58 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.
    Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.
Tell my people Israel of their sins!
²     Yet they act so pious!
They come to the Temple every day
    and seem delighted to learn all about me.
They act like a righteous nation
    that would never abandon the laws of its God.
They ask me to take action on their behalf,
    pretending they want to be near me.
³ ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
    ‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
    and you don’t even notice it!’

“I will tell you why!” I respond.
    “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast,
    you keep oppressing your workers.
⁴ What good is fasting
    when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
    will never get you anywhere with me.
⁵ You humble yourselves
    by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
    like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
    and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
    Do you really think this will please the Lord?

⁶ “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
    lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
    and remove the chains that bind people.
⁷ Share your food with the hungry,
    and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
    and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

⁸ “Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
    and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward,
    and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
⁹ Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
    ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.

Isaiah 58:1-9a

Dear God, this is actually yesterday’s Old Testament reading, but I didn’t read it until after I had done my prayer journal yesterday morning. It’s so good. It’s so convicting!

Of course, the first thing I wanted to do when I read it was judge others. Judge some people who carry the Christian mantle but do not draw close to you. They come in your name, but they come with meanness, lies, and judgment in their hearts. Self-righteous and apart from you. And then I remembered that I’m no Disney Princess. Am I like this? Am I doing these things? Am I using you for my personal gain or am I sacrificing my personal gain for your glory? I don’t think I am, but reveal to me where I am guilty of these things. I just want you.

The next thing is what I noticed first when I saw these verses yesterday at a Friday Catholic mass. When I saw the part about the type of fasting you want–basically, loving others in need–I thought of the Pharisees getting on to Jesus about healing on the Sabbath. I wonder how they would have responded if Jesus had given them these verses from Isaiah at the time.

Father, none of this is about me. And it’s hard, especially as a modern American who really has no idea what it means to suffer, to know what doing these things looks like. Help me to see what it looks like to fast in the way you would have us fast. And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the funeral I’m attending later. The family is sad and struggling, but they also have some big decisions to make about the living situation and care for one of them. That process can be full of pride and conflict, or it can be full of humility and love. I pray for humility and love.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen