Isaiah 58:1-12
Introduction: Here is the premise of our series this Lent: there is no true justice without Jesus, and there is no true Jesus without justice. Many today are calling for justice without Jesus. Many are ignoring the call for justice in the name of Jesus. Scripture teaches that both these approaches are incomplete. Those who seek justice without Jesus and those who seek to follow Jesus without listening to what He says about justice will not find what they are seeking. To begin our series – we will look at very convicting and very important text on justice in the bible – Isaiah 58. It’s a serious warning to all those who claim faith in the God of the Bible - Don’t Neglect the Justice of God. Speaking through his prophet, God is doing three things in this text:
1. Calling Out Imposters
In this passage, God tells the prophet Isaiah to call out all spiritual imposters. In vv. 1-3, it is made plain that Isaiah is told by God to “shout” at very religious people. People who are very serious about their devotional life (they fast – how many people do that!). People who are the comfortable and advantaged in society (they are the employers, not the workers). They are called out for having an empty shell of religion. How do we know it’s empty? Isaiah tells us. They are oppressing their workers, ignoring the afflicted in their community and not sharing what they have with the poor and needy. This reveals that all their goodness and religious devotion is not really for God – it’s all for themselves (v3). It’s all an act to get God to give them the life they want, not true worship that seeks to offer God the life He wants – ie a life that does not abandon his justice.
Isaiah makes clear that any faith in the God of the Bible that abandons His justice in these ways is an imposter faith. Though we might not want to hear this, if we seek to be faithful to the God of the Bible, we must hear it – even if it calls us out. If we claim to have a relationship with God but abandon the poor and oppressed, this text is saying that we need to examine whether, in fact, we have a relationship with Him.
2. Calling For Justice
So what exactly is the justice that is the fruit of a real relationship in God? In verses 6-7, we have a powerful 3-fold description of the justice God is calling for.
We must first see injustice – We must learn to see it for what it is. People who are comfortable and believe they have earned their good life tend to overlook the plight of the poor/oppressed. They think, “I earned what I have by my own hard work. Other people need to take care of themselves”. But here God describes people who are hungry, the poor and the naked, those oppressed, trapped in injustice with chains as “your own flesh and blood”. In the ancient world, the idea of the equal dignity and human rights of all people was not a concept. It was your own kin/family were what you cared for. Isaiah is saying, “Would you neglect the needs of your own kin?” That would be unheard of and shameful in the ancient world! God calls us to see all people as our own flesh and blood; to see their needs as the needs of our very own family. This is the baseline for justice in the bible - the equal dignity, value, and rights of all people to care and provision.
We must show special care for oppressed groups – This passage shows us that biblical justice must go beyond simply showing equal concern for all people, because some people are weighed down by yokes that others do not carry. Isaiah here calls us to break the chains of wickedness, tear off every yoke, untie the ropes that bind people. This is a call to address both individual structural/systemic causes of injustice.
Think about it like this - to clothe or feed someone without tearing off their yoke (giving individual relief apart from addressing the structure/larger system), is a form of justice but it is not enough. In the Old Testament, special care was demanded for the widow, the orphan, and the stranger/foreigner. These are groups for whom God shows special concern (see Deut. 10:18 for one example of many).
It is important that we see why should these groups get special concern. It is because the systems and structures of the ancient world provided them with no security or help if they found themselves in need (wealth passed from fathers to son, women had security only through marriage, foreigners normally ad no access to rights of the judicial system). God’s call for justice goes beyond equality to include a special concern for groups who the systems of a culture overlook or oppress (intentionally or unintentionally).We must share in the cost of justice - Why would working for justice be called a “fast? Fasting is willingly forgoing something, choosing discomfort. Fasting is choosing to feel the cost of greater obedience and devotion. When we fast, we give up something good (ie, food) in order to get something better (God). Verse 7 applies this to justice – we are called to share what we have with those in need. The sharing described is more than just “writing a check”. Isaiah says invite the poor into your home! The justice God calls for comes when his people share what they have with the needy in costly and uncomfortable ways
3. Calling to Repentance
This passage not only calls us out and calls for Godly justice, it calls us to repentance – a change in mindset and life. This is where it might be easy to misunderstand what the prophet is saying. He is not saying, “Do the justice God calls for and then He will allow you to get near to Him/to be in relationship with Him”. He is saying, “If you really get near to God, are really in relationship with Him, you will do the justice He calls for – even when it costs you”.
How does this work? No amount of guilt or cultural pressure to do justice will move us to do the kind of justice God calls for. What can move us to do justice like this? It’s knowing that what God is calling for here, he has already done for us. The call for justice alone is not enough to make us just. We need to know grace. A true experience of God’s grace is what makes us just. When we understand grace, we see ourselves in the poor and oppressed. When we understand the gospel, we see Jesus in the poor and oppressed (see Matthew 25:31-46). How?
In order to rescue us from the consequences and effects of abandoning His justice: Jesus came to us. The one who was equal with God became equal with us, he took on our flesh and blood; He saw past our sin and mess to our created dignity and worth. He came to break the yoke, chains, and ropes of sin, selfishness and evil that oppress us. He became a victim of injustice, a poor peasant, rejected by the religious structure and wronged by the judicial system; He was beaten, killed and chained, carrying the yoke of the cross. Why?
To bear the full cost of justice in the place of those who don’t meet the standard – even imposters.
REFLECT OR DISCUSS
What about the sermon most impacted you or left you with questions?
In our current cultural moment: many of us put our defenses up when the topic of justice comes up (oftentimes because of how justice can be attached to ideologies not founded in God’s Word or character). Others put all their defenses down when the topic of justice comes up, and affirm everything (because of how important justice is to the character of God in Scripture). Which do you tend toward? Why?
Based on this passage (and others you may be aware of) – why is abandoning justice a sign of imposter faith? How does this challenge you personally?
Of the three aspects listed above of the justice God calls for – which is most important for you to take to heart right now? Why?
Our current cultural calls to justice avoid personally sharing the cost of helping the poor and afflicted. Progressives look to the government to solve the problems; conservatives generally look to the poor themselves to solve their own problems. God calls his people to share in he cost of working for justice. John Calvin powerfully describes this in his commentary on this passage: “It is indeed thine, but on this condition, that thou share it with the hungry and thirsty, not that thou eat it thyself alone.” And indeed this is the dictate of common sense, that the hungry are deprived of their just right, if their hunger is not relieved.”
How does grace – not guilt – lead us to repentance and a life of justice?
Read Isaiah 58:9-12. Here God describes what could be for those who heed his call for justice. What most excites you about what Isaiah describes here? What is a first step you can take toward this?