Isaiah 58: Week One

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0:00 For the rest of us, we're starting this season of Lent. That's why I put my purple banners up. See, we put the purple banners up two times in the church here. One Lent, the season leading up to the celebration of Easter, and the other Advent leading up to the celebration of the incarnation. That's why we've got Emmanuel and our king back there, the Lenten season. Next six weeks, looking at ourselves as ones who are in need of a savior, recognizing that for whatever reason,

0:35 like we talk with the kids just now, we get convinced that our way, our thinking, our decisions, our approach are better than the gods. Then we make that decision in large and small places. And so the season of Lent is intended to look at, in what ways do we do that, that we might appreciate a savior's coming at Easter? To look at that, I mentioned this, we kicked off Lent this past Wednesday up here.

1:09 We had a little gathering to commemorate Ash Wednesday. And I mentioned there that we're going to look at Isaiah 58 for all six weeks. This is fun for me. So it's a pretty cool chapter of Isaiah. Isaiah is maybe the most famous, and some argue the most important prophet in the Jewish Bible in our Old Testament. Remember that at the time of Isaiah, and the time of the kings

1:40 before the coming of Christ, the death, resurrection, ascension, and the dispatching of the Spirit, when God wanted to talk to people or communicate with them, he would give a special measure of the Spirit to an individual and communicate to that individual the words that he wanted to speak to the nation of Israel or to the world, and that individual would speak on God's behalf. We call those people prophets. Isaiah was probably the most famous prophet of the people of Israel,

2:12 and he spoke at a critical time. It's a long period of time that Isaiah prophesied about, but it's of a critical point in time where Israel is being conquered. They've already split into two kingdoms, the northern and the southern kingdom, and he prophesies a while before the northern kingdom is conquered, and then after they've been conquered, and then he tells Judah, your day is coming, the southern kingdom, your day is coming as well. He prophesies that they will be conquered, then they are. And then once they're conquered, he prophesies that God will bring a return.

2:46 And he has some famous stuff in there, the famous suffering servant. He has some visions God communicates to him somewhat cryptically, but about the coming Messiah, the delivering king, and he has a couple of different foreshadowings of that in his book. And in Isaiah chapter 58, we hear a little bit of God speaking to Isaiah. He starts out by saying, Isaiah, I want you to say this. And then, Isaiah, God communicates to Isaiah that the Israelites are doing the thing,

3:20 they're seeking God, but they feel like their prayers are not being heard. And then he says, God describes to Isaiah why their prayers are not being heard. He's like, while they're fasting, they're also not living up to the way of Jesus. It has a famous phrase in here, the repairs of the breach, the ones who fix what is broken, restoring the streets. Then part of the reason I love this for us in this season of Lent is we'll see over the weeks how it builds towards this call of who the Israelites can be for the world.

3:58 In fact, who they're expected and equipped to be for the world. And I think it's a good, like parallel for what we can be called to be in the world. So for this morning though, I just want to look at the first two verses of Isaiah 58. God speaking to Isaiah, cry aloud, and do not hold back, lift up your voice like a trumpet. A lot of people think that Isaiah was actually in the court that he,

4:33 if you read Second Chronicles, it's the story of King Hezekiah, King Hezekiah was the one good king, well, one of not the only, but one of very few good kings in the history of Israel's kings. And they think Isaiah wrote most of that section of Second Chronicles during Hezekiah's time. He was there with the prior king, I can't remember his name, maybe A has, who was supposed to support Israel and didn't, sided with Babylon against Israel.

5:10 And Isaiah's like, cool, now Israel's conquered and you're alone, but pretty soon Babylon's going to come get you. Of course, then they did. But when the call of God is to Isaiah to say, call, cry aloud, this might be actually just like standing in the court and going, hey, here's what God is saying. You know, we have different stories about the prophets, but like Jeremiah would stand on corner places and cry out to God, right? And these prophets, it's interesting if you try and think about what it would be like,

5:44 if there is no, it's pre-Pentacost, you know, one of the big things about Pentecost is, it says the Holy Spirit will be poured out on all people. You're young and old will have visions. You're young men will see visions and you're old people will dream dreams. Everyone will prophesy it says, men and women young and old, that we have this spirit of God in us. But before Pentecost, they don't. And there are some scriptures, but the scriptures are being written.

6:16 They maybe have the Torah, but it's not read in every household. And so when the prophet stands and gets a word from the creator God and announces it with authority, it feels a certain sort of way. This is why when John the Baptist comes up on the scene, everybody moves out of town to come find this guy in the desert, even though he's wearing camels hair and eating locusts. Why they're all coming to him, why the tax collectors are coming to him, why the soldiers are coming to him, why the Pharisees are coming to him.

