The Lord's Recipe for Your Spiritual Vitality

THE LORD’S RECIPE FOR YOUR SPIRITUAL VITALITY

An Exposition of Isaiah 58

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: January 5, 2025

Series: Pursuing Relational Health on Communion Sundays

Note: Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

For the second consecutive month, on the first Sunday of each month, I am attempting to facilitate a more substantive celebration of Communion, and this effort involves preaching a practical sermon on our relationships. Part of God’s design for our spiritual and moral life is that our relationship with Him is meant to affect our relationship with people, and the way that we treat people affects the way that God treats us. The greatest commandment to love the Lord with all our being, and the second most important commandment to love our neighbors as ourselves, are so interconnected that to fail to keep one commandment necessarily means failing to keep the other commandment.

Of course, God is more important than your neighbor, which is why loving God is the greatest commandment. Even so, God’s will is that we reflect His character in the way that we treat other people. When we habitually treat other people poorly, it can only mean that our relationship with God Himself is fundamentally broken. Last month we explored these concepts by looking at Luke 6:27-38. Today we explore these concepts by looking at Isaiah 58. After each of these ‘first Sunday of the month’ sermons, I will give opportunity for two or three of you to briefly respond to the message by sharing how God is encouraging, strengthening, or correcting you in these things.

THE SCRIPTURAL TEXT

Holy Scripture says:

¹ “Cry aloud; do not hold back;
    lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
    to the house of Jacob their sins.
² Yet they seek me daily
    and delight to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that did righteousness
    and did not forsake the judgment of their God;
they ask of me righteous judgments;
    they delight to draw near to God.
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.
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?

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?
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.’
If you take away the yoke from your midst,
    the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
¹⁰ if you pour yourself out for the hungry
    and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
    and your gloom be as the noonday.
¹¹ And the Lord will guide you continually
    and satisfy your desire in scorched places
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
    like a spring of water,
    whose waters do not fail.
¹² And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
    you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
    the restorer of streets to dwell in. (Isaiah 58:1-12)

Introductory word to the preacher

Isaiah 58 begins with a word to the preacher: “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins.” (v. 1) God appoints a preacher – a messenger – to deliver God’s message to God’s people. Just as a trumpet blast commands attention, so the preacher must blast forth God’s message, so that the message is heard and reckoned with. The preacher’s job is not to tell the people how wonderful they are, but rather to make clear how sinful they are, and to tell them what their repentance must look like. Repentance simply means turning from your sin and turning to the Lord with a readiness to obey His Word.

Some of you may struggle to hear this message. Some of you may be tempted to think that the preacher is beating up on you and making you feel bad about yourself. But you must understand that the message of the gospel is not ‘you’re a filthy rotten sinner, period.’ Yes, you and I are filthy rotten sinners. But God doesn’t intend for this bad news to leave us in a state of despair. Instead, God graciously shows us the uncomfortable truth about ourselves, so that He can then pour out forgiving and transforming grace upon us, thus bringing us to a place of encouragement. So remember that God’s gracious transformation process involves calling attention to the bad news about ourselves, but then the process continues by applying powerful grace to our lives, in order to rescue us out of our ungodliness and redirect us onto the path of godliness. I encourage you to receive the entire process as a gift of God’s grace that is aimed at your health and growth.

So, after this initial word to the preacher in verse 1, God’s message is set forth.

Part 1: When your religious devotion isn’t working

The first part of God’s message is found in verses 2-5. It boils down to this: your religious devotion to God is unhealthy and unproductive when you live your everyday life selfishly and without love. If you are living selfishly and without love, then your acts of religious devotion are a sham. But many people are deceived into thinking that religious devotion is inherently pleasing to God.

Look at the text. These sinful people are regularly engaged in acts of piety and religious devotion: “they seek me daily and delight to know my ways” (2a) and “they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God” (2c). The fact that you may be doing these things doesn’t mean that you are right with God. These people aren’t right with God. But they are praying and reading their Bibles and attending worship services. These are the sort of people who love to experience God, to experience the mystical and the transcendent, to have an emotional experience in prayer. They aren’t just doing their duty, they even take delight in their religious exercises. And they are also given to fasting in sackcloth and ashes (v. 3, 5). Their religious devotion probably puts some of us to shame, and yet their religious devotion is a sham!

