Readings: Isaiah 58:3-9a | 1 Corinthians 2:1-16 | Matthew 5:13-20
Text: Isaiah 58:3-9a
3 ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no
knowledge of it?’
Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own
pleasure,
and oppress all your workers.
4 Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to hit with a wicked fist.
Fasting like yours this day
will not make your voice to be heard on high.
What kind of thing gets God’s attention?
This is a question that tradition-minded Christians especially should ask, because many are seeking practices which transcend the here and now. Is it fasting? Vigils? Something more like seeking the intercession of the saints? A divine liturgy which mystically connects us more closely to God?
Many liturgical-minded communions are seeing an influx of people who are frustrated with the emptiness and fluff of shallow theology and emotive worship. Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox are thrilled to bring young men and women into their historic practices. To hear Lutheran converts out of box church backgrounds is like hearing about someone splashing in the kiddy pool and one day jumping into an Olympic-size swimming pool. But in our fascination with traditions, there is a caution.
When the historic practices become the driving motivation, that’s a problem. Traditionalism puts the first focus on what we do. This also was the problem with Israel which the Lord was correcting through Isaiah. They thought that their fasts were acceptable because of their sheer obedience, not the condition of their heart.
Likewise, if our “doing page 184” or wearing elaborate vestments is just because generations before us honored them, and all we know of them is that “Martin Luther advocated for this” or “C.F.W. Walther did it this way,” but we do not have our heart fixed on Christ, we may be letting outward forms become the thing of worship at the expense of Christ.
The heart which God honors with a response is the contrite and broken spirit
(Ps. 51). It’s a heart that recognizes the utter dependence upon God for all things, and the gross disparity between what His holy Law demands and what we have done (even at our absolute best).
5 Is such the fast that I choose,
a day for a person to humble himself?
Is it to bow down his head like a reed,
and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?
Will you call this a fast,
and a day acceptable to the Lord?
The good news is that the Lord comes to such as us, who have come to the end of our ability, who confess that, “your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:5).
Certainly, the wisdom of man offers solutions. Many American sermons have taken cues from TED Talks, filled with survey data and practical scientific insights. Pop psychology offers solutions that tell you how your brain works, but can it forgive sins? Similarly, traditionalism offers its own solutions that are more mystical and transcendent. A speed through the psalms, the burning of incense, and meditating on the lives of saints before us, but do these practices direct the sinful creature to the grace of God in Christ? In answering the question, ‘What will lead you to the “good Christian life’?” Both camps say, follow these practices, make these things routine and by them you will be blessed.
Yet, while we are seeking the blessing of God, we expect that something new will bring relief to the longing, ease to the burden we carry. In the words of Don Henley, “Happiness is always over that green hill”[1] But happiness and satisfaction for those hungering and thirsting for righteousness (Matt. 5:6) is never found in our actions; it is found in receiving the blessing of God given to repentance and faith.
6 “Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
7 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 him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
Lent is coming up, and it’s a time where we know that it’s good to find spiritual renewal. There are many traditions associated with Lent, such as Ash Wednesday, midweek services, and the beautiful Triduum (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Paschal Vigil). It’s important to remember that these practices, known all over the Christian world, developed to aid the faithful in examining their hearts.
On Ash Wednesday, ashes are applied to the forehead in the shape of Christ’s cross with the words of Genesis 3:19: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
The midweek services are additional opportunities to pause our weekly routine and come together around the Word of God. The soup suppers are provided to support the needs of our bodies in a minimal way, that we “that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3).
The special services of Holy Week are planned so that we can have special focus on the intensity of our Lord’s last week before He, the Lamb of God, offered Himself for our sins. So, on Palm Sunday, we remember the procession of pilgrims who came to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem, laying palm branches down as our humble King entered His city. As He did, our Lord knew full well that five days later, He would be looking upon them all, lifted up on the cross. So, we read through the Passion so that we have time to ponder what sort of King comes to us humble and mounted on a donkey [Zechariah 9:9].
On Maundy Thursday (so named because of the “New commandment” to love one another that Jesus gives to His disciples in John 13), we turn our focus to the Upper Room prepared for the Passover, where Jesus took His Passover (remember, it was called the “Lord’s Passover” Exodus 12:11) and instituted the New Covenant in His own blood. His Body and Blood are given and shed for you. But that night could not be dwelt on too long, so the ordinary Communion service is cut short just as Jesus’ time in Gethsemane was interrupted by Judas and his band of soldiers.
Good Friday, likewise, is set apart to remember the events of Jesus’ final hours. Sometimes a service is held for the Three Hours before His death (from noon to three PM) where His seven words from the cross are meditated upon. On this day, we confess, “He was crucified, died, and was buried. He descended into hell.” What we’re probably used to is the service of Darkness, Tenebrae where the natural setting of the sun provides the darkness which was unnatural that fateful day.
Then, there’s the Vigil that’s held on the seventh day Rest of Jesus in the tomb. “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:11) That’s why we call it “Holy Saturday,” for His rest after all His work in salvation. This tradition comes from the first centuries of the Christian Church, where they would recount the Biblical narrative of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration, new Christians would be baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, and the congregation would celebrate in the highest joy we have of being with our Lord: to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light, and feast on His risen Body and Blood.
So, you can see that traditions by themselves are not the issue; it’s when we think that the doing of those practices bring us closer to God. Like Israel needed correction through Isaiah, I pray that we also hear that, so that with these noble traditions, our hope is ever in Jesus Christ. Then, we shall rightly hear the Lord say to us:
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up speedily;
your righteousness shall go before you;
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
[1] “Learn to Be Still” by The Eagles
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