Compartmentalized Faith

“Cry out loudly, don’t hold back! Raise your voice like a trumpet. Tell My people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. They seek Me day after day and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not abandon the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.” “Why have we fasted, but You have not seen? We have denied ourselves, but You haven’t noticed! ” “Look, you do as you please on the day of your fast, and oppress all your workers. You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today, hoping to make your voice heard on high. Will the fast I choose be like this: A day for a person to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the Lord? Isn’t the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood? Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the Lord’s glory will be your rear guard. At that time, when you call, the Lord will answer; when you cry out, He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you get rid of the yoke among you, the finger-pointing and malicious speaking, and if you offer yourself to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted one, then your light will shine in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.” (Isaiah‬ ‭58‬:‭1‬-‭10‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

There’s a common analogy used to describe men and women, men are like waffles and women are like spaghetti. The intent and implication of the analogy is to illustrate how men tend to compartmentalize their lives, including their thoughts and actions,  and women don’t. In other words, men don’t make any link between their thoughts, words, actions and relationships but women see intricate connections in all of those things. For example, men don’t see how being preoccupied with work and inattentive to their wives or girlfriends is reflective of their true feelings for them. The men just see their preoccupation and inattentive actions as reflective of a busy day or pressing priorities while the women see how all of these things impact their feelings and relationship.

In similar fashion, we tend to compartmentalize our religious beliefs and practices. We never make the connection between the first four commandments (about God and worship) and the last six commandments (about relationships and interactions). We don’t see a connection between the commands regarding God, worship and how we live out our lives on a daily basis. We think that if we just mechanically and meticulously do the things God commands then He’s somehow obligated to reward and bless us. We never make the connection between our head, heart and hands – what we believe, desire and do. This is the very issue Jesus addresses in His Sermon on the Mount regarding murder (Matt. 5:21-26), adultery (5:27-30), marriage (5:31-32), oaths (5:33-37), justice/grace (5:38-42), and loving others (5:43-48). 

Isaiah is called to sound off like a “trumpet” in order to bring attention to this problem in his people’s lives. If you’re not paying attention, you’ll miss the irony and sarcasm in God’s tone. Notice, God wants him to address His people’s transgression and the house of Jacob’s sins. Now listen to the accusation: “They seek Me day after day and delight to know My ways, like a nation that does what is right and does not abandon the justice of their God. They ask Me for righteous judgments; they delight in the nearness of God.” At first glance, it’s hard to see anything wrong. The irony and sarcasm ring loudly in the word “like”: “like a nation that does what is right and doesn’t abandon justice.”

Remember the disconnect I mentioned above, they have not connected their religious fervor to their daily living. They’ve not made the connection between wanting to experience God and in doing God’s will. They have religious fervor “as if” they were a nation that does what is right and hasn’t abandoned God’s justice. Can you hear the divine irony and sarcasm dripping from those words? They perform all the religious rites meticulously but they have forsaken the meaning and intent behind them. They claim to seek God day after day and seem eager to know His ways but it is all a facade. It is just a mask they put on before God but one that is pushed aside when they interact with others.

Oh church, are we willing to hear the warning of the prophet? He may shout like a trumpet blast, but we are often deaf to God’s condemning tone. We know Jesus leveled His greatest condemnation against the hypocritical Pharisees, but we fail to see ourselves in their actions. God will NOT reward our religious fervor, diligent church attendance, pious prayers or sacrificial giving if it is unaccompanied by daily obedience to His demands for justice, humility and mercy. You can’t truly be seeking God while ignoring the very characteristics that define His very essence. 

Notice how their feigned obedience demonstrates itself in their worship: “Why have we fasted, but You have not seen? We have denied ourselves, but You haven’t noticed!” They complain to God that they worship Him through fasting, sacrificing their innate desires and living with hunger, but He doesn’t even notice. Their complaint is clearly indicative of their heart and mindset. “I’m devoted to God and I sacrifice my desires by fasting often but God doesn’t even notice.” Is that true devotion? Is that really a sacrifice? Doesn’t God deserve our devotion and sacrifice without a direct personal benefit flowing from that worship?

I think it is important to note that the only required fast for God’s people is a part of the Day of Atonement worship. It did become common for the people to include fasting as a part of other acts of worship, but there’s only one required fasting day in the Mosaic law. The one day that was set aside for a somber worship, a vivid reminder, humble confession and costly sacrifice for their sin included a fast but the other holy days were celebrations, reminders of God’s deliverance and sustaining grace which included a feast.

We try to obligate God to hear our prayers, fulfill our desires and meet our demands by feigning worship. But the God who is able to hear our prayers also knows our hearts. The God who is able to fulfill our desires sees where our loyalty and love lies. The God who desires to satisfy our deepest needs knows the truth behind our feigned acts of worship. Most often we don’t pursue Him because of who He is and what He deserves. We pursue Him because of who we are and what we desire. Then we get upset when He ignores our fake acts of worship: “We fast, but you don’t see us. We deny ourselves, but you ignore our sacrifice.”

Listen to His next accusation, “You fast with contention and strife to strike viciously with your fist. You cannot fast as you do today, hoping to make your voice heard on high. Will the fast I choose be like this: A day for a person to deny himself, to bow his head like a reed, and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and a day acceptable to the LORD?” While they claimed that their fast was a day of self-denial, humility and sacrifice it was really a day of selfish contention and fighting amongst themselves. THAT’S THE POINT! You can’t claim to know and be truly worshipping God and then living your life any way you want.

