BELIEVERS WORSHIP GOD WITH REVERENCE AND AWE
Isaiah 58:5-9a - February 8, 2004
ISAIAH 58:5-9a
5Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?
6"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
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Dearest Christian Friends and Fellow-Redeemed:
Sunday is always a special day. Believers enjoy Sunday as a special day, because it is an opportunity and a privilege for us to gather together to be able to hear God’s Word and to sing praises to our Heavenly Father. Today, we also are reminded that not only is Sunday a special day, but everyday is to be a special day. Every day is a day that the Lord has given us to live by His grace. Any day is a day in which we can always sing praises to God. That is the point that Isaiah is making for us this morning. We don’t want to think that Sunday is our only day of worship. The Lord wants us to realize that worship is more than a day--it is a way of life. In the book of Hebrews the writer says: "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe"(HEBREWS 12:28). God gives us the reason why we are thankful. He gives us the reason why we worship the Lord God with reverence and awe, because the Lord has provided for each one of us, just as He has provided for every believer, a kingdom that cannot be shaken. God has provided us eternity in heaven. The people during the time of Isaiah had forgotten that. So it is that as the Lord reminds them as he reminds us this morning:
BELIEVERS WORSHIP GOD WITH REVERENCE AND AWE
I. With reverence and awe more than on one day
II. With reverence and awe worship is a way of life
I. Worship is more than one day
If you were to look at the first verses of Isaiah, chapter 58, you would find that the prophet talks about fasting and how the people had abused it. Now, fasting was a ritual observance, an observance where people went without food as a sign that they were humble before God. They went without food so that they might focus their attention on the worship that was to take place. But what had happened is that it became just that. It became just a ritual, something for them to do. So Isaiah, as our text begins, asks them a question: 5Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? The people of the Old Testament were given the commandment--remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. So they were anxious to keep that one day holy. Isaiah says, "Is this only one day to be kept holy? Is this how you prepare yourself by fasting and getting ready for one day?"
There were more problems than that. He goes on: Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? As you look real close at these words, you realize that people were doing this in order that others may notice them just as one notices a reed that is bent in the wind and ready to break off. Isaiah says that the people would bow their heads when people would notice and that they would lie on sackcloth and ashes that other people would notice. Again, they were doing all these things to worship God only in an outward way. They had forgotten the importance in their hearts of the importance of the heart of worship. Isaiah writes: Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? He comes back to that and mentions it a couple of times in our text. They were so stuck on that one day--the Sabbath Day--that they had forgotten the importance of God’s unshakable kingdom.
So if they did not know it, Isaiah describes for them what fasting ought to be: 6"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? He says that was what fasting was to symbolize, not being bound by chains, not being under the yoke and the burden of the law, but set free. They were to remind themselves just as the Lord God had delivered them from the bondage of the Egyptians into the Promised Land, so He had delivered them from sin and death and the devil. They had come to worship just simply because the commandment said to remember the Sabbath Day. They had come to worship to do what they thought God wanted done instead of realizing that God had done what He wanted done. God had set them free.
As we look at the children of Israel and see this warning, there is also a warning for us that our worship doesn’t just become something that we feel we have to do or that we worship out of a mindless, unthinking routine. We know that our sinful nature tries to distract us all the time, and certainly Satan tries to diminish our joy and worship. We are distracted too by the cares in this world thinking ahead of things that we might need to do this week. As we go through our forms of liturgy, sometimes we pray the Lord’s Prayer without much thought. So the Lord says to us to remember to come with reverence and awe. He warned the scribes and Pharisees in the New Testament: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men" (MATTHEW 15:8,9). We are to come near to worship God not only with our bodies and our lips but also, especially our hearts.
Today, the Lord reminds us that you and I have been given an unshakable kingdom so that we come before God with reverence and awe. We come before God with hearts that are to be prepared to give Him our best, to give Him our undivided attention. Only you know that yourself. When David was anointed as king, Samuel went through all the sons of Jesse before finally anointing David, the youngest, as king. This was simply what the Lord wanted. The Lord reminds us: "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart (1 SAMUEL 16:7b). So the Lord looks at our hearts. The Lord knows our motives and intentions. The Lord knows when we come before Him with our very best. The Lord knows if we come to worship only on Sunday or if it becomes a way of life for each one of us. The Lord knows us inside and out and the Lord cannot be deceived.
We are reminded that just as Isaiah says our day of worship, which he calls a day of fasting, but our day of worship is a day in which we are reminded of our freedom in this world--not freedom from all the earthly things that might bother us or plague us, but freedom from condemnation, freedom from being punished forever in hell. Paul writes to the believers at Rome: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death"(ROMANS 8:1,2). We have freedom because now we walk in New Testament times in the law of Christ. The law of Christ is the law of Christian love. This law of Christian love is not the law of the Old Testament; not the law of sin and death that says, "You must do." It is the law of Christian freedom where we want to do.
So it is that we gather together on Sundays and special days with reverence and awe to worship God, and not only on just one day; but it becomes for us a way of life.
