February 17, 2008pm
DIY House Repairs
Isaiah 58:1-12
By Ronald E. George Jr. at the
DIY means to do it yourself. When it comes to house repairs I have had to learn by trial and error. But since we have bought our first house in 1999 I have learned. Sometimes things need repaired, painted, fixed, and rebuilt. In 2005 I helped to build our cabin and I learned some more. One of the things I learned was that you can learn and you can do it. If you have the right tools, the know how, and the will you can build it and rebuild it.
When it comes to the house of God and the church, can it be done? Can it be built and rebuilt. In the following passage gives this message from God to the people of God and he says that these people will be known as the people who rebuilt the wall of the city and the temple. He tells them how they can do it. The knowledge of rebuilding is one the requirements for getting the job done. How can we do it? Let’s listen.
Isaiah 58:1 “Shout
it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my
people their rebellion and to the house of Jacob their sins. 2 For
day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were
a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 3 ‘Why
have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled
ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you
do as you please and exploit all your workers. 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and
strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do
today and expect your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the kind of fast I have
chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one’s
head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a
fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
6
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have
chosen: to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is
it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with
shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your
own flesh and blood? 8 Then
your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousnessa
will go before you, and the glory of the Lord
will be your rear guard. 9 Then
you will call, and the Lord will
answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away
with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of
the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in
the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11
The Lord
will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and
will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a
spring whose waters never fail. 12
Your
people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
[1]
How do we rebuild
the walls and reestablish the house of the Lord?
Here are the do’s and don’ts of God’s house repair.
What about the
don’ts.
What about the do’s What is it to rebuild the walls of the Lord’s city and the church? What does the Lord want?
1.
Do Loose the chains of injustice.
2. Do untie the cords of the yoke to set the oppressed free and break every yoke. V. 6 says that “to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
3.
Do Share your food with the hungry.
4.
Provide the poor wanderer with shelter.
5.
Clothe the naked.
6.
Don’t turn away from the members of your own family.
What will God do?
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.