These people are self-deceived and mistakenly think that they are a righteous people. They seek after God “as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God” (2b). When the average ignorant person sees monks in a monastery walking in procession and chanting a prayer, the average ignorant person assumes that these monks are necessarily righteous and obedient people. In point of fact, they might be as enslaved to lust, power, and greed as anyone on the planet, but we easily assume that religious devotion equals righteousness. If I can check off the boxes of daily spiritual disciplines, and even enjoy doing them, then I must be acceptable and pleasing to God.

But then verse 3 hits us like a ton of bricks. Their religious devotion isn’t working. God isn’t honoring and answering their prayers, and they know it. They say: ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ (v. 3) They want God to show up in a favorable way, but He isn’t showing up. Their religious devotion carries them skyward, but the heavens are closed up. For all their religious devotion, they are deeply frustrated in terms of their walk with God. Something is wrong. Are you frustrated in your walk with God?

The problem that these people have – and that we often have – is that their religious devotion was whitewash over their selfish, unloving, and unrighteous lives. Their transgression is declared at the end of verse 3 and the beginning of verse 4:

“Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist.” (v. 3b-4a)

The problem is clear: you are self-absorbed, you are you-centered, you “seek your own pleasure” (which the ESV footnote on v. 3 says may also be rendered “pursue your own business”). What is really important to you is your agenda. You don’t want God to transform you into someone who is passionate about God’s agenda. You want God to show up and throw His support behind your own personal and selfish agenda. As you seek first the kingdom of you, you treat other people like trash. You don’t love your neighbor as yourself. You don’t strive to serve others for their good. Instead, you “oppress all your workers”. More generally, you domineer and lord it over the people around you. You oppress your spouse, your children, your teammates. You are not a person of peace. Instead, you quarrel, fight, and “hit with a wicked fist”. You are skilled at fighting to get your own way; you know how to employ verbal lashings; you know how to punish others who don’t play along. Here is the bottom line: you are a selfish person who seeks your own advantage at other people’s expense, and you hurt a lot of people in the process. And if that’s you, God has no interesting in honoring and answering your prayers, because your prayers are just an attempt to get God to underwrite your selfish life. Your attempt to love God is unhealthy and unproductive when you are not making an honest effort to love your neighbor as yourself.

The end of verse four and verse 5 makes it clear that acts of religious devotion are unproductive and unprofitable when they don’t arise from a life of loving service to others:

“Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. 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?” (4b-5)

While other Scriptural passages teach us that there is a place for fasting from food as part of earnestly seeking after God, the point of verse 5 is that special appointed days of fasting are absolutely worthless without genuine repentance and genuine love. Religious observances are no substitute for everyday obedience, and without everyday obedience such religious observances amount to bogus religion. If we transpose Isaiah 58:2-5 into the well-known key of 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 key, we would get something like this: if I seek after God’s presence with prayer and fasting, but have not love, I accomplish nothing. God is not impressed. The heavens are closed. You are trapped in the bondage of iniquity.

Part 2: True fasting involves repentance and neighbor-love

Now we come to the second part of the message, in verses 6-12. These verses invite us to genuine repentance and promise us spiritual vitality if we do so. Let me show you the flow of thought before looking at the details. The first invitation to genuine repentance is in verses 6-7, followed by the promise of spiritual vitality in verses 8-9a. The invitation to genuine repentance is repeated in verses 9b-10a, followed by an enlarged promise of spiritual vitality in verses 10b-12.

Before we probe the details, remember that repentance means turning away from your sin. We have already been made aware of their sin: they are self-absorbed, self-seeking people who oppress and hurt other people. And so, by way of context, we know that the way of repentance is going to mean putting an end to your selfishness, putting a stop to hurting people, and starting to help people. And really, the life that God calls us to live is wonderfully simple. The way of sin is to put yourself at the center, rejecting God’s authority and disrespecting God’s image-bearers. The way of righteousness is to humbly recognize that God is at the center, and as a result living a life of loving service toward God’s image-bearers within God’s moral boundaries. This instruction is found throughout the entire Bible: trust in the Lord, and love other people. Don’t use religiosity as a cover-up for not loving people.

So, let’s contemplate God’s remedy for His disobedient people, in verses 6-12.

