“Repentance as Saying Yes...”
Isaiah 58: 1-12
It’s Lent again — I can see the excitement in your faces and can even read what you are thinking:
“Oh boy, Lent, we’ve been waiting all year for this...just like Christmas. The anticipation in us has been building to a crescendo; we cannot wait to give up a bunch of things we like so that we can prove our worthiness and devotion to God. Do we get to wear sack cloth and ashes like the Jews when they repented? Really, let’s thank God Lent is here; I don’t know what I would do if it didn’t come every year! I mean, that Ash Wednesday service was just the tops — I left so full of the Spirit. And Sundays...wow...you cannot believe how we hang on the edge of our seats wondering which sin you will hammer on this Sunday. Then, there’s Maundy Thursday and Good Friday — where we remember that our sin is what drove our Lord to give up his life. Hey, now there’s a couple of services that will pack them in for sure. Sure am glad Lent finally got here...”
OK, maybe this is a little overkill this morning, but you get my drift. There is no task harder or more “anti-culture” than preaching in Lent. Who wants to hear sermons on self-sacrifice, sin and what we need to give up in our lives? Who wants to go to church and listen to the preacher condemn them every Sunday? Why have Lent anyway? Really...Jesus died that we might be forgiven for our sin...why harp on it? Just ask forgiveness and move on; that’s what other churches do.
Yet, Lent is persistent; it won’t go away. While Roman Catholic, Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Orthodox churches have observed Lent for centuries; even evangelical churches, Baptist and Methodist included, are now observing Lent, i.e., having a period of emphasis on confession of sin and focus on one’s life in the weeks leading up to Easter. The history of Lent is somewhat fuzzy, but suffice it to say that by 325AD and the Council of Nicaea a forty day period of prayer, fasting and self-examination had become common place in the Christian church. Why 40 days? This period recalls the 40 day fast of Jesus in the desert as he began his ministry. Lent, or something like it, goes back in some form to the early days of the Christian church.
Yet, we commit a grave faux pas in our Lenten observance. Though well intended, the reality is that during Lent we talk much more about what we are going to give up, rather than what we are going to positively do as a symbol of our faith and trust in Christ. The result is that Lent is perceived negatively. We Christians become further known for what we are against rather than for what we are for, for what we are not rather than for what we believe and espouse.
Psychologically this sort of pattern is predisposed to failure. As human beings we are unable to
“not focus” on something. If I tell you to not think about the number 9, that’s what you think
about. If we are playing golf and I say, “Don’t hit it in the lake on the left...” guess where you will
probably hit it? Negative focus never works.
Positive focus, on the other hand, works really well. If we say to our children “Don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t steal or you will suffer the consequences,” chances are that will not resonate well with them. However, if we say “Be a person of integrity, honesty and character by always telling the truth for that is pleasing to God,” this is much more likely to take root in them. If a doctor says, “Lose weight,” that may go in one ear and out the other. However, if that same doctor says, “Walk, exercise more, eat right and you will look and feel better and have more energy,” now that gets our ears perked up.
This emphasis is nothing new, Isaiah said as much in our text from the 58th chapter. The situation is that Israel has returned from exile in Babylon and is trying to re-establish her nation in her homeland. However, worship has become perfunctory and ritualistic. She goes through all the right motions; properly observing the High and Holy Days to the nth degree. When she is supposed to mourn and fast in sack cloth and ashes, she does. However, to her surprise she senses not the presence of God, but God’s absence in her worship. Did we hear those words from Isaiah 58 which offer a direct challenge from Israel to God?
Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?1
In other words, they are saying: “God we are doing what we are supposed to do, but you’re not holding up your part of the covenant, i.e., you are not showing up like you are supposed to do. Where are you?”
Did we pay attention to God’s reply through Isaiah?
“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?”2
Whoa! Isaiah hits back rather hard, does he not? God rejects their fasting and repentance as unworthy! God does not want them to fast and mourn like this. I can only imagine this sermon hit them like a ton of bricks. What they are doing in worship is totally wrong, according to God. But Isaiah does not stop there; rather he continues with a positive affirmation of what proper fasting looks like:
Positive focus, on the other hand, works really well. If we say to our children “Don’t lie, don’t cheat, don’t steal or you will suffer the consequences,” chances are that will not resonate well with them. However, if we say “Be a person of integrity, honesty and character by always telling the truth for that is pleasing to God,” this is much more likely to take root in them. If a doctor says, “Lose weight,” that may go in one ear and out the other. However, if that same doctor says, “Walk, exercise more, eat right and you will look and feel better and have more energy,” now that gets our ears perked up.
