Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to break the chains of wickedness, to untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and tear off every yoke?“Isn’t this the fast that I have chosen: to release the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
5 sermons cite this verse
is definitely high on the list. Two Sundays ago, an ice storm blew through my corner of northeast Georgia, taking down thousands of trees, snapping more than 100 utility poles, and dropping over 10 miles of live wire on the ground. The power at my house was off for two and a half days, giving me plenty of time to meditate on what Jesus said about light. in this morning's excerpt from the Sermon on the Mount, except I didn't want to be the light two weekends ago. I just wanted it to come back on. And last Sunday, we got six inches of snow. There was no power outage this time, but the county manager said everyone should stay off the roads because we were almost out of salt, and there were already a lot of cars in ditches. He explained the shortage wasn't due to poor planning. It was just that the county had used most of its salt the week before and was sharing what was left with neighboring counties in worse shape than we were. …
In place of my usual holy greeting, let me just say, go devils, go. And for any of you watching from somewhere else, that was an athletic reference and not a metaphysical one. There are big sermons being preached in small places all over the world today, but you're about to hear a small sermon in a big place. So small that it only cares about two verses in the gospel you just heard and only two words out of those. Salt and light. It's not like those tiny lockets of meaning have somehow suffered from too little attention over time. If anything, they've suffered from too much. They've lost their tang from overhandling. They've lost their shine from overbranding. so I'm here to shrink them down to size if I can. Here they are in Jesus' own syntax, at least in translation. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. It's the you that makes them interesting, especially the second one, since in another gospel, Jesus says, I am the light of the world, but not here. …
… Good. Isaiah 58, verse 6. Is this not the fast that I have chosen? Stop right there. That wasn't much of a lead into the verse, was it? Let me try to give it a context. It's fascinating. I hear people teach on this all the time about fasting. This verse isn't about fasting. This is where God is saying, it's easy for you guys to skip a meal. Let me show you what I really want. He says this twice in the Gospel of Matthew. He says, go learn what this means. I desire compassion above sacrifice. You show me all the things you can do. I'm not wanting that. I'm wanting this to be rocked to affect the people around you. That's what I'm looking for. And so we're about to read the same thing right here. Is this not the fast I have chosen? To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out, when you see the naked, that you cover them and not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light, so here's cause and effect, then your light will break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, your righteousness shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. …
Jesus was a Jew. I know you know that, but I wish it were in the creed somewhere. I believe in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God who was born of a Jewish mother, lived his short life, a Jew, was crucified, and died a Jew. On the third day, he rose again in accordance with the Jewish scriptures. I wish we had to say it out loud every Sunday. I wish we sang it in some hymns so that we had a prayer of hearing him when he teaches us something from his religion instead of ours, the religion that grew up about him. Jesus was Jewish. He argued with other Jews about how Torah should be observed, which was very Jewish of him. All of his first disciples were Jewish. With all the religions in the world to choose from, God decided on a Jewish mother to bear a Jewish son. I know I'm sounding a little bit insistent, but that's because I'm teaching Introduction to the New Testament this semester. …
… let me tell you to fast," and that settles it. Pray to God and ask God, Isaiah chapter 58 verse six, is not this the fast that I have chosen? You pray about it and ask God what he would have you to do. Prayerfully choose your fast. Avoid extremism. Don't say, well, I'm going to fast for X number of days if you're not, if you're not used to fasting, set aside a day. Set aside just one day to fast when you act, and find a day when you, activities are light. Plan ahead of time that you're going to FAST. A ONE-day fast is a good beginning. Now, and if you're sick or under medication or if you are pregnant, then I would talk to the doctor before you fast. But don't strut, don't brag, but don't be ashamed of the fact that you're fasting. What I'm trying to say is this, we are to pray with concentration. Concentration. Say concentration. Get it in your heart and in your mind. Too many of us have a take it or leave it attitude toward prayer. Many of us rattle off our prayers and could not an hour later tell you what we prayed for. Now here's the second way that we're going to pray. We're going to learn from Daniel. Not not only are we to pray with serious concentration, but we are to pray with steadfast confidence. Confidence in who? …