The invitation to repentance (v. 6-7, 9b-10a)

The first invitation to repentance is given in verses 6-7:

“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? 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?” (v. 6-7)

True fasting is not appointing a special day to be more religious than usual. True fasting is not temporarily breaking from food or from some other creaturely necessity. True fasting is breaking from selfishness and sin. True fasting is denying yourself and inconveniencing yourself in order to serve others. True fasting is making yourself a humble servant who labors for the freedom and flourishing of other people.

BREAK EVERY YOKE

Verse 6 is extensive in application, but let’s start at square one. It says “to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?” (v. 6) Where do you begin? In the context of verses 3-4, I think the starting point is clear. In verses 3-4, you are the one who is oppressing and afflicting others. Your sin is oppressive in its impact on other people. And so verse 6 means, in the first instance, to liberate other people from the oppressive impact of your sin against them – your oppressing them, your quarreling with them, your fighting against them, your striking them, your lashing out at them, your threatening them, your manipulating them, your unfair treatment of them. Other people are suffering because of your sin. So, the first order of business for you is to set them free from the smothering and suffocating impact of your sin against them. Stop hurting people! Stop yelling! Stop the verbal jabs! Stop the mocking and belittling comments! Stop harming people!

Don’t underestimate how much your sin harms other people. When we air our anxiety and grievances and gossipy comments and bitterness and put these things into the ears of other people, we are drawing them into the snare of our sins. For far too long I have oppressed my family with an unwillingness to get rid of junk or to file the stuff that should be filed. And so, what has developed is a very cluttered environment that facilitates anxiety and stress. I would hypocritically criticize my family members for not managing their stuff in a neat and orderly way, all the while not managing my stuff in a neat and orderly way. This past week I got rid of a mountain of papers, not a few old clothes, and attended to some other organizational matters, and all of this is music to Charlotta’s ears. My sin, whether it be anxiety or insecurity or laziness or the desire for control, negatively impacts those around me.

Paul writes in Romans 13: “Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Romans 13:10) When we pressure, bully, shame, punish, curse, accuse, retaliate, intimidate, threaten emotional blackmail, we are wronging and harming people. When we use people and attempt to squeeze as much benefit and pleasure for ourselves from the people around us, without regard to the well-being of their body and soul, we are injuring human beings who are made in the image of God. When we don’t give others their fair due, when we don’t pay just wages, when we delay payment, when we steal, when we deal with others meagerly but expect others to deal generously with us, we are selfish, hardhearted, tightfisted people: God is not pleased, and God’s image-bearers suffer. They suffer under the oppression of our sin. And so, your first order of business – my first order of business – is to repent of our sin and set people free from the stranglehold of our sin against them. Receive forgiveness from the Lord. Request forgiveness from those you have wronged. Then be ready to forgive those who have wronged you. In this way, a community of humble repentance and gracious forgiveness develops!

Now if you pursue this path of repentance, two things will immediately happen: you are set free from your sin, and they are set free from your sin against them, and that’s a great start. But then other responsibilities follow thereafter. Now I don’t have time to unpack it all, but let me sketch a few thoughts. If we are going “to break every yoke”, then we must also seek to set people free from the oppressive impact of other people’s sins against our neighbors. In the Book of Nehemiah, Nehemiah confronted “the nobles and the officials” of the land who were oppressing the poor. Nehemiah told them, “The thing that you are doing is not good.” (Nehemiah 5:9) And Nehemiah exhorted them to live in the fear of the Lord and to make things right with their poor brethren, and they did (Nehemiah 5:9-13). That faithful man William Wilberforce, who lived in the late 18^th and early 19^th century, served the Lord as a member of the British Parliament and labored diligently to end the British slave trade. In so doing, he was seeking to set men and women free from the sin of stealing and selling human souls.

If we are going to “break every yoke”, we will also seek to set people free from the oppressive influence of the devil. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8) The Lord Jesus sent Paul to the Gentiles in order “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me [Jesus]” (Acts 26:18). Satan entraps people through distortion and deceit, and we seek to set people free from Satan’s tyranny by openly declaring the truth of the gospel and bidding people to behold the Word made flesh, the Savior who crushed the serpent at the cross.

Last but not least, if we are going to “break every yoke”, then we must seek to liberate people from their own sin, their own guilt and shame, their own condemnation and judgment before a Holy God. And so, we plead with people to forsake their sin and trust in Jesus.

