches for emphasising social justice. This scorn is deserved primarily because the liberal emphasis is divorced from insistence upon changed hearts through faith in Christ, and is ultimately of no eternal value. Also, the derision is appropriate because the concept of social justice leads almost inevitably to demands that government provide a fix for the “cause du jour” or the “cause célèbre.” However, evangelicals have done a poor job addressing social issues, and these issues should not have been left unaddressed. Think of the three areas Isaiah addresses.

Our faith will undoubtedly affect our view of justice. A redeemed individual is an individual who longs to see justice prevail in every aspect of life. Christians will, of necessity, be deeply concerned to see the creation of a just society. Isaiah mentions four areas of particular concern—loosing the bonds of wickedness, undoing the straps of the yoke, letting the oppressed go free, and breaking every yoke.

To loose the bonds of wickedness speaks of the need to labour to abolish social structures that hold us in bondage. Should I say that as Christians we must not permit “big business” to ignore injured workers and to insist that companies provide just compensation for the labour of employees, undoubtedly, most Christians would agree. However, it is likely equally important to hold “big labour” accountable for the manner in which it has ceased to be concerned for the welfare of its members, instead morphing into a corrupt political movement that enriches a few at the top of the heap.

Opposition to social structures that destroy the soul should also lead us to oppose a justice system that operates with scant accountability, ensuring that lawbreakers are unpunished and sentences are routinely ignored. Justice should be evident, and we rightly expect a justice system, instead of a legal system that debates legal minutia. Loosing the bonds of wickedness should lead us to oppose jurists that feel free to create law instead of applying law, and it should lead us to stand in opposition to unjust taxation and wasteful spending of tax moneys. Christians that are transformed by the Spirit of God are not ignorant of needs, but their eyes see the sweeping assault against all of mankind instead of focusing on what is popular with one political wing or another.

To undo the straps of the yoke appears to refer to the need to eliminate treating people like animals. Such transformation in our lives will impel us to oppose the view that children are going to be sexually active in any case, so we must therefore make it convenient to gratify infantile lusts by providing them with the means to be “safely” immoral. Children are not animals; they require training in righteousness. Just so, conscientious Christians will oppose disrespect toward the elderly, euthanasia and abortion, because humans are created in the image of God and are not disposable.

To let the oppressed go free speaks of freeing those broken by life. We will be concerned for those who are beaten down by modern technology and by the stress arising from our frenetic pace of life. We will truthfully confront bondage—bondage to alcohol, bondage to drugs, bondage to pornography, bondage to anything that holds mankind in thraldom. We do not set ourselves up to force people out of these addictions, but instead we offer our willingness to stand with those seeking to break the chains that bind them, and we offer them the freedom that is ours in Christ the Lord.

It is not enough to undo the straps of the yoke, we must break every yoke, whether injustice, inhumanity or inequity. All this must be done against the backdrop of longing for righteousness that begins through transformation through the salvation that is offered through Christ the Lord. Freedom begins with freedom from condemnation.

Surely, the mandate of Isaiah 61:1 is in view in these words the prophet penned. Surely we are responsible to bring good news to the poor, to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to set the prisoner free. Surely we have here a mandate to preach the message of liberty in Christ, and to live as free people. Surely, because we are a free people we want to share the freedom we have discovered in Christ with all mankind. I cannot stress enough this truth that the Gospel of Christ transforms, but all our efforts can never transform either society or us.

Following the commands to invest ourselves in the society in which we live, God then turns our focus to the response expected of His people toward individual needs. He speaks of sharing our bread with the hungry, of bringing the homeless into our houses, and of covering the naked. This is not a plea to keep the needy individual at arms length through making donations to physical needs, but instead it expects that the changed individual will be willing to get her hands dirty with life. There is this balance that must be provided, however. The prophet speaks of “needs,” not of wants; he speaks of necessity, and not of luxury. We often tend to confuse the two.

This prophetic statement from Isaiah anticipates a later statement from James. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world [James 1:27]. It is tantamount to saying, “Don’t tell me what you believe, show me.” Perhaps you have heard a quote attributed to Francis of Assisi that states this message in an exceptionally powerful manner. “Preach the gospel at all times—if necessary, use words.”[7]

If the people of God will honour Him as Lord of life, they must be prepared to participate in some “messy” ministries. Those who have fallen into addictions and who wish to be free of those addictions —whether addictions to alcohol, to drugs, to pornography, whatever binds an individual—should be free to approach the child of God expecting to receive help. The destitute—not the lazy, but truly destitute individuals—look to God for help. The single parent struggling against an uncaring world should find among the people of God a friend and a people prepared to lend strength and encouragement. I am not suggesting that we are responsible to address every scam arriving on our doorstep, neither are we to feel guilty because of the prattle of con artists, but when we are born from above, we will want to be involved through serving the genuine needs of the hurting people of our world.

Let me be practical for one moment. We do not have the luxury of saying that we “gave at church,” and thereby avoiding the difficult tasks that present themselves daily. Though we may not actually take a needy family into our home, we should be prepared to do precisely that if the need were presented. Perhaps we do not actually have opportunity to feed the destitute or to clothe the naked, but we must be ready to do so if presented with the need. We can, despite the lack of apparent opportunity to fulfil this Scripture, inconvenience ourselves to provide a sympathetic ear to the woman whose husband abuses her, praying with her and endeavouring to offer sound encouragement and advice. The man whose wife is cheating on him needs a friend willing to listen and to pray without condemning him, though always pointing him toward Christ who can heal the broken family. The mother struggling for the soul of her child and against the pull of evil that infiltrates the world will bless you for being a source of strength and godly wisdom.

