When Lent Becomes Lint (When Religious Activity Becomes Empty Ritual)
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Some believers take 46 days (40 days if you don’t count Sundays) before the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior to fast, pray and seek to prepare their hearts for what God wants to do in their lives as they approach Resurrection Sunday.
Some believers do not approach these 46 days any differently than they approach the other 310 days of the year.
Regardless of how you do or do not recognize “LENT” it is VITALLY important that our walk with God and the spiritual disciplines we do observe do not become mere “religious activity” and “empty ritual.”
God wants our hearts transformed by His Word and His Spirit and by the LOVE of the Lord Jesus.
Spiritual transformation will not happen by simply adding things to our “to-do list”, but by having our hearts transformed by the beauty and the power of the cross.
The problem is human nature is the same today as it was 2-3,000 years ago. In Isaiah’s day people went through the “religious motions” and used “religious words” while they were living in rebellion to God and mistreating others.
Today many people are doing the same thing. Many people go to church, observe certain religious rituals, give tithes and offerings, attend Bible Studies, while gossiping about others, and mistreat their families. Somehow in their mind they think everything is ok because they are “doing religious stuff” but Isaiah 58 tells a different story.
Just as LENT is a time of fasting for some, L-E-N-T can turn into L-I-N-T...
LINT is worthless and so is empty, meaningless religious activity. LENT can turn into LINT...
When You Think Going Through Religious Motions Makes Your Rebellion OK (vv. 1-2)
When You Think Going Through Religious Motions Makes Your Rebellion OK (vv. 1-2)
“Cry aloud; do not hold back;
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
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.
In this passage of Scripture God commanded Isaiah to lift his voice and “cry aloud.” He didn’t want Isaiah to hold anything back.
He wanted Isaiah to tell His people about their “transgressions” and “sins.” They were committing CRIMES against God!
While they were LIVING COMFORTABLY IN SIN they continued to “seek God daily” (v. 2) and said they delighted to know God’s ways. One translation translates this verse this way:
“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.” (NIV)
Notice the little phrase “as if” in verse 2…They acted “as if” everything was ok. They acted “as if” they were a nation that was doing righteousness. They acted “as if” they were not living in rebellion and were in actuality drawing near to God.
GOD IS NOT IMPRESSED WITH OUR ACTING JOB AND HE ISN’T FOOLED BY OUR PRETENDING!
If we think that “going through the motions” makes everything ok we are desperately wrong!
As a matter of fact God had already dealt with this hypocritical worship in Isaiah 1
“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
and the fat of well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
or of lambs, or of goats.
Bring no more vain offerings;
incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts
my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands,
I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood.
“LENT” becomes “LINT” when you think your “Religious Motions” make your rebellion Ok, but also...
When You Think Your Religious Words Excuse Your Selfish Actions (vv. 3-5)
When You Think Your Religious Words Excuse Your Selfish Actions (vv. 3-5)
‘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.
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.
Notice their “religious vocabulary”
They were talking about:
Fasting (v. 3)
Humility (v. 3)
At the end of their fasting and pretend humility they asked the question, “Why have we fasted, and you see it not?” In other words they were saying, “We’ve done all this religious stuff, we act humble, we have fasted…God it doesn’t seem like you notice. It doesn’t seem like we are better off. It doesn’t seem like we are getting what we want!”
It sounds like they wanted God to be their “genie in a bottle.” It seems like they thought it they did STEPS 1, 2 & 3 then God would do A, B & C.
Even though they had the religious vocabulary of FASTING and HUMILITY God was looking beyond their words and looking at their HEARTS and the actions that were flowing from their hearts!
They were talking about “fasting” and “humility” but how were they living?
They were seeking selfish pleasures at the expense of others (v. 3)
They were still quarreling and fighting and doing violence to others (v. 4)
God clearly says in verse 4: “Fasting like yours this day WILL NOT MAKE YOUR VOICE TO BE HEARD ON HIGH.”
There is a WRONG way to fast and a RIGHT way to fast! Fasting for the sake of “religious ritual” and to “check boxes” does not please God.
Notice also
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?
God asks them some more questions. They were going through the MOTIONS of humility. They had the POSTURE of humility (bowing your head down like a reed). They had the APPEARANCE of humility (sackcloth and ashes)...
BUT THEY WERE ANYTHING BUT HUMBLE! Remember...
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
This leads us to ask what the SOLUTION is. How do we keep L-E-N-T from becoming L-I-N-T?
The Solution
The Solution
One website said:
Lent is a time for us to focus on realigning our hearts with the Lord Jesus’s heart. It is a time for repentance, a time for a changing direction. This should be accompanied by a concrete expression of our faith in Jesus. (Ministry Pass)
Notice that again: “This should be accompanied by a concrete expression of our faith in Jesus.”
Isaiah proceeds to show us some examples of what these “concrete expressions” might look like:
Helping Those in Bondage Find Freedom (v. 6)
Helping Those in Bondage Find Freedom (v. 6)
“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?
Unfortunately many of those undergoing these religious rituals were guilty of hurting and enslaving others.
We have been called to “loose the chains of injustice” (NIV).
