Good evening to all of you.
I know most of you.
My name's Tommy.
I'm a pastor here.
And strangely, I love Ash Wednesday.
Even though the focus is maybe not our favorite topic, the idea that everyone in this room is going to die a premature death.
Not the kind of thing that we like to dwell on.
Nevertheless, it's true.
But at this point in the service, we want to turn our attention to God's Word.
And I know that there are different people in this room coming from different places.
And maybe even spiritually, I'm assuming you're in very different places.
Some of you may be here tonight and you feel full of faith.
You feel like God is near you.
He's present in your life.
You feel alive and exhilarated by what God is doing in your life.
And full of passion for the kingdom.
And if that is you, then praise the Lord.
Lord, I'm so glad that is true.
And we're going to pray and ask God that that just continues in your life.
For the rest of us who may feel like faith is a struggle.
If you feel like God is very distant, that your faith at some point grew cold.
If your prayer life feels like an exercise in futility, then Lent is the season for you.
And I'm glad that you're here.
Because Lent is a time when we focus uniquely on our relationship with God.
And when we talk about our relationship with God, it is supposed to be a relationship that is life-giving and intimate and love-filled.
And yet, I think sometimes that's not our experience.
When we look at the common images used to describe the relationship that God desires to have with us, one of the most common images is the image of a marriage.
A lifelong, intimate, committed relationship of mutual love.
And yet, I think that sometimes that's not our experience.
So, if you don't have that kind of relationship with God, then something is getting in the way.
Because we know that that's what God wants for us and with us.
And so, Lent is a good time for us to ask, as we look inward and as we come before the Lord, times like this,
what's getting in the way of that relationship with God?
And that's why we're looking at Isaiah chapter 58 briefly before we receive ashes.
Because this is a place where God's people are complaining about this very problem.
They're complaining that their relationship with God has grown cold and distant.
And it shows us two reasons why this kind of thing can happen.
Let me ask God's blessing on this time.
And then we'll look briefly at those two reasons.
Lord, we do ask that as we come before you, that this would not just be an exercise in empty religion.
But we're here because we know on some deep level that we need an encounter with you.
And we know that that can only happen through your word.
And so, we pray that your word would facilitate this interaction.
Lord, that it would open our hearts and that it would bring you into our midst.
That we might see you face to face, Lord.
We pray this in your son's holy name.
Amen.
So, Isaiah 58, what are the reasons, what are the things that get in the way of us having this kind of warm,
intimate, life-giving relationship with God that I think probably most of us in this room wish we could have?
One of the things that I learned in marriage, and you definitely don't have to be married to learn this kind of thing.
Just for a person like me, it took that to teach this to me.
But some of you already know this.
But one of the things that I had to learn in marriage is that when it comes to showing your love for somebody, words are never enough.
And I don't mean that words don't matter.
Words do matter.
But if, over time, the only way that you express love to your spouse is through words,
very quickly those words start to lose their meaning.
And they start to sound hollow.
And so what I had to learn is that if you really want to make somebody feel loved,
you have to figure out what makes them feel loved.
You have to figure out how to show love in ways that they're going to recognize and receive as love.
So a few examples in our marriage, my wife Laura, I know that if at the end of the day,
if we get our kids down, which is its own kind of small miracle,
and then we have some time left and some energy left,
I know that if I, instead of pulling out my phone or flipping on a show or diving into a book,
I know that if I look at her and we sit down and I ask what's on her mind, what's on her heart,
what's she thinking about, and I devote time and energy,
and we sit there and I listen and I care about the things that she cares about,
and I help her process some of the things that are on her mind,
I know that she's going to feel tremendously loved by that.
It doesn't take much.
I know that if I proactively, miracle of miracles, plan babysitting down the road in the future at some point,
and maybe even plan something for us to do,
she's going to feel tremendously loved by that relatively small gesture.
I know that the things that she works on are very important to her,
and if I just show some support, genuine encouragement and support,
toward the things that she's working on, that makes her feel loved.
And so I know that my words matter to her, but what I've learned is that these things that I'm able to do,
and many of them don't require a whole lot,
they convey so much more powerfully the genuineness of my love,
and they result in us feeling a lot closer and more connected.