But preaching the gospel to others isn’t where you start, if you yourself are still in bondage to sin. If you are a selfish oppressor who is harming others, you first step isn’t to tell the oppressed who are being oppressed by you to repent of their sins. God can tell them that, but you must take a different approach. And hopefully by now you know what the approach is: “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.” (Luke 6:42) First, repent of your own sins. First, liberate other people from the oppressive impact of your sins against them. Then, as you become a renewed and transformed human being who is serving others for their good, it is fitting that you invite others to join you on the freedom road – the freedom that Christ purchased for His people with His blood. The upshot of verse 6 is: stop hurting people and set people free from all “the bonds of wickedness”.

MEET PRACTICAL NEEDS

Then follows verse 7, where the basic point is to start helping people: feed the hungry, shelter the homeless poor, clothe the naked. Verse 7 concludes: do “not hide yourself from your own flesh”. If we are operating with a sinful and selfish mindset, then we are quite content to be comfortable in our body while other people are suffering in their bodies. But the Bible pushes us to have a tenderhearted sympathy toward our fellow human beings, recognizing that we are all made of the same stuff, and we share this physical life and its vulnerabilities in common with all other people. Love your neighbor as yourself. Care for your neighbor with the same energy by which you seek to take care of yourself. Have compassion on those who are suffering in the flesh. Weep with those who weep. We are to have this compassion toward all people, though it takes on special meaning within the body of Christ, for believers have a profound spiritual unity as members of Christ’s body. “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.” (Hebrews 13:3) And remember this: true Christians are known by their sacrificial love for their fellow believers, to whom they demonstrate practical care in Jesus’ name. When the Son of Man judges all the peoples on the last day, He will separate His beloved sheep from the accursed goats. How are the sheep recognized as such?

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me…. Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matthew 25:34-36, 40)

Repent of your self-centered life. Stop hurting people. Start helping people. Instead of seeking to get ahead at the expense of others, strive to get others ahead at your expense. The heart of the apostle Paul should be our own heart, too: “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.” (2 Corinthians 12:15) “I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:33-35)

This invitation to repentance in verses 6-7 is repeated in the last half of verse 9 and the first half of verse 10: “If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted” (v. 9b-10a). Turn away from sin. Walk in humility, grace, and kindness. Serve others in practical ways for their good. This is the call upon us: deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus (Mark 8:34).

Promises of renewal (v. 8-9a, 10b-12)

Friends, God promises to pour remarkable spiritual blessing upon those who follow His recipe for spiritual vitality. Look at these stunning promises that God makes to those who quit putting themselves first and who adopt the attitude of a humble servant:

• “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn” (v. 8a) – the repentant, loving church that liberates others will be a vibrant community. We shall be the light of the world, reflecting His light amid the darkness.

• “[And] your healing shall spring up speedily” (v. 8b) – the repentant, loving church that sets others free will be a healthy community, with healthy relationships and a healthy, gracious environment in which to grow. Many years ago a friend of mine told me, ‘As I serve others, I am being healed.’ That is consistent with the logic of Isaiah 58:6-8. If you get a whole community of people forsaking sin and serving one another, then we could say that as we serve one another, we are being healed. Don’t buy the world’s strategies for healing. Believe God’s prescription for healing.

• Then “your righteousness shall go before you” (v. 8c) – the repentant, loving church that breaks every yoke will be a righteous community, not pseudo-righteous like the deceived folks in verse 2, but genuinely righteous, genuinely faithful, genuinely merciful. This righteousness shall be visible and transparent, like a lamp that is put on the table to give light to all who enter the house.

• And “the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard” (v. 8d) – the repentant, loving church that looses the bonds of wickedness will enjoy the Lord’s glorious presence, support, and protection.

• “Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’” (v. 9a) Remember, this is exactly the point at which the religious devotees of verses 2-4 experienced failure: “Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high.” (v. 4) God isn’t interested in answering the prayers of people who want Him to support their selfish agenda. But God is very interested in honoring and answering the prayers of people who humbly serve others in His name. God wants to throw His strong support behind such people; God wants to make their sacrificial love a radiant testimony to the sacrificial love of Christ.

These promises from verses 8-9a are repeated and expanded in verses 10b-12. Let’s continue:

• “[Then] shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.” (v. 10b) Here again, light and vibrancy!

