5/31 Life

Is Not This the Worship that I Choose?
(ISAIAH 58:6-14)
 
Pause & Reflect
 
6 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

1. [v.6-7] *Biblical principle – BREAKTHROUGH WORSHIP – breaking every yoke with breaking of bread: True worship breaks the bonds of wickedness that keep us from the breaking of bread in fellowship. As double-minded and insincere worshippers kept up their impression of fasting and repentance, God was not fooled. Their worship was unacceptable by the foremost grounds of intentional ignorance to their sins against one another – oppressing, quarreling, fighting, and even hitting with the fist the very people they should have cared for with compassion, provided for with humble hearts, and worshipped together with reconciliation. If they had truly fasted from bread, they should have shared their bread. The sinful strongholds between them should have been broken. If there is sin between brothers/sisters in Christ, Jesus said, “First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:24).
   1. *FOCUS QUESTION #1 – Genuine worship before God is directly related to our character before our neighbors. As the lawyer asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” with a secretive disdain for Samaritans, Jesus told the story of the good Samaritan who was a true neighbor in Christ to the man (most likely a Jew) who fell among robbers and left half dead. Who is your neighbor? Who is your brother and sister in Christ that you have yet to breakthrough in reconciled fellowship? Who is that hungry neighbor that Jesus has given you bread to share with? Who is that naked neighbor that Jesus has given you the clothes to cover them with? Who is that half dead neighbor that Jesus is calling for you to stop and worshipfully care with His compassion?
   2. *FOCUS QUESTION #2 – Before worshipping, are you first reconciled to your brother and sister in Christ? Are we worshipping God by restoring the breaking of bread with each other?
   3. *FOCUS QUESTION #3 – The LORD says not to “hide yourself from your own flesh.” This means that even as followers of Jesus, we can turn away in ignorance from our own flesh and blood, dehumanizing people who bear the image of God. We can turn our backs on God’s image-carrying humans and treat them like animals or less. We can also treat animals as if they were God’s image-bearing humans. How have we too been like the priest and Levite – who were supposed to be spiritual leaders of God’s people yet passed by on the other side or hurried off – after seeing the half dead man in the story of the good Samaritan? Is our worship turning us towards one another in compassion or turning us against one another in ignorance?

 
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
12 And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.

1. [v.8-12] *Biblical principle – BONE-BUILDING WORSHIP – rebuilding the marrow of satisfaction in Christ: In worship, sharing the living bread satisfies us down to the marrow of our bones, making us strong to rebuild the ruined foundations. Amazing blessings awaited God’s covenant people if they humbled themselves to experience His breakthrough in sharing their bread and providing with compassion for one another. In becoming reconciled into holy fellowship with one another, they too would become reconciled into righteous relationship with Him. Now in their true heartfelt worship, the LORD would make His glory their rear guard. He would answer their prayerful cries with His presence, “Here I am.” He would guide them continually and satisfy their desire in scorched places. Even their darkest gloom would become like the brightest noonday. He would make their bones strong and nourish them like a well-watered garden. He would rebuild the foundations for many future generations through them.
   1. *FOCUS QUESTION #1 – The kind of worship that God desired was for His people to be reconciled to each other with forgiveness and repentance. As they did, their bones would be rebuilt, nourished, and strong. Have your bones tasted the nourishment that the LORD brings through the restored breaking of bread fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ? How does fasting help us to hunger for this table fellowship again? How is fasting not just about ceasing from food but starting to feed others with the pleasures of God’s words?
   2. *FOCUS QUESTION #2 – Down to the marrow of your soul, has the living bread Jesus Christ satisfied you and rebuilt your frame back stronger than before in your worship? How is every prayer request already answered in His reply, “Here I am”? How does this answer turn every “gloom to be as the noonday”? How is the LORD “guiding you continually and satisfying your desire in scorched places”?

 
13 “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
14 then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

1. [v.13-14] *Biblical principle – BACK-TURNING WORSHIP – turning back to keeping the Sabbath Day holy: Worship is not true worship until your back is turned from doing your pleasure on His holy Day of Rest. The LORD now returns to His words in chapter 56 concerning keeping the Sabbath (Day of Rest) holy, not profaning it, but holding fast to honor it with covenant as a day to take delight in Him and become a house of prayer for all nations. Worship will turn our backs around from going our own ways and doing our own thing on this holy day. With the resurrection of Jesus on the third day, we set apart Sunday as this holy day of rest as opposed to the former sabbath on the second day (Saturday). This 7-day pattern of life was created by God for us to find our rest in Him in our delight of Him. He promises to uplift us on this day, to make us ride on the heights of the earth, and to feed us the heritage of His covenant to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – to be blessed and a blessing to the whole world.
   1. *FOCUS QUESTION #1 – Do you keep the Day of Rest holy? What other business and pleasures are making your back turn against His holy day?
   2. *FOCUS QUESTION #2 – Keeping resurrection Sunday holy does not mean we cannot work on Sunday, nor does it mean we cannot take a break with family as the occasion and opportunity arises. But it does mean we set the day aside as different than all routines in a normal day so that Jesus Christ is the center of it all, is remembered, is treasured, and is rejoiced in. How can you practically keep the Day of Rest holy, especially in the gathering of the corporate body of His church? How can you honor God with your time, dress, attitude, attention… etc? How can you prepare ahead of time on Saturday for this?
   3. *FOCUS QUESTION #3 – There’s a beautiful image at the end of verse 14. The LORD will feed us, like a parent to a child, the heritage of promises He gave to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – the promise that their offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens, that He will bless them, and make them a blessing to the whole world. As you look up at the countless stars, how is this promise fulfilled in you as a son and daughter of Abraham? How is this blessing fulfilled in Jesus Christ?