So the point is, if you want to make somebody feel loved,
and you want to feel a connection with them, you can't just use words.
You have to show that love in tangible ways.
And the reason that I say this is because the same is true of our relationship with God.
The best way to show our love for God is to love the people that God loves.
It's to love the people that God loves.
So in our passage, Isaiah 58, verses 2 and 3,
these people are praying daily to God.
They want to feel close to God.
It says they, quote, delight to draw near Him.
And then it says in verse 3, we've humbled ourselves and fasted and prayed.
Why haven't you noticed?
We're doing all the right things.
We're going to church.
We're fasting.
We're putting ashes on our forehead.
We're wearing uncomfortable clothing, sackcloth.
We're doing all of the things.
Right?
We're observing all of the rituals.
In other words, we're upholding our side of the deal.
And somehow you're not showing up.
And God essentially responds through Isaiah.
He says essentially to Isaiah,
give a full-throated shout
and respond to the people this way.
God says,
you say that you love me
and you say that you want to be close to me.
You say that you want intimacy with me.
But the people that I most care about,
you ignore.
They don't seem to matter to you at all.
So God says, you know,
you say that you love me
and you look the part.
You look pietistic.
You look like I matter to you.
You're wearing the right clothing
and saying the right words.
And yet you work your employees to death.
And you pay them barely a minimum wage.
And you don't offer health insurance
or retirement benefits at all.
He's like, you say that you love me.
I hear the words.
But then you go and you bicker
over nothing.
You gossip because you love drama.
You go and you're nice to people's faces
and then you criticize them behind their back
and you make fun of them.
God says, you say that you love me.
You look the part.
It sounds right.
But you seem oblivious
to the injustice that is all around you.
So God's response is to essentially say
there's a disconnect here.
Like something doesn't add up.
And then God says,
is this not the fast that I choose?
In other words,
this is how I know that your love for me is genuine.
I mean, the best way to know how to show love to somebody
is to sit down and ask them,
what are the things that I can do
that make you feel loved?
That's what God is talking about here.
Here's the fast that I choose.
Here's the expression of love and devotion
that I recognize as genuine.
That's what he's saying.
If you truly love me,
he says in verse 6,
then don't just free
oppressed people.
Break the yoke.
Deal with the systems and institutions
that make oppression possible.
Break the yoke.
If you truly love me,
he says,
if you truly care about me,
then in verse 7,
don't just fast from certain kinds of food.
If you're not going to eat that food,
give it to somebody who needs it.
Give it to somebody who's hungry.
Better yet, he says,
invite someone into your home
and serve them that food.
Maybe spend less money on clothes
so that you can go clothe someone
who doesn't have any.
Cover their nakedness.
That can also imply,
don't just meet physical needs,
but recognize that the deepest needs
that people have
often are connected to deep sources of shame.
Minister to people's shame
if you really love me.
And this is important.
Certainly spoke to me.
The end of verse 7,
God says,
if you truly love me,
don't hide from your own flesh.
What does that mean?
It took me a little while.
Sometimes it's hardest to recognize
the sins that are closest to true for us.
Don't work so much
that you neglect your family.
Don't give yourself so much
to other causes and pursuits
that you neglect your friends,
that you neglect your church community.
Be available to your family.
Not just physically,
but emotionally,
spiritually.
Don't hide yourself
from your own flesh.
And the thing that connects
all of these definitions of love
is they all have to do
with the way we treat the people
right around us
that God has put there.
Right?
So the first point is this.
If you want to love
and be loved by God,
if you want to feel close to God
and intimate with God,
words are never going to be enough.
Gestures like this are helpful,
but they're never going to be enough.
Right?
God has given us neighbors,
people he puts in our lives,
and guess what?
God loves and delights in those people
more than we can possibly imagine.
And if we don't show some amount
of love and concern
for those people
that God is so crazy about,
then no matter how much
we try to tell God
that we love him,
our words are going to ring hollow.
And this is one reason
our relationship with God
might grow cold or distant.
