Worship and Justice…. are we living it out?

June 1, 2009 in Uncategorized with 10 Comments

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I love that Jesus was so passionate about the oppressed and the under-dog.

The Gospel for Him, meant not just talking but walking – not just thinking about ideals, but living it out in a nitty-gritty way. Oxford University was a place of lofty ideas and ivory towers… When I graduated I vowed to myself that I wanted my Christianity to be practical and REAL. To make a difference in my street and community, not just talk about theological concepts…

The kind of worship, sacrifice or ‘fast’ that God desires from us as worshipers is described  powerfully in Isaiah 58… This is The Message version..

” The people complain,
‘Why do we fast and you don’t look our way?
Why do we humble ourselves and you don’t even notice?’

3-5“Well, here’s why:

“The bottom line on your ‘fast days’ is profit.
You drive your employees much too hard.
You fast, but at the same time you bicker and fight.

You fast, but you swing a mean fist.
The kind of fasting you do won’t get your prayers off the ground.
Do you think this is the kind of fast day I’m after:
A day to show off humility?
To put on a pious long face and parade around solemnly in black?
Do you call that fasting, a fast day that I, God, would like?

6-9“This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
To break the chains of injustice,
Get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
Free the oppressed,
Cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
Sharing your food with the hungry,
Inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
Putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
Being available to your own families.
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.’

A new friend of mine, Danielle Strickland (the social justice director for the The Salvation Army in Australia) really IS living out the kind of worship and fasting that God desires!

She is fighting against the injustice of legalized prostitution in Australia…. getting her hands dirty in loosing chains and opening prison doors..  Check out the story here!

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A question for us to consider…...

Am I living out the kind of worship God desires?  Are you?

Love,

Vicky

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  • http://johnnylaird.blogspot.com/ Johnny Laird

    Hey Vicky

    Nice to see Danielle getting a shout out here.

    You might be interested to read what's going on where we are too:

    http://johnnylaird.blogspot.com/2009/05/ccat.html

  • Nathan Mitchell

    Vicky,

    I proud of you for taking a biblical stance on the justice movement read Dan Strickland article good stuff. For me living out the kind worship God desires from devotions in the word from reading through the life of David he modeled for authentic leadership being a man after God's own heart in everything he did for the Lord the no matter what season what season in his walk with the Lord. few months back did bible study fasting really helped me a fresh perspective on how we should allow times for God to speak to us. Still growing in this area thanks for posting this topic.

    In Christ,

    Nathan

  • http://chinedum.wordpress.com/ Kelly

    Excellent question, sis…able learner I pray to be…imbibing on His word and being still and knowing that He is God–Jesus conquered death and hell!

  • http://chinedum.wordpress.com/ Kelly

    I pray/cry for revival and may it start with me!!

  • Lucy

    Hey Vicky,
    Yeh, I think that is a question which i have to ask myself everyday! I think that if I don't ask myself on a regular basis, and make it a conscious thought, then I am more likely to fall into the pattern of not living in a way which God desires.
    Good post! Thought provoking :) like it
    Love Lucy x x x

  • rawkalways

    to be completely honest I'm going to have to answer no to this question. and it might sound like I'm being hard on myself or whatever, but in reality I screw up alot, & I do things I shouldnt, & I say hurtful things to cover up the way I really feel. I'm pretty sure thats not the type of worship God desires. but at the same time I'm crying out to Him because if it wasnt for His grace and mercy or the fact that He even exists I would probably be a complete jerk all the time and would never even attempt to ask for forgiveness for the hurt that I have caused.

  • http://orthodoxsteve.xanga.com/ Steve

    The passage from Isaiah 58 that you quoted is often used to explain to people why we fast. One reason is “to loose the bands of wickedness.” (Isaiah 58:6) Whenever we fast from food, we should also fast from our sins. Fasting is a tool to help us advance spiritually. If we fast from food but not from our sins, then we are no better than the demons. The demons do not eat, but they sin immensely. Another reason is “to let the oppressed go free.” (Isaiah 58:6) We should fast for the salvation of others. “To deal thy bread to the hungry” is another reason for fasting. (Isaiah 58:7) The money that we save on food during a fast should be given to the poor. Jesus spoke about fasting, prayer, and almsgiving in His Sermon on the Mount. (St. Matt. 6:1-18) In the Ecclesiastical Book of Tobit, the Holy Archangel Raphael said, “Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteousness.” (Tobit 12:8) There are four things, then, that should be a part of a Christian's life: fasting, prayer, almsgiving, and righteous living.
    There are four fasting periods in our Church: Great Lent which comes before Easter, the Apostles' Fast in June, the Dormition fast during the first two weeks of August, and Advent in late November and most of December. We have found that it is easier to fast when other people are fasting with you. That is the purpose of having fasting periods. Of course, people may fast at other times, too, for various reasons.
    As for worship, we should try to model our worship after the worship done in Heaven. “Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven.” (St. Matt. 6:10) We should also take God with us wherever we go. Prayer should be a natural part of our lives.
    As for the answer to your question, I would say that I fall way short of the Heavenly standard. Whether or not you are doing that is something you would have to determine for yourself in the presence of God.
    As for your friend, Danielle, it is good that she is trying to stop prostitution. However, prostitution still goes on whether it is legal or not. People need God. They need to develop a spiritual discipline. There are two who sin during a session with a prostitute: the man who uses her for sexual purposes and the prostitute herself. The fight must be not only against prostitution but also the men who use them. Cleaning up our airwaves is also important. There is too much sexually seductive stuff on TV, in magazines, and on the internet. Whenever I finish reading an e-mail on my MySpace site or whenever I sign out, I often see some ad that shows a pretty young woman in a sexually seductive pose. It is an ad for a dating site. (I'm way past the dating stage of life. I do not have much interest in signing up for anything like that.) But anyway, this kind of stuff helps to fuel the passions and promotes lasciviousness and lewdness.
    I'm glad Danielle is doing something about all of this. She is doing far more than I am on this front. I bid her Godspeed.

