Princeton Presbyterian Church (EPC) Sermon # 1730
May 10, 2026
Isaiah 58.1-14 Click here for audio worship.
Dr. Ed Pettus
(This is an extended outline, not a verbatim transcript.)
“Faithful Integrity”
“Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord?
“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? 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? 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. 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, 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. 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. 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. “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; 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.”
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Improper Fasting
How tough was it to be a prophet of the Lord back in the day? The Lord basically told Isaiah, “I want you to be as loud as possible, like a trumpet level sound, and I want you to hold nothing back, no fear of offense, no concern for what people might think of you or do to you. Lay it on them!” Then the Lord put the proverbial cards on the table. His people made a good show. They sought the Lord, they delighted to know His ways, as if they did righteousness and as if they did not forsake God’s judgments. The key is in two words, “as if”. What they were actually doing is putting on a show. They had no genuine commitment to God, no willingness to do what the Lord required of them, and no obedience to what God commanded. They appeared righteous to others, but practiced unrighteousness. They sought their own pleasures, abused others, and treated their workers with contempt.
But this narrative is not simply about the facade of fasting and the wicked actions of God’s people. It goes even deeper. Their fasting was an exhibition that carried the Lord’s name in vain, for they professed one thing and did another. They wanted the blessings afforded the righteous and yet acted in unrighteousness. They, in effect, broke the third commandment, taking the name or carrying the name in a dishonorable way.
We are all called to carry the name of Christ in all we do and say just as Israel was supposed to carry the name of God. We represent Jesus Christ when calling ourselves Christians and if we do things that misrepresent that name we are breaking commandment three as well. What we learn from Israel’s disobedience is to never practice a faith of self-indulgence! We are to avoid a self satisfying work that is cloaked in piety. When that happens, worship, service, and other practices of faith become more about ourselves rather than God. We come to worship with an attitude that asks: what can I get? What will I receive? We do works of service that evolve into a theology of works righteousness. These are some of the reasons why Jesus tells those who practice wickedness in the name of the Lord are turned away.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’ (Matthew 7.21-23).
Isaiah is not just talking about fasting, but about disingenuous religious practice, about a two-faced disposition that masquerades as faith. Perhaps you have seen people like this. They claim faith in Christ but only do things for their own pleasure or advantage. Perhaps we have been guilty at some degree of the same thing. Our motives might have been misguided by our own sinful nature. This is why we are called to repentance, called to examine ourselves, and called to take up our cross daily to follow Jesus Christ.
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Proper Fasting
Back to Isaiah, the Lord reveals the real fast He desires: “to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 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?” The true fast that we offer to the Lord is for the sake of others. It is to do what God commands in helping people out of their bonds. For us that may mean sharing the gospel so they might be set free from bondage to sin. There is a component of “love thy neighbor” in a proper fast. This is not to say that fasting is not an appropriate discipline, but when that discipline is practice without love for neighbor through acts that enable release from bondage, provide bread, offer shelter, and supply clothing. This is the fast that God requires of all who believe. The prophet Micah, a prophet who lived at the time as Isaiah, says it this way: “With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6.6-8)
True fasting is for the sake of others, for the sake of the neighbor, for the sake of keeping commandments and doing what God requires of us. Fasting, in general understanding, is sacrificing food for the sake of focusing on prayer, and that is a wonderful discipline. What Isaiah does is elevate fasting to much more. It is about sacrifice, yes, but not just in abstaining, but also in acts of kindness. It is a discipline of obedience to the Lord’s commandments and the works we are called to do to the glory of God alone.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5.16).
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2.10).
This is the fast that the Lord chooses, to do good works, to practice justice, to share the gospel, and all the other things we read about throughout all of God’s Word.
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Faithful Integrity
I titled this sermon “Faithful Integrity” for two reasons, 1) we need a faith that is practiced with integrity and 2) we need the attribute of integrity that is faithful. Isaiah shows us that these two attributes belong together. Israel did not practice faith with integrity, but offered a false religion. They did not walk with integrity that enabled true faith. The book of Proverbs reflect these thoughts well.
Whoever walks in integrity walks securely, but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out (Proverbs 10.9).
The integrity of the upright guides them, but the crookedness of the treacherous destroys them (Proverbs 11.3).
We guard both faith and integrity through self-examination, accountability to the community, consistent deep study of God’s Word. The end result, according to Isaiah, is healing. Other results are the glory of the Lord as a rear guard as well as answered prayer, and guidance from the Lord. The call is for Israel to return to faithful integrity by “doing what is right”. One example from the prophet is to turn back to the Sabbath with integrity. They are called to honor the Sabbath once again, faithfully and delighting in the Lord.
What is revealed through Isaiah is how Israel failed to keep God’s commandments. What is also revealed is how God so loved His people that He called them back to a renewed devotion to God and to His commandments. Isaiah is given the task of proclaiming judgment upon them for the sake of their return to the Lord. Exposing sin and calling to repentance is an act of God’s grace. Isaiah 58 is a call back to Ten Commandment living. It is a call to love neighbor. It is a call to love God in keeping the Sabbath.
The prophets knew the good news of God long ago in that they knew God’s love and the call to come to God by His grace. Only in Christ can we live in faithful integrity by living in Him and He is us. This comes through God’s gracious gifts that lead us to repentance and commitment to live in that faithful integrity to love the Lord and love neighbor and obey all that God commands. May the Lord strengthen all who believe in Him with integrity that is faithful and faith that abides in integrity. Amen.
