DURING A SERMON one Sunday a few years ago, I opened my
Bible to the middle, hoping to find Psalms.
I knew from hours of “Sword Drill” practiced on Sunday evenings while
growing up in a Southern Baptist Church that it would be in the middle, but
when the pages fell open I had turned to Isaiah, chapter 58. I was close, but before I could flip the
pages my eyes fell on these words in verse eight . . .
…the glory of the LORD shall be your rear
guard.
God has my back?
Really? MY rear guard! What a thought, the glory of the Lord shall
be my rear guard. But how? What was God saying through Isaiah? What was God saying to me?
I’m sure I had read that chapter before. After all, I had won a pin for reading the
Bible through years earlier—but why didn’t this phrase sound familiar, why
didn’t this promise register with me?
I read on. The
chapter recounts God calling the people to account for false fasting. In this context, “fasting” referred to a type
of offering the people thought (or pretended) to be offering through the piety
of their words. God scolded them in
verses 1-5 for “saying one thing but doing another.” For instance, in verses 3-4 He says . . .
In fact, in the day of your fast you find
pleasure, and exploit all your laborers.
Indeed you fast for strife and debate, and to strike with the fist of
wickedness.
But then God lets them know what kind of fast/offering He
does expect. Lives of service to others,
but not just “any others” – lives of service to what Jesus would later call
“the least of these” – those who are oppressed, hungry, naked, forgotten.
And He doesn’t stop there, He promises to honor that kind
of life of service. In this paraphrase of these promises, listen for the joy of
the Lord in those who serve the most vulnerable in society . . .
Do this and you will please ME.
And when I AM pleased, MY smile of pleasure
will warm your face.
And when I AM pleased, MY joy will heal the
broken places in your soul.
And when I AM pleased, I AM will have your
back in any alley, valley or cave.
And when I AM pleased, I AM will answer your
calls for help
you will know that “I AM is near.”
Like many, we learned about serving others from the lives
of our parents. We watched them “do unto
others” with no expectation of return.
We watched them sacrifice time and money for the poor. We watched them stand up for the oppressed
during the civil rights movement in the turbulent 50’s and 60’s—not an easy
thing to do in Central Florida for a white man and his wife, especially a
prominent businessman and community and church leader. But, they did it in spite of threats to our
safety, the business, and their reputation.
So why did Isaiah 58
impact me so? I think it “hit me” that
this type of service wasn’t something that Christians did when they got around
to it, or that we did on Sunday mornings when the missionary told a story of
need and we made a love offering contribution.
No, what “hit me” was that serving others, especially “the least of
these” was not “one of” the expectations God has for our lives, it is “the main
thing” He wants His kingdom here on earth (me, you, us) to do.