Isaiah 58:1-12; 1 Corinthians 2:1-12; Matthew 5:13-20
February 9, 2020
We have been reading from the book of Isaiah almost every Sunday since well before Christmas. We come to our final reading in this series today. And it echoes last week's reading from the prophet Micah. In fact, our call to worship comes from Micah because it matches so closely with today's reading from Isaiah. And what is the message of these two passages? In a sentence: Our relationship with God is more than ceremony, it is personal involvement with the Lord and with others.
What troubled Isaiah specifically in today's passage, the people were following the letter of the law, in fact were doing more than the law required in terms of fasting; and so the people expected that God should be blessing them in return. They asked God, “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” And we may all have been there at some point in time.
February 9, 2020
We have been reading from the book of Isaiah almost every Sunday since well before Christmas. We come to our final reading in this series today. And it echoes last week's reading from the prophet Micah. In fact, our call to worship comes from Micah because it matches so closely with today's reading from Isaiah. And what is the message of these two passages? In a sentence: Our relationship with God is more than ceremony, it is personal involvement with the Lord and with others.
What troubled Isaiah specifically in today's passage, the people were following the letter of the law, in fact were doing more than the law required in terms of fasting; and so the people expected that God should be blessing them in return. They asked God, “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” And we may all have been there at some point in time.