⁶ “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
⁷ Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? (Isaiah 58:6-7, NIV)

What is our relationship to God?

Too often it is transactional, even if we don’t realize it.

“I’ve given to the church” or “I prayed so much for this” or “I actually fasted about this!” are often the first part of a sentence that will show disappointment in the last part of that sentence.

“Why didn’t God answer?”

Isaiah is dealing with a transaction-minded bunch. These are folks who did their religious duties and then wondered why God wasn’t keeping his end of the bargain.

As efficient Americans (I mean, we created a whole government department recently to make government more efficient didn’t we?) we want to know that if I do “A” then God will deliver “B”.

Israel had this practice of fasting and it should result in something… right?

What was missed is that walking with the Lord is extremely inefficient. It doesn’t make sense. Honestly! How does missing a meal break a yoke? How would missing two meals do anything for the hungry? (Other than I could give someone those two meals, but then what?)

Yet, there is a rhythm of the Kingdom of God we miss. When we walk in obedience… we are changed. Then, we move from mistreating people to seeing people. We move from quarreling and arguments and fights and strife to opening up our lives to be WITH the oppressed.

The “inefficiency” of fasting or giving or prayer or silence or solitude or study yields the possibility of deep change in us so that the world may be changed.

We have long bemoaned the “decline of Christianity” in America. Fewer and fewer Americans are identifying as Christians.

I may be the only one in America GLAD about it… and wishing that number would keep pushing down!

Why? Because I would prefer honest numbers. And that is what do NOT have currently. We have people self-identifying, but what are the results?

What results? The ones Isaiah gave us:

— The chains of injustice are broken
— The oppressed are set free
— Yokes of oppressing systems are broken
— The hungry are fed
— The poor wanderer has shelter
— The naked are clothed
— Families have harmony rather than strife

These are the signs. It’s not the stock market. It’s not “national security.” It’s not the political party in control.

It is justice and flourishing. Kingdom flourishing.

This is why I wish those numbers of Christians in America would keep shrinking. Maybe then we would get honest with ourselves and quit whining about inane “culture war” issues.

In this Lenten season, we need a serious consideration of freedom. Freedom from the bondages and strongholds of this world. Freedom from the big three beasts of our own culture: money, sex, and power.

Let US be free… and watch justice flow down like mighty waters.