This emphasis is nothing new, Isaiah said as much in our text from the 58th chapter. The situation is that Israel has returned from exile in Babylon and is trying to re-establish her nation in her homeland. However, worship has become perfunctory and ritualistic. She goes through all the right motions; properly observing the High and Holy Days to the nth degree. When she is supposed to mourn and fast in sack cloth and ashes, she does. However, to her surprise she senses not the presence of God, but God’s absence in her worship. Did we hear those words from Isaiah 58 which offer a direct challenge from Israel to God?
Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?1
In other words, they are saying: “God we are doing what we are supposed to do, but you’re not holding up your part of the covenant, i.e., you are not showing up like you are supposed to do. Where are you?”
Did we pay attention to God’s reply through Isaiah?
“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?”2
Whoa! Isaiah hits back rather hard, does he not? God rejects their fasting and repentance as unworthy! God does not want them to fast and mourn like this. I can only imagine this sermon hit them like a ton of bricks. What they are doing in worship is totally wrong, according to God. But Isaiah does not stop there; rather he continues with a positive affirmation of what proper fasting looks like:
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?3
Now, this paints a different picture of repentance, does it not? God’s fast is not about sack cloth and ashes, but about justice, about setting people free, about helping others to have shelter, food, and clothing. God’s fast is about identifying with the poor rather than living apart from them and refusing to “see them.” For God, worship is about living a life in accord with God’s teachings, not just showing up and going through a show for the sake of others.
Isaiah’s proclamation is consistent with the understanding of repentance in Judaism as a whole The word for repentance in Judaism is teshuva. There are two types of repentance. The first is teshuvá mi-yir’á, "repentance rooted in fear.” This repentance is fear based, either in fear of humans or God. This repentance is acknowledged as a beginning step in Judaism, but it is a lesser form. The highest form of repentance is teshuvá mei-ahavá, i.e., "repentance rooted in love.”4 In this form the repentance comes not from fear but from a deep love of God, a love which is a vivid response in one’s soul to the love one has experienced in God. The greatest repentance comes not from fear of punishment, but out the realization that, at the deepest level of the universe, we are loved beyond belief. Repentance rooted in love is more about what we do, both individually and corporately, in helping others than it is about our piety and prayers. The height of biblical repentance is positive, based in who we are called to be in Christ, not in negativity or fear. Repentance rooted in love recognizes that we are called to live in such a way as to lift not only ourselves, but others around us. As the great Jewish teach A.J. Heschel put it: “Few are guilty, but all are responsible.” We may not have created the conditions which imprison others, but we all must recognize, in repentance, that we are responsible under God to change them.
Isaiah continues with a strong affirmation of how God will respond to such repentance: “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.”5
These are tremendous words from Isaiah as they promise that God is coming, he will go before and behind them. Further, the night of their horror will be over — they will cry to God and God will respond. Remember: they are returning from captivity in Babylon. They have just experienced their greatest horror, to be enslaved to another nation. Isaiah goes on to proclaim that not only does God want them to be free, God desires for all to be set free, for all to be liberated from all the bondages of human existence. Isaiah recognizes that as they work to set free those enslaved in one way or another, then they will find themselves being set free as well.
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?3
Now, this paints a different picture of repentance, does it not? God’s fast is not about sack cloth and ashes, but about justice, about setting people free, about helping others to have shelter, food, and clothing. God’s fast is about identifying with the poor rather than living apart from them and refusing to “see them.” For God, worship is about living a life in accord with God’s teachings, not just showing up and going through a show for the sake of others.
Isaiah’s proclamation is consistent with the understanding of repentance in Judaism as a whole The word for repentance in Judaism is teshuva. There are two types of repentance. The first is teshuvá mi-yir’á, "repentance rooted in fear.” This repentance is fear based, either in fear of humans or God. This repentance is acknowledged as a beginning step in Judaism, but it is a lesser form. The highest form of repentance is teshuvá mei-ahavá, i.e., "repentance rooted in love.”4 In this form the repentance comes not from fear but from a deep love of God, a love which is a vivid response in one’s soul to the love one has experienced in God. The greatest repentance comes not from fear of punishment, but out the realization that, at the deepest level of the universe, we are loved beyond belief. Repentance rooted in love is more about what we do, both individually and corporately, in helping others than it is about our piety and prayers. The height of biblical repentance is positive, based in who we are called to be in Christ, not in negativity or fear. Repentance rooted in love recognizes that we are called to live in such a way as to lift not only ourselves, but others around us. As the great Jewish teach A.J. Heschel put it: “Few are guilty, but all are responsible.” We may not have created the conditions which imprison others, but we all must recognize, in repentance, that we are responsible under God to change them.
Isaiah continues with a strong affirmation of how God will respond to such repentance: “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.”5
These are tremendous words from Isaiah as they promise that God is coming, he will go before and behind them. Further, the night of their horror will be over — they will cry to God and God will respond. Remember: they are returning from captivity in Babylon. They have just experienced their greatest horror, to be enslaved to another nation. Isaiah goes on to proclaim that not only does God want them to be free, God desires for all to be set free, for all to be liberated from all the bondages of human existence. Isaiah recognizes that as they work to set free those enslaved in one way or another, then they will find themselves being set free as well.