II. Worship is a way of life
Isaiah wanted these people to be reminded of the fact that their living was really an act of worship. It could not be put into just one category that the Sabbath Day is one day for worship and the rest of the days were for just living according to the world. He explained to them what that meant. Isaiah stated first of all their motivation is that they have been set free. The yoke (burden of the law) had been taken off. Because of that, Isaiah describes true fasting: 7Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? He gives them this list that are really acts of worship. We might call them acts of Christian love, and they are. They are also acts of worship. Isaiah doesn’t name anyone in particular. He says that you would share your food with those who are hungry, give shelter to the wanderer and clothe the naked whoever that might be. You may recall for yourselves the man who came to Jesus in the New Testament. He said he had done everything. Jesus said, "Love your neighbor as yourself." He said, "Who is my neighbor?" This man betrayed himself by showing to Jesus he wasn’t going to love his neighbor, acting as if he did not know who his neighbor was. That was an act of worship that he wasn’t willing to do. It was a way of life in which he did not want to walk. Then Isaiah writes very specifically, you are not to turn away from your own flesh and blood. Your neighbor is to be taken care of and also your family.
The result of doing this daily worship in Christian love reminds us of the Epiphany blessing that we study: 8Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear. Isaiah said they would be lights in the world because of their acts of worship. They would be lights in the world because of their living faith. So it was the children of Israel were known as people who followed the Lord God Almighty. They were known as that because they didn’t worship other gods. They were known as that because they followed the Lord God Almighty, and they were healed. They were provided with forgiveness.
Then he gives them another blessing: your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. He says those who walk in the path of righteousness are going to find righteousness surrounding them and the Lord protecting them from behind. They would be kept in the loving care of an ever-loving God. It was important for the people to hear that, because from time to time Isaiah had to pronounce God’s judgment on them as they disobeyed. They did not care to hear God’s Word. They didn’t care sometimes to follow God’s Word. The Lord reminded them through Isaiah: "But if you daily live in Christian love, this is an act of worship. You will enjoy the blessings of God." (We are going to talk about God’s blessings more next Sunday.)
The Isaiah concludes our text by saying: 9Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. The children of Israel throughout their history realized from time to time they walked away from God; and yet, they could call and the Lord would say, "Here am I." Isaiah very boldly tells them that thinking their day of worship was limited to one day was wrong. The people would not limit their calling to the Lord to one day. The people did certainly did not reserve the Sabbath Day as the only time they could call on the Lord. They realized that they could call to the Lord any day, every day, any time of day; and He would say, "Here am I." So it is that Isaiah as our text concludes for us reminds them that their worship of God in reverence and awe is to be a way of life. Just as they could call on the name of the Lord any and every day, and so they could worship God any and every day.
The Lord gives us Himself to provide us eternal life. The Lord gives us Himself to provide us an example of how we might show our acts of worship in this sinful world. We live in a world that is very self-centered. We live in a world that doesn’t care much about anybody else. But what has the Lord shown us? From Lamentations we read: "Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (LAMENTATIONS 3:22,23). We look to the Lord and realize that God’s faithfulness is great. We look to the Lord and realize His mercies are new every morning.
Because of God’s faithfulness and mercy, we are able to show God’s mercies to our family. We are able to show God’s mercies to those around us. We are able to worship God day in and day out as a way of life. The Lord tells us how we can do that. From Galatians he says: "Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ"(GALATIANS 6:2). So he talks about that law of Christ again--the law of Christian love. Our acts of worship are doing just as Isaiah encouraged these believers to help the poor, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to take care of our families. We might not look at them as acts of worship where we sit down to specifically praise God, but these are acts of worship. The way of life in which we live in order to greatly care for others because God has cared so much for us.
In that way we worship God with reverence and awe. With shining lives we can live in a world darkened by sin, we can live in a world that is full of trouble and tribulation and one disaster upon another. With shining lives we can live in a world that often makes it seem that there isn’t any future at all. Therefore it is all the more important that you and I are to live our lives worshiping God in reverence and awe every day. Daniel says: "Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever"(DANIEL 12:3). As you daily live a worshipful life, a life of reverence and awe, you will shine like stars in this sin-darkened world. Others will see God’s light in you.
Isaiah had to try to change the thinking of the people when they thought the Sabbath Day was only to be one day of worship along with the one time to fast and get ready for the Sabbath Day. He wanted them to remember that every day was a day of worship. Our Lord wants us to remember that as we certainly do feel that Sunday is a special day that everyday is also a special day, that every day we can praise God. Every day we can call on the Lord; and He says, "Here am I." Every day we can worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, because our worship is more than just one day. It is a way of life.
Worship is a way of life so that, as Jesus says in Matthew, people will see God’s glory. In Matthew 5 Jesus speaks to us: "In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven"(MATTHEW 5:16). Jesus doesn’t say that people will see your deeds and then praise you or praise your good deeds, but praise your Father in heaven. As we worship God acceptably with reverence and awe not just on Sunday but everyday, may many people will praise our Heavenly Father. Amen.
Pastor Timm O. Meyer