• “And the LORD will guide you continually” (v. 11a) – when we are determined to live life God’s way, when we are resolved to seek first His kingdom, when we are committed to loving our neighbors as God prescribes, then God is determined to direct our steps and make our paths straight.

• Moreover, the Lord will “satisfy your desire in scorched places” (v. 11b). Would you rather be in a prosperous place without the Lord, or would you rather be in scorched places with the Lord? Doesn’t the Lord want us to serve Him and others in scorched places, to serve the least, the last, and the lost in scorched places, to preach the gospel in scorched places, to suffer for the Name in scorched places? “[Pouring] yourself out for the hungry” and “[bringing] the homeless poor into your house” will be costly and inconvenient, and it means that an upscale gated community probably isn’t in your future, and it probably means that a pristine kitchen and dining area isn’t in the cards for you, either. But if you “satisfy the desire of the afflicted” (v. 10), then God will “satisfy your desire in scorched places” (v. 11). Remember what we learned last month: God will treat you the way that you treat others (see Luke 6:37-38).

• Further, the healing and renewal shall be far-reaching: the Lord will “make your bones strong” (v. 11c) – He will make you durable as you lay down your life for others.

• “[And] you shall be like a watered garden” (v. 11d) – well-nourished, beautiful, bearing the fruit of the Spirit. But it isn’t just that you will be well-nourished; it is also that you will never lack the ability to nourish others, for you shall also be “like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail” (v. 11e). Others will come to the well-watered garden of your life, and benefit from the fruit of your life. Others will come to you as if coming to a spring of water, and they shall be well supplied. All this comes from the Lord, who has called us to be a blessing to the afflicted peoples of the world.

• In the end, the Lord will work in our community in such a way that we are utterly revitalized: “And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, and restorer of streets to dwell in.” (v. 12) Rebuilt and safe to dwell in. Raised up and rooted in the heritage of the faithful believers of previous generations. Breaches repaired, safe from external threats, equipped and strong to stand against the schemes of the devil. Streets restored, internal movement made secure, loving communication and regular profitable engagement with one another. This revitalization project pictures a healthy church community, made strong and bound together in the love of Christ, abiding in the Lord’s peace, doing God’s work God’s way, a beacon of hope, a safe place of healing for the distressed and oppressed, a refuge for the weary, an outpost of the kingdom of heaven on earth.

All this renewal comes through the Messiah

This same promise of a revitalized community of believers is restated in Isaiah 61:4, and there in Isaiah 61:4 it is the fruit of the Messiah’s work. Near the beginning of His public ministry, the Lord Jesus – the Messiah – entered the synagogue in Nazareth and stood up to read Scripture, and what He read was a portion of Isaiah 61:1-2. Now let me read Isaiah 61:1-4 – 

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion– to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.” (Isaiah 61:1-4)

The repentance to which we are summoned in Isaiah 58 is nothing less than a call to follow Jesus. Unlike the folks of Isaiah 58:3 who chased after their own business, Jesus was all about His Father’s business. Unlike those oppressors of Isaiah 58:3, Jesus came to liberate both the oppressors and the oppressed, for all human beings are caught up in sin. Unlike the quarrelers and fighters and punchers and hypocritical fasters of Isaiah 58:4, Jesus “went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38). Unlike the personal agenda seekers, Jesus opened the eyes of the blind, unstopped the ears of the deaf, caused the lame to walk again, set the mute free to sing for joy, cleansed the lepers, fed thousands of hungry souls in the wilderness, and forgave men and women their sins. And He did what no other human being was qualified to do: He took upon Himself the sins of the oppressors and the oppressed, and suffered the stroke of divine justice at the cross, so that His people could be forgiven of their sins and reconciled to God and each other, and so that His people could work together to rebuild the ancient ruins and shine together as a community of God’s grace.

Brothers and sisters, we must follow the One who laid down His life for His people. We must follow the Lord who made Himself a humble servant of others. We must imitate the love of a Savior who was willing to bear the cost so that others might live. We must be nourished by His broken body and shed blood, freely given so that we might be forgiven and transformed, to the end that we might go forth from the Lord’s Table in order to liberate, nourish, and strengthen other people, to the praise of His glorious grace.

All this is the Lord’s recipe for spiritual vitality. Blessed are you who hear these words and put them into practice!