6:46 Everybody's coming out to John the Baptist in the desert because they realize this one is a prophet. Why? How do they know that he's a prophet? Has no one spoken on behalf of God before? Sure, people have pontificated, but nobody has spoken with authority. And when they hear John the Baptist speaking with authority as a prophet, that there hasn't been one for 400 years, everybody can feel the difference. And it demands a response. And so when he says repent and be baptized, they do.

7:19 And then the others get infuriated and leave because when God speaks, it demands a response. And so God tells Isaiah, wherever you got to stand, get out there and cry out in a way that demands a response. It's fascinating to me that God has called Abram by nothing, shepherded the family through generations, ushered them into Egypt to protect them from famine, multiplied their nation underneath Pharaoh, a domineering country, defeated Egypt, brought them out of Egypt, right, through

7:54 visited with them on Sinai, given them a map of the heavenly city, structured a sacrificial system so that they could enter into the presence of God and receive forgiveness and start again, positioned them in Israel as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. And he's done everything for them and they keep thinking they know better. And though in large and small ways Israel thinks they know better,

8:29 God continues to call out to them. Isaiah, get somewhere where you can be heard. Cry aloud to the people. Let them know they've left the way. I don't know what it takes for God to communicate his ideas to Isaiah. I've said it before. It must take some kind of like, I have trouble taking an idea

9:00 and communicating it in a way anyone could understand, right? Yeah. Now I have trouble. All I have to do is like see Ellie's geometry homework to know I have trouble explaining something to someone who doesn't understand it yet. I get it here. How do I get it out over here? Can you imagine what it takes for the unbounded infinite God to communicate an idea to us?

9:39 And even after all the work, I say get out there and cry out so they can hear you man. Let's say if we can't get him back, right? Okay. 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. Remember that the first problem of humanity, of the very first ones,

10:09 was that God had given them everything and says, okay, I've made this world and you out of the nothing. What did you do to get here? You did nothing to get here. I called you fourth. Why? Because I'd like to have you here. Now here's how it goes. You take care of the place. I'll be God. You be this like capstone of creation. Let me handle the future.

10:41 Let me protect your present. Let me provide everything that you need in the garden. Let me describe the way the two of you should work together in the world. Let me be the God. Let me set the parameters for your success. You live inside those parameters to your best life. And the humanity does what? Sounds great.

11:12 I like your job better. I'd rather decide the future. I'd rather set the parameters. I'd rather have control. I'd rather have power. I'd rather define how I want to relate to these other people. Forget you. I'll do it. And when humanity tries to take the responsibility, tries to assume the role of God, when the creature tries to be the creator, it crushes them.

11:42 They were living fine. It says the story at the end of the garden says they were naked and felt no shame, which always made me giggle as a kid. But now I know, complete vulnerability without shame. Completely comfortable in roles and relationships.

12:14 100% themselves with work to do that mattered. Fantastic. And... It's not enough. Not enough. This is what God is reminding Israel of through Isaiah.

12:45 And maybe you through the text this morning. The transgressions and the sins are the little places, or maybe the large ones, where you have decided you make a better God than the God. You might have like specific instances of this, where there's a way in which relationships are intended to walk and go and operate,

13:16 where God says love like this and it will go best for you and you love like this. Or there may be specific places where in your work where you are intended to work and God says, look, there's no authority, but in heaven on earth, but that given by God. Submit and follow the rules and you don't. You're out over here. I remember when I was in college and I thought about this and I had a job,

13:46 maintenance man job, where I had to turn in my hours. And like... I mean, I could adjust those a little bit. You know, just to bump it up here or there. Because I mean, I'm making $10 an hour and I got to pay for everything off of that. And I'm pretty good at my job. But I didn't have the courage. I mean, I'm not fudging tens of hours.

14:19 Right? Fudging maybe five of hours. Maybe if you add it up over a pay period, you know, an hour here, an hour there. Until I started to think, I wonder if God needs me to make up five hours in order to provide for me. Probably not. Probably the extra $50 that I was fudging isn't what God doesn't need my help to take care of me, right? To cheat.

14:56 He can take care of me without my cheating. I remember in school deciding that as well. I would like perfection. Because then I would have be exhibiting as much control over my future as I could. But my hunch is God doesn't need me to cheat in school in order to line up a future that I like. He could take care of me without it. You might have instances of sin or transgressions or you might have like patterns of thinking.

15:28 Let's say my future is secure because I've stacked up the dollars that tell me they are secure. I deserve love from this person because I provide for them in this way. I'm good enough to be loved because you might have patterns of thinking. God tells Isaiah, call out to Israel and remind them of their transgressions and their sins.

16:02 The ways in which they try and take control and be God. The large and small. Verse 2. Yet they seek me daily, he says, in delight to know my ways. As if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of God. They ask me, they ask of me righteous judgments. They delight to draw near to God.

