Isaiah 58: 6-12

“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?

Is 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? Then 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. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

 

Luke 4: 14-21

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.  He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

 

History tells us that the prophet Isaiah ministered from about 740 to 700 BC.  Because New Testament writers recognized the prophecies of Isaiah in the life death and resurrection of Jesus, Isaiah is quoted some 50 times in the New Testament, more than any other Old Testament book. Some scholars have called Isaiah the “Fifth Gospel”-Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Isaiah.

 

For me, because of all the history, battles and the movement of the Children of Israel from place to place, I tend to miss the call to everyday ministry in the First Testament, and feel that serving the needs of the poor, fighting against injustice and racism, changing my selfish behavior- in other words, accepting and living in the transforming power of God for my life, is a mainly a New Testament thing. In the reading from Isaiah I discover that isn’t the case. I think I first began to realize this when I read the passage now called the “Suffering Servant” in Chapter 53 of the book of Isaiah. To me, it clearly speaks of Christ, His bearing of my sin, and His suffering and intercession on my behalf.

 

In the passages just prior to our Second Testament reading, Jesus has been Baptized by John in the Jordan, gone in to the desert and been tempted for 40 days, each time resisting the offers of Satan, and has come back a changed man. One of the first things He does is to go to church as He always did, and announce that God’s plan has not changed. In fact it is being underlined by this man from Nazareth! He has been anointed by God to preach good news to the poor, proclaim freedom for prisoners, give sight to the blind, release those who have been oppressed, and proclaim that the year of God’s favor has arrived. The message is made consistent by Jesus. He takes a thousand years of prophecy and ties it together for the people.

 

What a gift that is, because I feel like that is what He continues to do today. The Bible is a large and complex book, full of wisdom and history, knowledge and prophecy. It is also full of everyday life application tools for each of us. Sometimes that can get lost by the sheer volume of the text. I get involved in some part and tend to separate the books and the writings into “the voice of God at that time”, and “the voice of God at this time” and need reminding that it is the “voice of God in our time.” The ministry of Jesus is such a powerful message of consistency of the person of God for me.

 

It is also a much needed reminder to me that it is not necessarily the powerful of the earth who determine the changes in the world. I feel that we are living in an “epidemic of rudeness” in our communities today. Basic kindness and courtesy are not being taught by our society or rewarded by our society in general. I see rude behavior in children and parents not doing a thing to change it. I see self-seeking and self-rewarding, and self- love honored and held up as the standard to follow in modern society. I feel that that is not the way God wants us to behave. I feel that those types of behavior have gotten us to a place where following the example of Jesus, really acting out His care for others, His service to others, His compassion for every person, is something most people recognize as “good for its time”, but do not even attempt to practice today. “The world is a different place now”, I hear. Yes it is. But God is not different. His message is consistent. It has been consistent since time began.

 

I give thanks to God that it is not necessarily the powerful of the earth that determine the changes in the world. I believe that it is the faithful of the earth that can determine the changes in our world. Could the Virgin Mary have though that her “yes” to God would be so essential? Like her, so many of the humble of the earth are preparing ways of peaceful trust. Faith in and a humble trusting of God are more powerful than any business plan or political party. And I know that God’s message is consistent when Jesus explains it to me in the Gospel of Matthew. An expert in the laws of Moses comes to Jesus and asks “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

 

I believe that is the way to get things done. I believe that it has always been the way to get things done. And so we pray “Father, we thank you for your presence in our lives. We thank you for your eternal truth spoken to us for thousands of years. We thank you for the prophet Isaiah, and also for modern-day prophets like Billy Graham and other Fathers of the Faith that show us, by their example, how to walk in your ways. But chiefly Lord, we thank you for the gift of your Son Jesus that changed the world during His lifetime and in our own lifetime. Help us to be the best followers of Christ that we can be. It is in this Jesus’ name that we pray. Amen”