Be careful! I know what happens at this point. You start thinking about all those people you know who claim faith in Christ but don’t live the way you think they should. This isn’t about them, this is about YOU. God uses these words to cause me to hear His Spirit at work with my spirit showing me all the ways I fail Him in this area. Do you have ears to hear Him? Do you have eyes to see what He’s wanting to do in you through the truth of these words? Let Him be the judge of men’s hearts and actions as we strive for obedience. 

For those of you who may be living a lifestyle that is in direct opposition to God’s word, be aware that you and your worship may be viewed by God in this same way. I know, I know… you want to point out how many people claim Christ but are not being loving, kind, humble, or are not caring for others. They are accountable before God for their actions, but you are accountable before God for yours. Don’t make them your standard of obedience, make Jesus your standard. Be careful about claiming to seek Him, to love Him, to desire His will when you really just want Him to approve of your life choices. As you can see in this passage, He doesn’t work that way. He rejects religiosity and pious acts that ignore the greater call to walk in complete obedience to Him by seeking justice, walking humbly and being merciful. 

Let me make this very blunt and direct: Anyone who claims to follow Christ but doesn’t strive to live in obedience to God’s Word in all areas of life is lying to himself and to God (see 1 John 2:3-6).

We’ve been looking at the negative aspects of our focal passage, but now it shifts and we begin to hear the positive aspects. God lays out the kind of fast that’s pleasing to Him: “Isn’t the fast I choose: To break the chains of wickedness, to untie the ropes of the yoke, to set the oppressed free, and to tear off every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the poor and homeless into your house, to clothe the naked when you see him, and not to ignore your own flesh and blood?”

Let me be a bit forward here, the idea of a “social gospel” has always been a bit of tripping hazard for many conservative Christians. But any claim to having a Biblical view of the Gospel that Jesus preached and charged His church to preach MUST include the elements cited above. There’s simply no way around that. As He stated: “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you took care of Me; I was in prison and you visited Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or without clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You? ’ “And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’” (Matthew‬ ‭25‬:‭34‬-‭40‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

Notice the outcome of living in obedience to God’s word in these things: “Then your light will appear like the dawn, and your recovery will come quickly. Your righteousness will go before you, and the LORD’s glory with be your rear guard.” That’s just Old Testament language for: “In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬ ‭HCSB‬‬) We are called to be a light in this dark world and Isaiah says that light is not only visible but shines like the sun when it rises when we are obedient in these things.

But there’s more in this than just turning on a light. The wording in this verse is: “your light will burst forth like the dawn.” An entirely new you will appear like the dawning of a brand new day. What had been dark and dead is now bursting with light and life. Then, “your recovery will come quickly.” This phrase is all about healing what was once broken or seething with infection like new healthy skin and tissue for an open wound. Next, you are secure because right living or righteousness is your forward guard and the LORD’s glory is your rear guard. As people see you approaching, they see how you are living out your faith and as you finish ministering to them, they see God’s glory in what you’ve done.

Maybe you didn’t catch all of that, but that is the gospel in a nutshell. When your life is surrendered completely to God then His light bursts out of you with new life like a new day dawning. Then He begins healing all of the brokenness in you and causing new skin to grow over and heal open emotional and relational wounds. Next, you begin to walk in obedience to His word and His righteousness becomes evident in your life and people begin to sense and then see the change in you and your daily life. Finally, God is glorified by this new man or woman that has burst forth onto the scene and is living for Him and loving on others. That, my friends, is what Paul calls a new creation in Christ: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

Finally, when we begin to worship fully and live obediently in proper relationship with God and others then our calls to Him will not go unanswered. When we cry out He will respond: ‘Here I am.’ The emphasis here is on God’s personal response to our calling. For God to respond in a personal way to our needs, He expects us to respond in a personal way to the needs of others. The previous declaration of His response is qualified by an “if” statement, a condition of obedience. I am here and I will respond personally to you and to your cries for help when you are willing to draw near to my heart, hear the cries of others and respond personally to their struggles. 

We are to do several things: 1) drop the yoke of personal oppression we place on others; 2) stop the finger-pointing and malicious talk about others; 3) give yourself and your own food to the hungry; 4) and meet the needs of the downtrodden (afflicted one). These things all tie back to the God’s personal response to your cries. He expects us to respond in a personal way to the needs we encounter. My boyhood pastor always said, “to be aware of a need and to have the means to meet that need constitutes a divine call to do so.” While my pastor based his words of encouragement on James 2:15-17, it is just as applicable to these words in Isaiah. 

Don’t miss this, the emphasis in these verses is our personal response to their needs because of God’s personal response to our needs and our cries flowing out of our obedience. Our righteousness is the direct result of and flows out of God’s righteousness and it is followed by His glory! 

“Then your light will shine in the darkness, and your night will be like noonday.”

When you are overwhelmed with life, overcome with sadness, feeling down and out then begin to give yourself to others who are in need. It has an amazing ability to heal the soul and put us in touch with our God. Your righteousness will go before you and His glory will be your rear guard. Your light will shine in the darkness and your night will be like noonday!