“Paint or Get off the Ladder”
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Isaiah 58:1-14

Introduction: It is in the nature of people to be curious about religion. Why? Because it is in our nature to worship something or someone. If we are not worshipping God, then we might worship nature, movie stars, art, whatever. And yet, even as a Christians, believing and worshipping the One true God, it’s still possible to serve God in the wrong way; in ways that actually don’t please God. As we look at Isaiah 58 today, we need to understand that this is what the chapter is about—the practice of true worship vs. false worship; true religion vs. false religion.
It is important to note that Isaiah served God as a prophet for more than 50 years in Jerusalem. He started his work at the end of the reign of King Uzziah, then also served under King Jotham, King Ahaz, and then King Hezekiah. Hezekiah was one of Israel’s best kings, because he instituted a number of reforms. Because of this, you might think that things were going well. But God has something important to say through Isaiah to Hezekiah and the rest of Israel, and us in Isaiah 58.

I. Playing Church- (Isaiah 58:1-5; Micah 6:8; James 1:27)
a. Not as it seems- Let me give you a little history for a moment.
Isaiah, during his time of service, had seen war four times. One was a civil war with the Northern tribes. He had seen the fall of Samaria in 722 BC. He had watched the downfall of the nation after the kingdom was divided after King Solomon had died. From the time of King David to the time of Isaiah the nation of Israel had gone downhill, even in the midst of prophets speaking to the people on behalf of God.
The people liked to think that things were good; that their behavior was as it should be; that they were being faithful. But sometimes things are not as they seem. And so Isaiah starts with some painful language, but also some promises… Listen again to verses 2-3, “For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 'Why have we fasted,' they say, 'and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?'…”
God is speaking here through the prophet Isaiah, and there is a bit of sarcasm, or tongue in cheek language. He is remarking that His people are busy with the activities of religion (like temple services, rituals, music and programs), but something is wrong. In verse 2 God talks about the people seeming to be seeking Him out, eager to know God’s ways, appearing to be righteous, but the implication is that it is not what it seems. Israel is not a nation that does righteousness.
If you were to study the nation of Israel, you would see that most of the time the spiritual life of Israel was carried by a remnant, or inner core of godly people. But this chapter is about the WHOLE nation of Israel; all of the people. And when you look at the whole, you will see decadence, discontinuity between what is professed and their actual behavior, and the crumbling of a nation. Israel was busy trying to look righteous, but they had really forsaken God and what God truly wanted.
b. False vs. real- The whole idea about false religion is that it’s
impersonal and program-centered. However, God is a personal God and is interested in intimate, personal relationships. He doesn’t care about ritual, liturgy, and ceremony as much as He cares about us being fully committed to Him! As we are told in Micah 6:8- “He has showed you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you. To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” We can easily drift into going to church out of habit. We can easily drift into religious activity and programs. So we need to ask ourselves the question: “Why am I here?”
This question will help us to avoid what the theologian Jay Vernon McGee calls “playing church.” It is not about ritual, but about helping others. It is not about requirement, but about being motivated to love. It is not about fulfilling a duty, but about serving the Lord, and being connected with God. As James says in the book of James, 1:27- “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit widows and orphans in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” But the visiting and the keeping from the world is to be out of love, not out of obligation!
At the end of verse 3 Isaiah gives an example when he says: “… ‘Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.’” In other words, God tells his people that they’ve set their priorities on their own personal pleasures and it’s just “business as usual” to them. Their lifestyles are centered on their dreams, their goals, their ambition, their careers, their homes, their families. You get the point? Seeking God hasn’t changes the way they live at all.
In fact, Isaiah gives an example in verse 4 where he says: “Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife and in striking each other with wicked fists.” Wow. Did you catch that? In the midst of their fasting, which is supposed to be a religious ritual, they end up fighting! They have lost any sense of what it means to be in a relationship with God; to have God as their Lord and Creator. What God sees in His people’s hearts is not acceptable, and they are really wasting their time.