We have been called to “let the oppressed go free” (ESV).
This may look very different in 2021 than it looked in Isaiah’s day. When we see injustice we should seek to do something about it! God is a God of justice and we should be people of justice!
When we see people being oppressed by the system, or by others, or we see people being taken advantage of we should seek to point them to FREEDOM and a better way!
There are people who still treat certain ethnicities, people with certain disabilities, people with certain income levels like ANIMALS rather than treating them as a special creation of God, who were created in God’s image and whom the Lord Jesus Christ died for!
IF FASTING DOESN’T LEAD US TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS AS OURSELVES WE ARE DOING IT WRONG!
I love what one commentator said:
The love of God must show itself in love of one’s neighbor. Godliness is shown not by appearing outwardly pious, but by being sensitive to the sufferings of people. (Willem A. VanGemeren)
Love for our neighbor is not only seen in trying to bring freedom and justice to society, but it is also seen in...
Practice Unselfish Generosity (v. 7)
Practice Unselfish Generosity (v. 7)
Those who know Christ and are growing in Him should be known for their “unselfish generosity.” Notice again verse 7...
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?
Solomon mentions this to his son in Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker,
but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
When you and I are generous to needy people we are HONORING the GENEROUS God who has been generous to us.
Don’t forget what Jesus said in
And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
Also notice the last part of verse 7…not hide yourself from your own flesh!
Alec Motyer said that we can become so socially clearsighted that we become domestically nearsighted. We must be all that God intends for us to be at HOME! Living for Christ and obeying Him does not lead us to neglect our God given responsibilities as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers.
It’s obvious the children of Israel were looking for results. However, the results they were looking for and the result they need from God may have been two different things. Regardless God does say that if they would approach fasting the RIGHT way for the RIGHT reason and it RESULT IN THE RIGHT ACTIONS they would see some results. Notice some of those with me as we begin in verse 8...
The Results (vv. 8ff)
The Results (vv. 8ff)
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.
Alec Motyer said that the Lord promised to respond with a...
New Beginning
New Beginning
It would be a “new day” for them spiritually. Must like the breaking of the dawn (see v. 8a, 10b). Their light would shine BRIGHTER! They would be a city on a hill! They would reflect God’s glory, not be going through the motions, but by letting God transform them from the inside out and let that transformation change their actions to reflect God and His love!
Secondly he says there would be a
Personal Restoration
Personal Restoration
Their wounds and disabilities would be healed (v. 8b). The healing referenced here is about “new flesh” growing over an “old wound.”
It refers to repairing something that has been broken.
We all need the healing that God alone can provide. Whether it be physical healing, mental healing, emotional healing and/or spiritual healing God can provide the healing that we need in His way and in His time for His glory!
However, they wanted the “healing of God” without the “God of the healing.”
The personal restoration that God wants to give you is a HEALING that takes place in your soul. Although it may manifest as physical healing, it may not. But God knows the HEALING we need and the healing that is best for us!
His Security
His Security
Once again I quote Alec Motyer:
Thirdly, he will give security with righteousness as a protective advance guard and glory as a rearguard (52:12). The Lord provides righteousness (53:11; 54:17) and the believer wears it as an armour (Rom. 13:12; 2 Cor. 6:7). The glory of the Lord is the personal presence of the Lord in all his glory, his presence in every place (6:3); here, his guardianship of his own.
We know God is omnipresent, and as NT believers we know that He is always with us in the person of the Holy Spirit, but it seems that this promise goes even beyond that. To know that God in all of His glory is with us and guarding us is a pretty awesome thing to realize.
Unhindered Prayer (v. 9)
Unhindered Prayer (v. 9)
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,
Clarity When Life Gets Dark (vv. 10-11a)
Clarity When Life Gets Dark (vv. 10-11a)
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.
God does not necessarily take away the dark times in our lives, even as a result of the right kind of fasting. But what He does do is provide LIGHT and GUIDANCE for the way.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.
Divine Supply (v. 11)
Divine Supply (v. 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.
Again this doesn’t mean the parched places will not come, but it does mean that He will provide what we need in those parched places! God often shows up when the situation seems to be bleak and hopeless. He provides STRENGTH and provides a SPRING of water! As NT believers we know that we have a SPRING of living water in our souls in the person of the Holy Spirit!
Restoration and Recovery
Restoration and Recovery
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.
The may be a reference to what God would do after the Babylonian Captivity.
In this passage we see and hear a lot about JUSTICE. God wants us to be people of Justice and people that promote JUSTICE.
This should cause us to reflect and think about all of the INJUSTICES in our world. The greatest injustice of all took place 2,000 years ago. The Lord Jesus Christ experienced INJUSTICE by receive the JUSTICE we deserved. As one website said:
What we must see is the beauty of all beauties—the Lord of all creation humbling himself to the point of death on a cross for others. The Lord of all creation not only suffered for us, but he suffers with us. On the cross we see that the God of justice experienced injustice. His trial and execution were highly unjust. Jesus became oppressed so that we might become spiritually rich in him. And so that we might live out his justice in the world today. (Ministry Pass)