Isaiah 58:7-9 “Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer. You’ll call out for help and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’”
 
Well, we can clearly see that religion that works doesn’t involve us making the rules that God follows and then us becoming frustrated when God doesn’t play by our rules.
 
Blessing upon blessing for us, God does give us his rules, his game plan. God doesn’t negotiate, but he is fair. God doesn’t work in the “good ole boy” system, but he does go above and beyond our expectations, as we honor him.
 
At the core, his system is his love, passed through the life of his Son Jesus, touching people in this world. Our religion pushes the world away, his religion draws people in. Our religion makes us hate the world that oppresses our way of life. His religion tears apart our way of life to reach the world. Our religion builds structures that uphold our societal identity. His religion tears down structures that compete with the identity that Christ Jesus has given to us.
 
Come on! Dig into this passage.
 
When God says that he will turn the lights on for you, don’t you think that is a good thing? Even if you think the lights are already on for you, if God says he will turn the lights on, worst case is you see more. You see what God sees and what he wants you to see.
 
He says your life will turn around at once. I like the “at once” that means very quickly he will turn your life around. Do you need that? Well, let go of your expectations for God and accept quickly and whole heartedly his expectations for you.
 
God will pave the way with your righteousness, and he will secure your passage along that path. Having God’s hand on you and his favor resting on you is a mighty thing. The God of the universe is offering that to you, as you choose his religion, not yours.
 
When you call out to God for help, he will say to you, “Here I am.” Have you ever heard God say that to you? There are two beautiful pieces of this statement by God to you. The first is that you can and will hear God speak to you and the second is what you hear God saying to you.
 
I am reminded of the great commission which is truly God’s religion for us, it says this, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV)
 
Notice how Jesus speaks to the outward movement of religion and in doing so, he is with us. This is the same as what is spoken in Isaiah 58. God is saying religion done my way, I will be smack in the middle of it. I think we all want that, God in the middle of what we are doing in his name.
 
“If you get rid of unfair practices, quit blaming victims, quit gossiping about other people’s sins, if you are generous with the hungry and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out, your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight. I will always show you where to go. I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places— firm muscles, strong bones. You’ll be like a well-watered garden, a gurgling spring that never runs dry. You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew, rebuild the foundations from out of your past. You’ll be known as those who can fix anything, restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate, make the community livable again.” (Isaiah 58:9-12 The Message)
 
These promises by God to you are astounding. God’s religion is different than our religion and he is inviting is into reformation. His plan for reforming an entire society is right in front of us.
 
There is no better time to start a reformation than when there is great sorrow and need. God is not open to us over-throwing governments and societal norms by force. God’s timing is perfect, he makes a way for us to be his empowered bride through the natural occurrences of this world one person at a time, one family at a time, one neighborhood at a time, one city at a time.
 
When the call comes from the Lord to be poised and ready to serve, what will you do? Please enter into a religion that works.
 
James 1:27 (ESV) “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
 
Two closing thoughts, In God’s emphasis on helping us understand what his expectation of healthy religion is he points us outward to people he loves, not inward. Take care of my people! And secondly, God does not want us stained by this world – the stain of this world is self, the worship of self. That means, dedicating our lives to satisfying our interests and desires.
 
In this time of uncertainty, let’s focus on what God is focused on, others.
 
Father, thank you for your watchful care and for your protection. God, we invest our lives into you. Jesus, you are the perfect example for us to see and follow. Father in heaven, as storms of life approach us, protect us and propel us forward as light for the lost to see. Let the love of Christ fill us as we love others.
 
Blessings,
Pastor D