II. Showing Humility- (Isaiah 58:6-7; Matthew 9:37)
a. Self-centered- The problem is that the people were showing an
outward sign of humility, but that wasn’t what God wanted. We read in Isaiah 58:6-7, “Is not this the fast that I chose to loose the bonds of wickedness, 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 him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” God wants his people to stop being like a ‘country club’—ingrown and self-centered—and to get out in to the middle of this world because people are lost and they don’t know they are lost. People are in bondage to sin and they need somebody to break them free. God wants to pour out his love through His people, through you and me. God wants us to loose the bonds of wickedness, breaking every yoke, and sharing bread with the hungry.
Example- The other day my family was at my aunt and uncle’s. They had a box of Legos that Tiffany started to play with. She was building some kind of a tower. At one point she went with my aunt to go get our dinner, and so Tyler began to build an “addition” to her building. When she got back she was upset that Tyler had messed with what she was building. Then later Tyler took a couple of the Legos to build something himself. Tiffany got upset, because he took a piece that she needed to complete her building. As she was complaining to me, I discovered that Tyler had about 6 Lego pieces, and Tiffany had about 60! And yet they got into a big argument and were all upset.
Why did this all happen? Because they were being selfish and not sharing and not working together. They didn’t care about what the other person was doing, only what they were doing. They didn’t care how it might negatively affect their relationship. They just wanted to have what they wanted. And that happens in the church all the time. We get caught up in what we want, and we don’t share. We don’t share the good news of Jesus with our community. We don’t share our resources very well. We don’t seek to go out of our comfort zone.
b. Going out- Now what happens if you get a bunch of Christians
hiding in the church? No, this is not the start of a joke, it is a legitimate question. You get God being unhappy with us, because God wants to get us loose and involved in our community. God wants us to show the love of Jesus to people. People will want to become Christians after they see the love of Christ manifested in our lives. Even if they don’t want to become Christians, the Holy Spirit is going to be free to do His work.
If you were to look at the numbers, there is actually a small percentage of people in Long Beach who attend church each week. Which is just like what Jesus said in Matthew 9:37, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.’” And this can cause us to be afraid to go out into the community, or it can cause us to make excuses about why we won’t go.
Isaiah challenges us to get personally involved with people at a deeper level—where they are really hurting, regardless of who they are or their place in society. We read in Isaiah 58:8, “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.” God is saying here to do what He calls us to do, go out into the community, and it will give us a new feeling about our Christian life. Not only will those who are newly saved have restoration to their lives, but those of us who see God restoring people will have our own personal restoration and healing in our lives. God will be there to protect you and go before you. God’s presence will be evident. You will call out to God and God will be there to answer.
Earlier in the text we saw that the people were calling out to God and they didn’t feel that God was there to answer. They were complaining about God not being there for them; feeling like they were ignored. But when we are serving God, when we are out doing the things God wants us to do, then we can call and God will immediately answer. And because we are in this revived relationship with God, we will sense His presence all the more.
From verse 9 to verse 12 we see Isaiah challenge his people, and us, in regards to the ways we can make our light shine, God’s light shine. It happens when we get rid of the gossiping and bickering, and stereotyping, and hurting others around us. It’s not about organizing committees or more programs. It is about getting busy using what we have; the love of God in us. To let God’s light shine is to get personally involved.

Conclusion: Are you bored in your Christian life? Do you feel lonely in your relationships? Does your life have a sense of being meaningless and empty? God wants to banish your gloom. God wants you to bless someone else, encourage someone else, challenge someone else. To do this we need to realize that the Lord is with us, as Isaiah says in verse 11, “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.” This is great language reminding us of God being able to bless us in our serving Him. God will heap upon us good things and fruitful results. And Isaiah concludes with these words: “Then you will find your joy in the Lord…”
When we demonstrate the kind of love and energy I’ve talked about in this sermon, people will notice and respond. The title of this sermon is “Paint or get off the ladder.” What that means is that God has never designed us to be people who are uninvolved. If you are on a ladder with a paint brush, it is expected that you will paint. If not, then you need to get off so that someone else can climb on the ladder and paint. Let us be a people who are not only able, but are willing to put our faith into practice, and show our faith by going out into the world to love people for God. Amen.