    Your Orthodox Christian friend,
    Steve

  • http://www.jonathanpaulmusic.com/ Jonathan Paul

    What an amazing picture for this post! And I know justice is a topic that's close to your heart, so it's nice to see you writing about it. (And I'm looking forward to hearing the song you hinted at on your next album about justice!)

    Isaiah 58 in the Message is awesome; reminds me of one of my old pastors who'd read some passage from that version of the Bible every chance he could get – a few times month at least.

    Wow, your new friend Danielle is quite a writer, and makes some good points! Thanks for the link!

    To answer your question, I don't know; I'm trying to. It's easy for me to notice problems and inconsistencies in other people in this area; I think it's harder for us to notice problems in ourselves. That's one reason we need good friends to help us with our blind spots. But I am working on the things I do notice in myself.

    How 'bout you? Do you feel like you're at an ok place in this area right now?

  • http://orthodoxsteve.xanga.com/ Steve

    The passage from Isaiah 58 that you quoted is often used to explain to people why we fast. One reason is “to loose the bands of wickedness.” (Isaiah 58:6) Whenever we fast from food, we should also fast from our sins. Fasting is a tool to help us advance spiritually. If we fast from food but not from our sins, then we are no better than the demons. The demons do not eat, but they sin immensely. Another reason is “to let the oppressed go free.” (Isaiah 58:6) We should fast for the salvation of others. “To deal thy bread to the hungry” is another reason for fasting. (Isaiah 58:7) The money that we save on food during a fast should be given to the poor. Jesus spoke about fasting, prayer, and almsgiving in His Sermon on the Mount. (St. Matt. 6:1-18) In the Ecclesiastical Book of Tobit, the Holy Archangel Raphael said, “Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteousness.” (Tobit 12:8) There are four things, then, that should be a part of a Christian's life: fasting, prayer, almsgiving, and righteous living.
    There are four fasting periods in our Church: Great Lent which comes before Easter, the Apostles' Fast in June, the Dormition fast during the first two weeks of August, and Advent in late November and most of December. We have found that it is easier to fast when other people are fasting with you. That is the purpose of having fasting periods. Of course, people may fast at other times, too, for various reasons.
    As for worship, we should try to model our worship after the worship done in Heaven. “Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven.” (St. Matt. 6:10) We should also take God with us wherever we go. Prayer should be a natural part of our lives.
    As for the answer to your question, I would say that I fall way short of the Heavenly standard. Whether or not you are doing that is something you would have to determine for yourself in the presence of God.
    As for your friend, Danielle, it is good that she is trying to stop prostitution. However, prostitution still goes on whether it is legal or not. People need God. They need to develop a spiritual discipline. There are two who sin during a session with a prostitute: the man who uses her for sexual purposes and the prostitute herself. The fight must be not only against prostitution but also the men who use them. Cleaning up our airwaves is also important. There is too much sexually seductive stuff on TV, in magazines, and on the internet. Whenever I finish reading an e-mail on my MySpace site or whenever I sign out, I often see some ad that shows a pretty young woman in a sexually seductive pose. It is an ad for a dating site. (I'm way past the dating stage of life. I do not have much interest in signing up for anything like that.) But anyway, this kind of stuff helps to fuel the passions and promotes lasciviousness and lewdness.
    I'm glad Danielle is doing something about all of this. She is doing far more than I am on this front. I bid her Godspeed.

    Your Orthodox Christian friend,
    Steve

  • http://www.jonathanpaulmusic.com/ Jonathan Paul

    What an amazing picture for this post! And I know justice is a topic that's close to your heart, so it's nice to see you writing about it. (And I'm looking forward to hearing the song you hinted at on your next album about justice!)

    Isaiah 58 in the Message is awesome; reminds me of one of my old pastors who'd read some passage from that version of the Bible every chance he could get – a few times month at least.

    Wow, your new friend Danielle is quite a writer, and makes some good points! Thanks for the link!

    To answer your question, I don't know; I'm trying to. It's easy for me to notice problems and inconsistencies in other people in this area; I think it's harder for us to notice problems in ourselves. That's one reason we need good friends to help us with our blind spots. But I am working on the things I do notice in myself.

    How 'bout you? Do you feel like you're at an ok place in this area right now?