Maybe our repentance ought to look like setting people free, as well. We live in a culture which,
while we preach freedom, has people enslaved to all manner of masters. Some are enslaved to
addictions; others are enslaved to success; still others are enslaved to wealth while others are
enslaved in poverty. The freedom we desire, the freedom we seek — whether we see ourselves as
slaves, masters or both — the freedom we need is the freedom found in God through Jesus Christ.
• It is the freedom to worship and serve only one Lord, Jesus the Christ.
• It is the freedom to be judged by only one person, Jesus the Christ.
•It is the freedom to be whom we believe God has called us to be and in so doing to be a liberator of others, to set them free as well.
If we were to study slavery throughout history, one reality would quickly become apparent: not only were the servants enslaved to their masters, the masters were enslaved to their servants as well. The ball and chain which bound the slave also bound the master in both their person and reality.
As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to a repentance which not only sets us free, it sets others free and in so doing sets all of us free to live our lives in a way that we believe God calls us to do. When we set others free, we set ourselves free as well. We will never know the full freedom of life until all of God’s children are free. When we set people free from hunger and poverty, we set ourselves free. When we set people free from homelessness and addiction, we set ourselves free. When we set people free from all the demons of our world so that they are able to live, laugh and love in the fulness of God’s Spirit, we are set free as well.
How is this possible? Quite simply, we must alter our understanding of faith from intellectual to affectional, from our head to our heart. We Protestants are really good at intellectual Christianity and have been for decades. There is nothing wrong with this, for if we do not understand our faith we will be open to every heresy that comes down the pike. However, in the final analysis faith is a matter of our heart, of our love, of that which moves and stirs us emotionally. In the New Testament the word belief is used as a noun, but more often as a verb, to believe. Belief is not just about what we know, but involves what we do more than what we say. So it is with repentance: when we repent we proclaim that this is the way I am intend to live my life under God. Repentance is not merely a moving from — it is a moving to a certain way of living that is an emotional commitment of our entire being to our Lord and Savior.
• It is the freedom to worship and serve only one Lord, Jesus the Christ.
• It is the freedom to be judged by only one person, Jesus the Christ.
•It is the freedom to be whom we believe God has called us to be and in so doing to be a liberator of others, to set them free as well.
If we were to study slavery throughout history, one reality would quickly become apparent: not only were the servants enslaved to their masters, the masters were enslaved to their servants as well. The ball and chain which bound the slave also bound the master in both their person and reality.
As followers of Jesus Christ we are called to a repentance which not only sets us free, it sets others free and in so doing sets all of us free to live our lives in a way that we believe God calls us to do. When we set others free, we set ourselves free as well. We will never know the full freedom of life until all of God’s children are free. When we set people free from hunger and poverty, we set ourselves free. When we set people free from homelessness and addiction, we set ourselves free. When we set people free from all the demons of our world so that they are able to live, laugh and love in the fulness of God’s Spirit, we are set free as well.
How is this possible? Quite simply, we must alter our understanding of faith from intellectual to affectional, from our head to our heart. We Protestants are really good at intellectual Christianity and have been for decades. There is nothing wrong with this, for if we do not understand our faith we will be open to every heresy that comes down the pike. However, in the final analysis faith is a matter of our heart, of our love, of that which moves and stirs us emotionally. In the New Testament the word belief is used as a noun, but more often as a verb, to believe. Belief is not just about what we know, but involves what we do more than what we say. So it is with repentance: when we repent we proclaim that this is the way I am intend to live my life under God. Repentance is not merely a moving from — it is a moving to a certain way of living that is an emotional commitment of our entire being to our Lord and Savior.
So, this Lent let’s join together and set ourselves free from those fears which hold us fast by living
up to be the persons we believe God has called us to be. And, let’s see whom else we can help to be
free as well...if I’m not mistaken I believe that’s what the New Testament calls sharing the
euanggellion — the good news. Lent? Evangelism? Good news? Liberation? Who knew?
Amen.
1 Isaiah 58: 3a
2 Isaiah 58: 3b-5.
3Isaiah 58: 6-7
4 David R. Blumenthal, Repentance and Forgiveness, http://www.crosscurrents.org/blumenthal.htm. 5 Isaiah 58: 8-9
Amen.
1 Isaiah 58: 3a
2 Isaiah 58: 3b-5.
3Isaiah 58: 6-7
4 David R. Blumenthal, Repentance and Forgiveness, http://www.crosscurrents.org/blumenthal.htm. 5 Isaiah 58: 8-9
