Shining the Light of Justice
Isaiah 58:1-12; Matthew 5:13-16
This is the light told about in Matthew 5 where we are
told, “you are the light of the world.” We are not just to hide our light by
just worshipping God and going through the motions with no good works that show
the world the light of Christ. We let our light shine before others by doing
good deeds which give glory to God.
Looking back at Isaiah we are to shine the light of
justice in the world. This light is a metaphor for deliverance and salvation.
The fast God wants involves saving others from oppression and satisfying their
needs. Instead of adding to the oppression of others we need to shine the love
and justice of God by doing what we can do to take it away from their lives.
This includes feeding the hungry, providing shelter for the homeless, giving a
living wage, and treating our employees fairly.
John Wesley called this “social holiness.” The world
may not see our studying of scripture, our prayer life, or our worship in
church which is our striving for inner holiness. We need to show our holiness
by how we treat others in the world – how we treat the stranger, the
marginalized, and the oppressed. As Isaiah ends by saying, by doing this the
Lord will guide us continually and satisfy our own needs. God says they will be
called the repairer of the breach – this gap between them and God will be
filled and a true relationship with the God of justice will be restored. Amen
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