What Is Light-Full Christianity?

5th Sunday after Epiphany, 2/9/20
Isaiah 58:5-9a


What Is Light-Full Christianity?
I. When it’s not for show.
II. When it centers on go.


(This sermon began with the viewing of a video on the internet of a fight that broke out at a Christian church during Sunday worship.)

I showed that video not because I thought you wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it. You’ve been around long enough to know that just about anything can happen, even when it shouldn’t. And with cameras everywhere these days, you’re not surprised that this event was recorded. So why did I show it?

So that I could ask you how you would feel if that had occurred right here in our church, Resurrection Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio. You’d be embarrassed, wouldn’t you? I would hope so. The last place on earth that people should be so upset with one another that they resort to pushing and shoving at best and physical violence at worst is in a Christian house of worship. That is not the Christian thing to do. You’d be ashamed and angry that it happened, and you’d be rightly concerned not only for the people involved in the situation, but for the worship visitors and guests that might be here that day. It’s almost a sure bet they would never come back to worship here again, and you would seriously consider whether you want to do so either. If that’s the way this group of Christians is going to conduct itself, then you want nothing to do with it. And I couldn’t blame you.

But situations just like that one are nothing new, sad to say. In fact, it was happening among God’s people about 750 years before Jesus was born. This morning’s sermon text begins at Isaiah 58:5. Verse 4 of that same chapter reads, “Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.” So, the Jews were engaged in the religious activity of fasting, which was a way of dedicating yourself to the Lord for a short period of time, but those “holy” periods ended in the unholy activity of physical violence. And the Lord wouldn’t put up with it.

So, he used the words of our text to make it clear what he expects. He expects—no—he demands that we let our Christian light shine. But just what does that look like? What is light-full Christianity? Let’s keep that question before us and take to heart our Lord’s answer as he shares it with us this morning.

Part I.

“Do as I say, not as I do.” Children don’t have to be very old before they realize what a contradiction that is. For instance, if their parents forbid them from using certain words but they hear their parents speaking those very words, they quickly lose respect for their parents. They become confused by the double standard and angry over two sets of family rules.

When dealing with adults who appear to be saying one thing and doing another, we call it being disingenuous. What they say isn’t matching how they live. They lack honesty and it causes us to distrust them.

But the holy Lord God looks past our words and actions and peers into our hearts. And when he sees that what we are saying or doing is not in keeping with what’s in our hearts he calls it hypocrisy. We use the word “hypocritical” for a rather broad spectrum of personal contradictions. God uses it for one very critical spiritual situation—saying and doing the things that would make others think you have a relationship with the one true God, but your heart isn’t in it at all.

And that’s the situation among his Old Testament people that the Lord was exposing and condemning in these words of our text. Our text begins with the Lord’s penetrating question, “Is this the kind of fast I have chosen?” Fasting was a religious practice among the Jews. In fact, it was commanded of them by God once a year on the great Day of Atonement. Many Jews did it more often as an outward practice of their faith. It’s apparent that fasting became the hallmark of their faith in these days of Isaiah. In other words, if they wanted to do something religious, something which showed they were one of God’s people, they fasted.

But the Lord wasn’t pleased with any of it. Outward fasting was supposed to be a sign of inward repentance—sorrow over their sins which separated them from God. And they got what they wanted—for God to notice their bowed heads and the ashes and sackcloth that went along with their outward acts of repentance. But don’t forget what was happening, as he described it earlier. The minute their outward fasting was over they went right back to quarrelling and strife with their neighbor. Their repentance was a sham.

So, the Lord instructed them, “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? 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 him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?” In effect, he told them that if they were truly sorry for their sins, then it would show by the way that they loved their neighbor, not fought with him. Their gratitude towards God for forgiving them would lead them to do what they could to help their neighbor in need.

But that was far from their thinking. For them, their religion was simply a matter of going through the motions and then returning to their sinful lives as they pleased. And that’s not letting your light shine.

So, what is light-full Christianity? It’s when it’s not just show.

I don’t think you might leave worship today only to engage in quarreling and strife, especially physical violence. But, if that’s a potential problem for you, let’s speak together privately.

But, do you have trouble leaving your Christianity at the door? Will the people you happen to meet later today or tomorrow have trouble telling that you attended worship today in which you confessed your sins and received God’s power through his word and sacraments to live a Christian life? Will it be all too easy for you to slip back into that sin or two that you find all too common in your life? Is there a sin that seems to control you more than you control it? But here’s the real kicker—do you even care? Once you get out there, would others have trouble seeing Jesus at all by what you say and do? Do your “loved ones” feel unloved? Are you calloused toward the plight of others? Sounds like a pretty dim Christianity. And I know what that’s like. I struggle, too. But that’s why I’m here with you. To come clean with my God. To offer him a heart that is truly repentant and, then, to hear his words of love and forgiveness through Jesus, who always let his love for his Father and his love for sinners shine.

Part II.

Jesus talks about that very thing in today’s gospel. The writer James is famous for restating those words of Jesus. James writes, “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead” (Ja. 2:17). Your Lord Jesus wants you to live your faith every day.

He explained what that means in these words of our text, “Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.”

As you strive to live your Christian faith, your God promises you two things. First, he promises to listen to your prayers. You will call and the Lord will answer. Prayer to the almighty God is not a sign of spiritual weakness; it’s the mark of spiritual strength. Your prayers are to the God who knows all and sees all, the God who loved you so much he sacrificed his Son for you. When you pray to him, he will listen and answer. He promises it.

And with his answer comes his help and protection. “You will cry for help and he will say: Here am I.” In fact, he is always with you, guarding and protecting you. In this section of his word he uses a military illustration as he refers to himself as your rear guard. He asks the Israelites to recall how his glory went behind them to protect them as he led them out of slavery in Egypt. That same glory of the almighty God goes with us and protects us.

But what does that have to do with living our faith, as the Lord urges his people to do here in this text? Because living your faith isn’t easy. It’s a daily battle against your own sinful nature which screams at you to live for yourself and disregard what your neighbor needs. Living your faith is also a daily battle against an evil world which knows only one god which is called Self. Throw in your third enemy—Satan himself—and you have a battle on your hands. On your own you’re no match for them. But with the power and presence of your God, you can do what God is describing here—living the Christian life before others.

What is light-full Christianity? When it isn’t just show but centers on go—going out and letting your light shine. So, go! Make a difference in our world! Don’t succumb to being a Christian bystander. Let your light shine!

Our world needs you to be that light today more than ever. Jesus once declared, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father accept through me” (Jn. 14:6). The whole world needs Jesus as the way to heaven. May your words and actions every day of your Christian life draw others to Jesus as their Savior. That’s light-full Christianity. Let it shine! Amen.