 
The central truth of this word was –
Worship that is acceptable and chosen by God is: (1) breakthrough power of holy reconciliation between brothers/sisters in Christ; (2) bone-building satisfaction that changes the darkest gloom to be as the brightest noonday; and (3) back-turning repentance from doing our own pleasures to taking delight in the LORD’s promised and blessed ways. Two worshipful actions (fasting and Sabbath-keeping) were not just calls to stop eating or to stop working, but rather to start feeding one another and to start resting in the delight of His presence. For then, the food from Jesus our living bread and the rest that remains for all who are yoked to Him, will satisfy us, nourish us, free us, and make us strong forever.

– *How has the LORD spoken to you today through this?
 
Apply & Be Doers of the Word
 
(1) Be reconciled to one another. Forgive those who hurt you and press on in the Lord. Ask to be forgiven to those you have hurt and press on in the Lord. First be reconciled, then worship. First seek to be restored to your brothers and sisters. Do not let the enemy drive a wedge between anyone but seek to help others breakthrough to one another by the breaking of bread – by the fellowship at the table of the Lord that He calls us all to sit together. Love one another and pray for those who hurt you.
 
(2) Be content in all things with the Lord. Do not seek for what you don’t have. Do not seek for better than what you do have. Take delight in the Lord alone. Then, you will grow strong, even through the dark seasons. There are pleasures forevermore in the hands of Jesus. Look to Him over one another. Love one another through looking to Him.
 
(3) Keep Resurrection Sunday holy. Take His covenant to rest in Him through His church seriously. We keep this day holy by setting it apart, kept entirely different, not going about our own business, or treating it like any other day. On this day, there is rest and delight in the LORD, in worshipping together with His covenant people, and in being His house of prayer for all nations. Even if we should so expend ourselves on this day feeding others, it is a pleasure we would never experience without.
 

Holy Spirit Moment & Group Prayer
Take a moment to invite the Holy Spirit to fill you, and pray for one another.
 
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 THESSALONIANS 5:16-18)
 
…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (PHILIPPIANS 4:6-7)
 
Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load. (GALATIANS 6:2-5)
 
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (HEBREWS 10:24-25)
 
For the body does not consist of one member but of many... The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. (1 CORINTHIANS 12:14, 21-27)
 
- Jeong’s (Jake, Amanda)
- Lee’s (Sam, Heidi)
- Aiden Song
- Deborah Ko
- Kristen Lee
- Patrick Liu
- Brian Pak
- Samuel Park
- Trey Reynolds
- Tyler Lee
- Edward Jeon
- Johann Lee
- Eugene Hong
- JR Reynolds
- Brian Joo
- James Han
- Winnie Kim
- Philip Oh
- Hana Lee
- Rachel Ko (preschool assistant)
- Hanna Kang
- Soo Nam (Dallas Police)
- Eunice Kim (UT Austin)
- Jedidiah Lim (Louisiana)
- Jeff Park (California)
- Doug Kang
- Stacy Hong
- David An
- Daniel An
- Alice Jeon
- Ashley Min (UTD)
- Mike Choi (drummer, Jeff’s cousin)
- Eric Lee (UTD)
- Lisa Jeon
- Brian Yoon
- Jennifer Chung (UTA)
- June Kim (TWU)
- Hannah Kim (UT Austin)
- Hogan Lee (TCU)
- Steven Kwon (A&M)
- Benny Son (UT Austin)
- Esther Ko (UT Austin)
- Daniel Lee (UT Austin)
- Aaron Lee (Houston, postgraduate optometry)
- Alex Koh (Houston, postgraduate dentistry)
- Matthew Ahn (UT Austin)
- Yura Ahn (UT Austin)
- Katie Han (New York)
- Emily Han (Austin)
- Jung’s (Jae, Mary) – Boston, MA
- Hanbit Kang (Austin)
- Gu Min Chung (Army, Korea)
- Jeanie Yoo (Baylor)