THE MESS WE’RE IN!

THE MESS WE’RE IN!

Isa 58:1-8

58:1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

2 Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God.

3 Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours.

4 Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high.

5 Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD?

6 Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?

7 Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?

8 Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rearward.

1. Our Nation is in a Mess!

          Rules are broken and deals are made in huddled whispers against the sound advice of reason. Righteousness is sacrificed on the altar of riches and principled men are shouted down. Opulence clothes the inept. The people mourn unheeded. Our emotions are calloused to the shedding of innocent blood.

2. Our Families are in a Mess!

Parents give clear commands to four-year-olds and the youngsters ignore them. Parents wring their hands in futility. Husbands and wives have long forgotten their vows of betrothal and peace has fled the home. Marriage has become obsolete and has been replaced by relationships built solely upon sexual activity. Adolescents fail in the basic skills of life and remain dependent instead of becoming self-sustaining adults. Some never leave the comforts of a tolerant home. 

3. Our Churches are in a Mess!

No longer is holiness the mark of the Christian life. Political correctness and the religion of tolerance have replaced the penitent heart and the transformed life. We are hesitant to “judge” the actions of our fellow Christians and are told that one opinion is as good as another. Churches are like worn and wilted flowers trying to provide nectar for the fluttering and unfulfilled seeking entertainment. Sin is seldom challenged and rebellion is seldom dealt with. The mission of the church goes unfunded because resources are diverted to more glamorous things.

Isa 58:13-14

13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; [ignoring the importance of collective worship] and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: 14 Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

Master, speak to Thy church today clear words that cut to the heart. Challenge our sin! Convert the lost! Console the sorrowful. Be a companion to the lonely and fill the hungry with good things. AMEN