SEASON TO OFFER GIFTS AND CARE TO THE NEEDY
The passage of Isaiah 58 tells us the best way to spread light over the suffering nations and world. It is by caring for those who are in need, neglected, disadvantaged, oppressed, poor and weak. ...
‘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? 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 them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 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, and if you spend yourselves on 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.
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.
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. ‘If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honourable, and if you honour it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.’ For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. ISAIAH 58:6-14.
God’s powerful voice came upon the prophet Isaiah like a trumpet blast to declare His Word to His rebellious and hypocritic people who pretended to be religious but not:
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. …seem eager for God to come near them. …Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. Your fasting ends in quarrelling 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 (58:2-5).
In the passage quoted at the beginning, God appeals for the outward evidence of genuine righteousness from the Israelites who were superficially engaging in self-imposed false fasting. If only they would identify themselves with the hungry and naked, and mind them like their own, God would reveal His bright plan of real peace for them. If they repent and return to Him, their community ‘will be like a well-watered garden… sorrow no more’ (Je.31:12). In the end God made it clear that real joy in life lies solely in doing His will and not our own.
Jewish people celebrate the holiday of Hanukkah on 13th Dec. this year, which lasts for eight days from 25th of the Kislev to 2nd of the Tevet. They commemorate the military victory of the Maccabees over the Syrians and their king, Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 BCE and also the miracle of the oil for the menorah in the Temple. It is said that after the victory, the Maccabees found only one cruse of consecrated oil, enough to burn for one day only. Nevertheless the oil miraculously lasted eight days, allowing enough time for more consecrated oil to be produced through decreed procedures by the law.
The significance of this feast lies more in the latter miracle, that is, what happened after the miraculous victory. The miracle of the oil enabled the Jewish people to purify and rededicate the holy Temple and this signified their spiritual survival, removing all pagan influence from their three year occupation and desecration of the Temple and spread the light of holiness.
The passage of Isaiah 58 tells us the best way to spread light over the suffering nations and world. It is by caring for those who are in need, neglected, disadvantaged, oppressed, poor and weak. Whenever we offer our compassion to the needy and share what we have with them without stint, our light shines in the darkness.
Today, there are 1.7 million Israeli citizens living under the poverty line, along with 800,000 children. This fact often goes unseen from public view. According to an article, in Israel there are five restaurant-style soup kitchens located throughout the country, where a meal is provided daily by a charity organization, “Meir Panim” and hundreds of impoverished Israeli citizens living in Jerusalem are coming for their only meal for the day. What is witnessed in “Meir Panim” where everyone who walks through their doors are being fed with care and dignity appears to reflect a genuine spirit of the feast Hanukkah.
The project of redeeming Jerusalem through righteousness as an enforcement of the vision of Isaiah seems to be put into practice by the patrons’ and volunteers’ faithfulness to the Word: ‘The difference between what we do and a standard soup kitchen is that Meir Panim patrons walk in and sit down at a table. They are served their hot meal with a smile, just like one would be served in a restaurant. Except, their meal is free’(the meaning behind Meir Panim’s soup kitchens).
In the same way, can I encourage you all to reach out to the needy in this coming year and spread the light of Jesus in this dark world?