If we think that we can love God
without loving any of the people
around us in our lives
that God loves.
All right?
So that's reason number one.
Reason number two
that we see in this passage
is a little more subtle,
but it's every bit as significant.
Either reason number one,
we're failing to love God's people,
that's what causes distance,
or reason number two,
we are failing to love
in God's way,
God's way of loving.
So some of you are vegan,
and some of you are vegan
based on principles, right?
You have an ethical conviction
based on what you believe
about the food industry
and whatnot
that you want to be a vegan.
That's a lifestyle
that you've committed to.
So imagine there's somebody
in your life
and they really want
to make you feel loved,
and they say,
I'm going to make you
this extravagant meal,
and I'm going to go all out,
you know,
kind of like Babette's Feast style.
If any of you have seen that movie
or read that book,
I'm just going to, you know,
spare no expense,
lots of money,
lots of time,
lots of energy,
and the night finally gets there
and they plop this plate
down in front of you
and it's a big old T-bone steak.
Right?
And you would look down at that
and the question would be,
you know,
they're looking at you expectantly,
do you feel how much I love you?
And of course,
if you're honest,
you might be moved by the effort,
but at the end of the day,
that dish does not convey love
at all.
It's in fact maybe the opposite
because no matter how much money
they spent on that food
and no matter how much effort,
no matter how high-end
or grass-fed
or well-marbled that steak may be,
at the end of the day,
it's a steak.
And that meal does not communicate love to you
if your commitment ethically
is to be vegan.
And what that means is
this person is trying to love you,
but they're not doing it in your way.
In other words,
they're ignoring your principles.
They're ignoring your character.
They're ignoring commitments
that matter to you.
That's not loving.
I say this on a day
when some of you are fasting.
I apologize for that.
But loving God
doesn't just mean
loving the people that God loves,
which matters.
It means loving the way that God loves,
which means loving according to God's standards,
God's character,
God's commitments,
God's principles.
You know, I've heard so often
people quote Isaiah 58
and say,
well, what this shows,
I mean, this justifies the idea
that God actually doesn't care
about our personal lives.
He doesn't care about our morals.
All of that is just empty religiosity.
What God really cares about
is social justice
and ending oppression.
That's all God cares about.
And so if we do that,
no matter who we sleep with
or how we spend our money
or our time,
that's what matters to God.
We are doing justice in the world.
This proves it.
All the rest is empty religion.
But it says in verse 2
that God's people are people
who delight in His ways,
who desire to do righteousness,
who do not forsake the judgments
or the commandments of their God.
And then you have to look at
the larger context of Isaiah chapter 58.
Just before it,
in Isaiah chapter 57,
which is a profoundly important chapter,
it talks about the core problem
of humanity.
The core issue
is not oppression or injustice,
but idolatry.
Worshiping other things in our lives
instead of God.
And what idolatry means
is that we are driven by our desires.
We are driven by our appetites.
Right?
Appetites like lust
or greed
or covetousness.
And so things like injustice
or poverty
or oppression
are symptoms.
They're downstream
from these
uncontrollable appetites.
Which result from the fact
that we have given ourselves
to false gods
who can never satisfy
our appetites.
We're always hungry.
We're always thirsty.
We're always yearning.
That's why we have injustice
and oppression.
And so God calls His people
to be free from these idols
and to worship Him alone
and to have the kind of holiness
and character
that reflects His holiness
and character.
He says in Leviticus,
Be holy for I am holy.
And so this means
the way that we use our money
or our bodies
or our resources,
that all needs to reflect
God's heart.
So if we believe
that we can love God
simply by doing justice,
but then we take liberties
in redefining justice
to fit whatever agenda
or issue
matters to us.
If we seek justice
in ways that disregard
God's character
and holiness,
that's like serving
a T-bone steak
to a vegan.
It doesn't matter
how much money
or effort it takes.
It's not an act of love.
In fact,
I think it's profoundly unloving
because it's profoundly
self-focused.
So loving God
means loving God's people
God's way.
Loving God's people
God's way.