At last, God reminds us that we must be concerned for our own family. Perhaps you recall Paul’s admonition to Timothy concerning this very issue. The Apostle writes, If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever [1 Timothy 5:8]. There is much that could be said about this, and perhaps much that should be said. It is sufficient to remind husbands that they are responsible to work to “understand” their wives [see 1 Peter 3:7], and to remind wives that they are responsible to be submissive to their own husbands [Colossians 3:18]. Parents, especially fathers, must avoid provoking their children [Colossians 3:21]. These aspects for fulfilling the command should be apparent.

If we understand the Word given through Isaiah, we will recognise that God is far more concerned with who we are becoming than with what we do. As we walk with the Lord we increasingly reflect the character of the Saviour. What is apparent is that if we are unchanged following our “worship,” we have every reason to be concerned that we have not known Christ. We do not do these things in order to become Christians, but rather because we are Christians these concerns will mark our lives.

The Blessings God Promises — I wonder if as a congregation we realise what God is pledged to do? As I read verses eight and nine, I see the divine promise that those who honour God through exhibiting transformed lives will enjoy a new beginning to life, that such people will enjoy personal restoration, that the people thus honouring God will enjoy security, and that they will have a free-flowing relationship with the Lord God.

Carefully consider the promised blessings. I stated that the people that honour God through demonstration of His Spirit will enjoy a new beginning to life. The verse states, Your light will break forth like the dawn. This is poetic language promising that past darkness and past difficulties will be forgotten. God promises to restore the years that the locust has eaten [see Joel 2:25]. God is God of the second chance for all who rest in Him. He is God of the third, the fourth, the thousandth chance, as we continually come to Him seeking His strength and seeking His blessing and endeavouring to honour Him.

God promises personal restoration in speaking of our healing. Perhaps you have heard that a bird with a broken wing will never fly as high. Well, that is not quite correct when it is applied to the wounded saint. Though others may mercilessly tear at your flesh, God will restore you when you honour Him. He will give you His healing. Should you cling to your own stubborn ways, refusing to accept the discipline He sends to you, you will discover only frustration and increased sorrow. However, as you accept the admonition to fulfil His call to reflect His character, He will restore you fully.

God also promises security for His people. His righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Thus surrounded by His righteousness and His glory, the godly saint will walk in confidence, knowing that he or she must certainly succeed. This is an iteration of a great truth found also in Isaiah 52:12.

For you shall not go out in haste,

and you shall not go in flight,

for the Lord will go before you,

and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.

The godly person cannot be defeated. This is the promise of God, for that one wears righteousness as armour. Christ makes many to be accounted righteous [Isaiah 53:11], and so the individual enjoying the security of Christ leans upon the promise of God that no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and also that you shall confute every tongue that rises against you in judgement. This is, after all, the heritage of the servants of the Lord and it is also their vindication from Him [Isaiah 54:17].

Similarly, the godly person enjoys the glorious presence of the Lord guarding him against unforeseen assault as he labours and as he honours the Lord. Among the Psalms is a beautiful Psalm promising God’s protection for His people. This is perhaps Lynda’s favourite Psalm, and it is certainly a Psalm that I love also.

I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord,

who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved;

he who keeps you will not slumber.

Behold, he who keeps Israel

will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper;

the Lord is your shade on your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day,

nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil;

he will keep your life.

The Lord will keep

your going out and your coming in

from this time forth and forevermore.

[Psalm 121:1-8]

The final blessing promised is the blessing of a free-flowing relationship. The promise is that when we call, the Lord will answer, when we cry, He will say, “Here I am.” God gives us the knowledge of His presence, if we are godly and if we quit playing Christian and become Christian. When we cease pretending to be pious, God will transform us; and thus transformed, we will be blessed as we could never imagine.

A church can be an organisation, or it can be a living entity. A church can be a place where people meet for an hour or so once a week, or a church can be the body of Christ bringing compassion and goodness into a hurting world. The decision is ours. We can settle for the status quo (Latin for “the rut we are in”), or we can change who we are. We can either live lives that are detached and uninvolved in the life of a dying world, or we can become the hands of Christ, the feet of Christ, the image of Christ the Lord. Admittedly, I long for the people of God to reveal the heart of Christ through godly lives.

Perhaps you have heard the message and you know that you could never be inconvenienced by the need of others. Perhaps that is because you have never known the love of God in Christ the Lord. If that is you, you need to be born from above and into the Family of God. You need to hear the following verses if you hear nothing else in this message. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved… “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9, 10, 13].

And this is our invitation to you who share this service and hear this message. To believe this Good News of salvation and the forgiveness of sin, to openly identify with the Saviour in His Passion and in His Victory, to walk with His people in full fellowship, you do this day that which honours Him. May God bless you as you decide for Him and as you choose life. Amen.

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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers, 2001. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[2] J. Alec Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah: An Introduction & Commentary (InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, IL 1993) 480

[3] Michael Scott Horton, Made in America (Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI 1991) 56

[4] Horton, op. cit., 70

[5] Reginald W. Bibby, Fragmented Gods (Irwin Publishing, Toronto, ON 1987) 150-175

[6] Horton, op. cit., 70

[7] http://www.quoteworld.org/author.php?thetext=Saint%20Francis%20of%20Assisi, accessed 26 October 2005