16:36 This is where this kind of got me a little bit. I did a little bit of research. These two phrases, they delight to know my ways and they delight to draw near to God. They seek me daily and delight to know my ways and they delight to draw near to God. I was thinking why are they seeking God daily?

17:10 Some of us in the room maybe are in a season of life where we are seeking God daily. Treasure it. Everything goes in seasons. I am not currently Beth. I'm just not. I have been in the past. I'm not right now. I'm not in a place where I am like intentionally focused on seeking God daily. I'd like to be, but I'm not. And I was thinking about why that is and why do they seek God daily?

17:44 And the Psalm, well one first Psalm that came to mind was the Psalm that Marty read for us as our call to worship. Why do they seek God daily? And in Psalm 16, David says, you make known to me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Lovely. Fullness of joy. In God's presence we learn the path of life that we get the fullness of joy and pleasures.

18:25 Psalm 46 says, God is our refuge and our strength and ever present help in trouble. We might seek God because we need some joy or some pleasures. We might need to know the direction for life. The path of life. We might seek God because we need some hope in the midst of trouble. Exodus says that God's presence will go with us and will give us rest.

19:02 We might seek God's presence because we need to know the path for life. We might need the fullness of joy. We might need some pleasures in life. Be able to see them and take them in. We might seek God because we need hope in the midst of trouble. We might seek God because for heaven's sake we need some rest that restores. God tells Isaiah, they're seeking me daily.

19:35 I can see why. Joy, hope, rest, path for life. Is that where it is? Is God where those things are? If that's true, what the heck else am I doing? Where else am I looking for joy, the fullness of joy?

20:07 Where else am I looking for the path to life, the hope in trouble, the rest that I need? If it's in God's presence, why isn't I seeking him? It also says that they delight to draw near to God. In James, James says, when you draw near to God, he will draw near to you.

20:40 If God is where joy, hope, rest are found and I seek him, like the New Testament says he's there. Think about even this passage that we're reading. God is after all the work. I won't recount it for you, but a lot. Remember from Babel through the wandering Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, through the desert,

21:15 the Red Sea, Sinai, across the Jordan River, through the conquering of the lands, amongst the judges and the kings. God has continued to find them in the sacrifices and the temple and they continue to abandon him. Until now, Isaiah, chapter 58, and he's still calling out to them. Hey, why are you looking other places for these things? God is looking for you, calling for you.

21:50 If we look at all, he says, we'll find him, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Why would they delight to draw near to God? This famous one of the best little verses in Matthew, chapter 5 or chapter 11, sorry, not 5 at all, Matthew, chapter 11, Jesus said, come to me all who labor and are heavy laden

22:27 and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I'm gentle and lowly of heart and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. I can see why they would delight in the presence of God. His yoke is easy and his burden is light and I would like a easy yoke and a light burden. And what we're going to find is that I don't know if you part of the reason I'm not in a season

23:01 of seeking God right now is because I didn't really always see how it paid off. It wasn't this, like I get the rest from God, yeah, but it's not quite like the rest of like Netflix marathon. You know, it's just not.

23:36 This is why we have lent one of the, I, there's this guy that worked for us at Holy Cross for a while that used to like to try and define faith, what faith is. He had a couple different ways of doing it, but he would talk about faith isn't, if you want to have faith in your car, it's not just looking at your car and going, yes, that car can get me wherever it wants to go and then when it's time to go somewhere walking.

24:10 That's not faith in your car. I don't know if you've looked at your engine lately, but there's so many little things in there that all have to work in sequence. It would take faith in a card to get in and turn the key or push the button and step on it and get on the road and there's all those people out there and the confidence that your car, my granddad loved old cars and he always worked on him. He said, every, a whole year car is so fun. You never know if it's going to get you where it's going to go. Everybody else is boring. There's a moment where you decide this thing's going to work. I'm going to go with it

24:51 and part of the ways that we seek God is not just like admiring or considering, but it's putting the way of God into action, betting on the way of God. I'm going to try kindness, forgiveness, generosity. What we're going to find is God says, these people seek me and they don't find me because they're not actually seeking me.

25:23 They're just acting like they are. And God says, I care about them enough to call out to them in their sin and transgression and invite them to seek me honestly with their life. Bet on me. The invitation of Lent is for you underneath the banner of a God who is desperately seeking for you, who has given everything to get

26:01 you under the banner of the God who is committed to you. Under that banner, consider honestly your false faith, your iniquity and sin. Repentance is a great gift. Conviction is a great gift because it ends with forgiveness and the presence of God where we find joy, hope,

26:35 path, rest. I pray that this Lent is a fruitful season for you, that you remember again how to seek God and delight in his presence. Let's pray that we might. Hey Lord, thank you for the people gathered here. Thank you for this season of Lent. Set us off on a path of repentance and forgiveness, that we might be people who seek you and delight to be found in your presence,

27:07 that we know your joy, your peace, your rest, your direction for our life. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.