The fast I choose…

Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 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 them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. If you remove the yoke from among you, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. 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 live in. (Isaiah 58:1-12, NRSV)

Most of us if given an option would probably not want to fast at all…

I know I really love food, so giving it up for any amount of time is hard. But why do we do it?

Do we fast to bring attention to our selves? If so that is not the fast that God is calling us to.

If we fast to draw attention to ourselves, then we are not fasting for the right reason. This text points to the reason we fast, of give up something so that others might have it.

We are supposed to be focused on God and relying on Him for all of our needs, not building ourselves up in the eyes of others, or doing things so that we get noticed.

God wants us to be a part of removing the yoke that burdens our brothers and sisters, to work for justice and the end to hunger and homelessness. Id is possible for one person to do this? Not alone, but one person, being you, working with another person, being me, can change the world. If we are united and remove the yoke of evil from among us and stop bickering and fighting with each other and the Lord will guide us and His kingdom shall be made known!

So give up what you have because that is what God is leading you to do, so that His kingdom will be made known.

Rend your hearts

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming, it is near a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness spread upon the mountains a great and powerful army comes; their like has never been from of old, nor will be again after them in ages to come. The LORD utters his voice at the head of his army; how vast is his host! Numberless are those who obey his command. Truly the day of the LORD is great; terrible indeed—who can endure it? Yet even now, says the LORD, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; rend your hearts and not your clothing. Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing. (Joel 2:1-2, 11-13, NRSV)

The day of the Lord is near!

And this is not a day we should be looking forward to. It will be dark and foreboding, it will be a time for weeping and mourning.

So we must prepare! We must turn from our internal seeking times, and look beyond our selves. We must turn to the Lord and do what He has asked us to do.

We must rend our hearts, and hand them over to God, so that He might infuse them with His steadfast love that will heal all wounds, and allow Him to bind them back together in His love.

So Rend your heart and return it to the Lord!

Practice of faith

“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21, NRSV)

I always love this text. The text that starts us off on Ash Wednesday into our 40 day (plus Sundays) journey with Jesus during Lent.

Do not let others see you practicing piety for gain from them. Our works of piety, and mercy and love should be done so only our Heavenly Father knows about them. We should not be seeking the approval of others.

This is really the just here of this text and our faith. Our faith is not to bring attention to us. Our faith is to ground us in the love that God has for us and in turn show that love to the world. Not for a pat on the back or a job well done, but because we are loved to love. We are freed to free. We are fed to feed.

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be. If you are seeking the adoration of others, your treasure lies in your own empowerment, but if you love because God loved you and do not seek the adoration and good job of others, then your heart is with God.

So practice your faith so that God gets noticed!

voice

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. (John 10:1-4, NRSV)

We read this or hear this verse and we think that the gate is something that swings on a hing and is opened and closed…

But in Jesus’ day the shepherd actually was the gate. The shepherd like this picture was the piece that sat in the opening to keep the sheep in and anything else out.

And the way the sheep knew to go, was the voice of the shepherd. Many times there would be multiple folds in one sheep pen, and the shepherds would take turns being the gate, and keeping predators out of the pen, and when one shepherd was ready to go he would call his sheep and they would come. Other shepherd’s sheep would not come because they did not recognize the voice that was calling.

So allow Jesus to be your protector and keep the predators away and listen for when He calls and follow where He leads.

Know His voice, and follow when He speaks.

favor

And now, my children, listen to me: happy are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD; (Proverbs 8:32-35, NRSV)

Did you ever not listen to your parents and do something they told you not to, or did something that you knew was not something they would want you to do?

Now if we are all honest the answer to that question is yes. We have all done stuff we know our parents would say is wrong, and we have all willfully done something that our parents told us not to.

But when you did that and your parents found out, as they always found out, were you happy?

No! We were not happy, we were caught and were going to be in deep deep doo doo!

And so it is with God. When we hear His word and do it, we are happy and filled with joy. We are wise and live the life He has called us to.

Will we always want to do what God is saying to do? Probably not, but it is always the right thing to do.

name tags…

Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them. And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He did not know what to say, for they were terrified. Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more, but only Jesus. As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one about what they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead. (Mark 9:2-9, NRSV)

I always wondered how did Peter know Moses and Elijah?

I mean they didn’t have pictures of them to look at did they?

These two men appear and are talking with Jesus. Ok maybe Jesus called them by name. Now of course Jesus knew who they were because He helped create them…

But Peter wouldn’t have known. I know maybe they were wearing name tags. Hello my name is Moses…

But Jesus was made different on the mountain with Moses and Elijah, the disciples there saw Him in a whole new light! Literally!

He was seen for who He was, and yet the disciples were told to tell no one, probably because Jesus knew what the masses wanted, and what they needed, and He was what they needed, but long from what they wanted.

Is He what you want?