Peter Fitch, St. Croix Vineyard Sunday, March 5, 2017 Season of Lent Peter Fitch, St. Croix Vineyard Sunday, March 5, 2017

Lent An ancient word for “Spring” Season of preparation before Easter, the main time of Baptism in the early church Also called by names that stem from words that mean “40” Commemorative of the 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness Often a time of fasting or self-denial for the 6 weeks before Easter (with Saturdays seen as mini-resurrection days, days of victory)

The Bible’s best teaching about “true fasting” Isaiah 58 Part of the Book of Comfort, Isaiah 40-66 Three parts: 40-47 The Glory of God (in contrast to idols, kings, and human righteousness) 48-57 The Glory of God’s Surprising Salvation 58-66 The Glory God Seeks in the Human Heart

Isaiah 58:6-11 6 “Is this not the fast which I choose, To loosen the bonds of wickedness, To undo the bands of the yoke, And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke? 7 “Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked, to cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Isaiah 58:6-11 8 “Then your light will break out like the dawn, And your recovery will speedily spring forth; And your righteousness will go before you; The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 “Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness,

Isaiah 58:6-11 10 And if you give yourself to the hungry And satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness And your gloom will become like midday. 11 “And the Lord will continually guide you, And satisfy your desire in scorched places, And give strength to your bones; And you will be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.

Hinneni Can you imagine? Poh ani or Hinneni Almost every prophet . . . But in this case . . .

The Bible’s best teaching about “Sabbath” Isaiah 58 refers to this, too “Rest” in the Genesis account is not because God is tired It’s because He has defeated the forces of chaos and saved the earth from being in an “unformed” and “unfilled” condition This is an ancient way of speaking, like a king who “has rest on every side”

Isaiah 58:13-14 13 “If because of the sabbath, you turn your foot From doing your own pleasure on My holy day, And call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, And honor it, desisting from your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure And speaking your own word, 14 Then you will take delight in the Lord, And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The Opposite of Isaiah 58 . . . Trevor Noah, “Afraid of the Dark” Colonialism Foisting power and control upon others Pride “White People on the Roof” Anna McArthur, February 27, 2017 (shared by Brian McLaren)

Recap Break all forms of oppression Care for those who need help Take care of and be present to your own family Stop speaking evil of others Step into the life of “rest” that the Lord has won over conflicting desires Instead of aiming for your own pleasure, choose to please God by caring for others in whatever ways you can

Augustine’s Prayer “You made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in You.” Confessions, Book 1, Chapter 1 “In that eternal Sabbath you will rest in us, just as now you work in us. The rest that we shall enjoy will be yours, just as the work that we now do is your work done through us. But you, O Lord, are eternally at work and eternally at rest.” Confessions, Book 13, Chapter 38

The Goal of it All: Late have I loved You . . . I have learnt to love you late, Beauty at once so ancient and so new! I have learnt to love you late! You were within me, and I was in the world outside myself. I searched for you outside myself and, disfigured as I was, I fell upon the lovely things of your creation. You were with me, but I was not with you. The beautiful things of this world kept me far from you and yet, if they had not been in you, they would have had no being at all.

You called me; you cried aloud to me; you broke my barrier of deafness You called me; you cried aloud to me; you broke my barrier of deafness. You shone upon me; your radiance enveloped me; you put my blindness to flight. You shed your fragrance about me; I drew breath and now I gasp for your sweet odour. I tasted you, and now I hunger and thirst for you. You touched me, and I am inflamed with love of your peace. Confessions, Book 10, Chapter 27