Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness 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, and He will say, `Here I am.'
"If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
The LORD will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
Let your light so shine before men
Today is a celebration of Easter, because it's the Lord's Day! On the
first day of the week, Jesus rose from the dead. The Friday before had
been dark. Not only was the sun darkened, but it seemed that evil had
triumphed over good. Jesus' disciples had been scattered, even
beginning on Thursday night. But on Sunday, with the rising of the sun,
things were different. Some of the disciples and Mary Magdalene
actually saw Jesus alive again.
But the first witnesses of this fact had a problem when they brought
this ray of light to the others. Luke wrote, “their words
seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them.” It
took some time before the light of Easter penetrated the darkness in
which the disciples were living. So it always goes. John wrote,
“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the
light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
To this day, those living in darkness are struck the same way by the
message of Jesus Christ. His cross seems like foolishness, and the
empty tomb seems like an idle tale.
Of course, we must not give up. We are not eyewitnesses of Jesus, but
we can confess the truth He has taught us. We can tell others about
Easter. Yet such a bold confession with words is hard to make for weak
human flesh and blood. But we can also confess this faith without
words, by the way we live. This Old Testament lesson from Isaiah tells
us the kind of Christian life that pleases God. In Jesus' own words,
Isaiah is telling us to “Let your light so shine before men.” We have
two purposes: that they may see your good works, and that they
may glorify your Father in heaven.
That they may see your good works
Let your light so shine before men. Now, don't take that the wrong way.
This doesn't exclude children. Let your light shine before them, too,
because they are part of what Jesus meant by saying, “men.” In the
same way, He wasn't excluding women either. Let your light shine before
women too, because they are part of what Jesus meant by saying, “men.”
In other words, Jesus includes every human being in the word “men.”
And speaking for God, Isaiah describes just how the light of a Christian
shines upon them all.
God calls this the fast that He has chosen. God knows there are
hundreds of conflicting ideas about worshipping Him. Even the Christian
Church is split into denominations which follow the opinions of this or
that leader. But God says, “Is this not the fast that I have
chosen.” With that, He silences all human opinions by pointing out
that they don't matter. His will alone matters, His doctrine. So when we
think about the light of faith, it must be defined by God alone.
God says, “Your light shall break forth like the morning.”
This is based upon what He prescribes for our lives, the fast that
God has chosen for us. The first part is to help your neighbor with his
burdens, especially the burden of sin that weighs upon the hearts and
lives of so many people. Isaiah wrote, “To loose the bonds of
wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And
that you break every yoke.”
Think of the labors and toils that come about as a result of our sinful
weaknesses. A single lie becomes a string of lies. A hurtful act
becomes a habit of violence. A disobedient impulse becomes a life of
rebellion. A single fulfillment of lust leads into a life of depravity.
Usually we think that God's Law condemns us for falling to such
temptations. That's true enough. But we must do more than avoid sin.
We must promote righteousness. We must help our neighbors resist the
deadly lure of sin and escape its slavery. The first thing that God
asked Cain in Genesis 4 was, “Where is your brother?” Only
after that did He ask, “What have you done?”
It's a good thing to avoid sin. It's even better to avoid sin and let
your light shine before men. We do this by conforming all our actions,
our speech, and our thoughts to the single most important truth: that we
are all redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. The faith we confess
with our mouths must also be confessed with our deeds. Without that
faith in our hearts, it is impossible to please God. Without Jesus,
there could be no good works. But in Him, everything we do is a good
work.
Isaiah says more about how a Christian's light can break forth like the
morning. He wrote, “Is it not to share your bread with the
hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When
you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your
own flesh?” These belong to the class of things which seem good and
right when you talk about them, but might be inconvenient or distasteful
when it actually happens. Once again, it shows that the Christian faith
cannot be set on a shelf during certain times of your life when it
becomes inconvenient or distasteful. The best opportunity we may ever
see for putting our faith into action may come at times like that.
The purpose for letting your light shine this way is so that your
neighbors may see your good works. That might sound a little
hypocritical, as though you are only pretending to be good to
impress other people. But Jesus said it first, not me!
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
The good works that Isaiah describes here can be summarized with one
word: love. Love your neighbor as yourself. Christians don't need to
pretend to do this, because it's natural — at least it's natural for
the spiritual nature. So as we crucify our own sinful flesh with its
sins and evil lusts, we should live more and more according to the
Spirit, in view of the mercies of God. So when our neighbors see the
good works of Christians, they are really seeing God at work through us,
to help and serve them, and to bring us all to faith in our Savior and
eternal life in heaven. So let your light shine before men that they
may see your good works.
That they may glorify your Father in heaven
Let your light so shine before men that they may glorify your Father in
heaven. When we show mercy and love to our neighbors, they truly have a
glimpse of God's love and mercy in their Savior Jesus. Your light is
nothing other than the merciful love of God in Christ. We receive this
from God in the Gospel of forgiveness, and a good thing too. The sinful
flesh is still with us, and it provokes us to all kinds of wicked
thoughts and even actions. Christians can also get tangled in a web of
lies, or violence, or rebellion, or depravity.
So every day and every week, we must return to the clear fountain of
living water, the water that has the power of Jesus' blood to wash away
our guilt. When you hear and believe the absolution spoken for you,
then you are being washed clean again in the fountain of your Baptism.
When you believe the Gospel our Lord is speaking to you now, then you
are eating the Bread of Life. When you receive the body and blood of
Jesus, all of the blessings of our Redeemer are given to you at the same
time. And whenever you are spiritually recharged by the Holy Spirit
through this Gospel, then the light of Jesus Christ is shining brightly
upon you. Then you can reflect that light upon the world around you.
This is how Isaiah describes the Christian who reflects God's love in
this way. “Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness 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, and He will say,
`Here I am.' ” I've only treated the first half of our text so far.
The second half is similar, showing even more clearly that the light of
God's love shines upon our neighbors through us. If our neighbors
come to recognize this love of God, then how can they not glorify Him?
How can they not hear His Word, believe in their Redeemer, and be saved?
Instead of repeating what I've already mentioned concerning the first
half of our text, let's use the second half to consider how we have
already fulfilled it. That's right. We have already shown perfect love
toward all our neighbors. We have taken away the yoke of wickedness
from our fellow men. We have ceased the pointing of the finger. We
have extended our souls to the hungry, and satisfied the afflicted soul.
I bet you don't remember doing all that. And yet, if you could look
into the Book of Life, you would see your name written there, and all of
these acts of love and mercy are the reason.
We did all of these things when Jesus did them, because every righteous
word and deed in His life now belongs to you and me. Jesus has already
fulfilled all God's requirements, giving us the status of sainthood in
Him. Now, these words describe Him: “You shall raise up the
foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of
the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.”
What a mighty Savior we have, and what a gracious and merciful God! Now
those words describe us as well. In our spiritual nature, we are
continuing the work that Jesus did on earth: God's works of love toward
all mankind. It is fitting that we should be called Christians, because
we are in Him and He is in us; not passively, but actively and
powerfully. Not even hell itself can diminish the light of our Lord's
Church, because it comes from Jesus. These words now describe us:
“Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.”
If we, having been brought into the light of Jesus Christ, have reason
to glorify the Father, then so must our neighbors when we all reflect
that light upon them through our words and actions. So let us confess
our Redeemer in the world, knowing that we already have eternal life.
Your sins are forgiven. Go in peace. Let your light so shine before
men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Amen.