And this is not going to lead us
and this is not only
going to lead us
to have a deeper sense
of God's presence
and love in our lives,
but the amazing thing
at the end of this passage
is it says,
if we love God's people
God's way,
it turns us
into the kind of people
this world most needs.
It says in verse 10,
then shall your light
rise in the darkness
and your gloom
be as the noonday.
You know what that means
in more common terminology?
Your life is going to
glow in the dark.
You're going to live
a luminous life.
You're going to shine
into the darkness
of this world.
Because listen,
this world has enough
empty religiosity
and piety.
But this world also
has enough social action
campaigns and charity
organizations.
What the world really needs
is people who glow
in the dark.
People who radiate
the love of God
into the world
like beacons of hope,
like lighthouses
in the darkness,
like lamps in a dark wood.
That's what this world needs.
So as we enter
this season of Lent together,
which this marks
the beginning
of our Lenten journey,
maybe you could think
of this like a marriage
retreat between you
and God.
And ask yourself
this question,
am I loving God's people
God's way?
Am I showing love to God
in ways that matter to Him?
Right?
Some of us may need
to focus during this season
on loving God's people more
by engaging in the needs
and the people around us.
That could be the hungry
and the homeless.
It could also be
our own families.
Serving the people
God has put in our lives.
And listen,
pastors need to hear that
more than anybody else.
Right?
The kind of people
who are ready
and available
for people in their church
but neglect their own kids.
We all need to hear that.
Maybe this means
just making extra food
when you cook
and thinking of people
you can bless
with that extra food.
I had a good friend
in seminary.
This is what she did
every week on her Sabbath.
She would make food
and she would make
twice as much
as she needed
and she would just
randomly pick people
to give it out to.
And I was the recipient
of some of those blessings
and I can tell you
I felt deeply loved.
Maybe it simply means
working fewer hours
or turning our phones off
so that we can be more
emotionally available
to people.
Others of us need
a different focus
this Lent.
Maybe we need to focus
more on living
and loving God's way.
Right?
Maybe you do need
to fast from sugar
or caffeine
or alcohol
because maybe
these things
are leading your appetites
to become out of control.
Maybe you need
more control
over those appetites.
Maybe you need
to learn how to seek
the Lord for satisfaction
rather than these things.
Right?
Maybe there are areas
of deep sin
that we need to face
and confess
and turn away from
in our lives.
So some of us
need to focus
on loving God's people more.
Some of us need
to focus on loving God's way more.
Many of us
probably just like me
need a little bit of both.
The last thing I'll say
is this.
If you are here
and you don't have
a relationship
with God at all
and by some strange
twist of providence
you find yourself here
on an Ash Wednesday service.
the least seeker sensitive service
of the Anglican year.
And maybe you're here
and you don't have
a relationship with God.
Before you do anything
that I just said
you need to read
Isaiah chapter 59
which comes right after
chapter 58.
Because in that chapter
this is where he says
that we on our own
are utterly powerless
against the idolatry
and the oppression
and the injustice
in our world.
And so God says
because you're powerless
because the situation
is hopeless for you
one day I myself
am going to come.
My arm
will accomplish
salvation for you.
One day
a redeemer
is going to come.
And we're here tonight
because we know
who that redeemer is.
Jesus Christ
who died on the cross
not only to save us
from sin and death
not only to take away
the fear that we have
of the premature death
that we will one day die
but also to invite us
into a loving
intimate relationship
with God himself.
And so if you've never
come to Jesus before
this is a perfect night.
Lent is a perfect season
for you to come to Jesus
in prayer
to ask him to forgive
all of the sin
in your life
and then to receive
the love and the forgiveness
that God desires
to pour
into your life.
Let's pray.
Lord we thank you
for your word
and we thank you
for the hope
and we need it.
We need hope.
We need truth.
We need love.
I pray that you would
kindle in our hearts
the embers
that they would become flame
that we would rediscover
our passion for you
that we would fall
in love with you
even as we know
the love that you had
for us
from before
the beginning of the world.
And we pray this
for our good Lord
but ultimately
for your glory
that as we radiate
your love and truth
into the world
you would be glorified.
In your son's name.
Amen.