the great buffet JULY Imagine going to a grand buffet in a world-class hotel.

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2 01 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 Timothy 4:2-4 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. the great buffet Imagine going to a grand buffet in a world-class hotel. Before you is an endless spread of sumptuous foods. What a feast! Pick what you like, eat all you can, please take your time. Don t like veggies? Skip the salad bar, head for the steaks. Prefer to start with dessert? Why not? Anything goes. Whatever makes you happy! But what if the buffet selection is not about food but Christianity? Have we reduced Christianity to a great buffet, and ourselves, the self-serving consumers? Do we pick and choose whatever we fancy from the Word, and skip the parts we don t like? For example, in times of loneliness and need, we affirm that Jesus is always with us, even to the end of the age. But we forget that this promise of His abiding presence was given after He commissioned His disciples to take the gospel to the ends of the earth [Matthew 28:18-20]. We seek His blessings, but withhold our wholehearted devotion to His purpose. When we wrestle with the genuineness of our faith in Christ, we find assurance in Romans 10:9. Those who believe in Christ in their hearts, and confess with their mouths, are saved. It is all a matter of private, personal belief. But is it? Is that all? Or could there be so much more to Christianity than what we re comfortable with, or ready for? Indeed there is. And what we have often neglected is so very important to God that He would send His prophets to issue harsh, stinging rebukes to His people. is a case in point. Shout it out, God orders. Do not hold back. Speak out. Do not mince your words. Warn them. Tell them straight out why I don t, why I won t, accept their worship. Something is very, very wrong! Unfortunately, Isaiah s generation didn t listen. They conveniently got rid of the prophets they didn t like, and only listened to those who spoke what they wanted to hear. Eventually, Israel paid a severe price for their rebellion. The same rebuke has been issued to the Church in every generation. Is He trying to get our attention, too, here in affluent Singapore? We believe so. Indeed, is not to be taken lightly. It is the basis for this year s 40-Day theme. God is patient. Long before He shouts, He whispers. But are we listening? Have we drowned Him out with our keyboards, guitars, and loud speakers? Today, allow the Holy Spirit to search your heart. Start this season with the right posture on your knees, in repentance and surrender. In silence and solitude, reflect on your personal walk with the Lord: Are you a cut-and-paste Christian with a pick-and-choose attitude towards the Word of God selectively reading and quoting what suits your personal whims and fancies? Will you renounce consumeristic, feel-good Christianity? Today, choose to grow deep in God. Commit to anchor your life firmly on the full counsel of God s Word. Pray for a revival of the Word. Ask for an insatiable hunger, a new appreciation for the life-giving, life-changing power of the Word. This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at My word. ISAIAH 66:2 The finest art of prayer is listening. This 40-Day season, pray for ears that hear and understand before God has to shout at us through a prophet, or perhaps, even through a disaster. Ask for a listening heart that is tender and teachable. Ask for grace to fully embrace the implications of God s Word for yourself, the Church, and our beloved nation. Today, take time to read the entire chapter of at least twice. If possible, read it in different translations.

3 02 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 the great trap First up, read :1-7. What is bugging the prophet Isaiah? What is he warning us about so passionately and vehemently? Simply this: rebellion is a subtle sin. It hides behind the veil of religion. It lurks beneath layers of ritual or even good Christian activity. It camouflages itself as the finest forms of worship and choreographed praise. It puts on an outward show of piety (reverence for God or devout fulfillment of religious obligations). But look deeper, it s shallow, with no inward reality of God, no fear of God, no inner life transformation. This is the great trap that ensnares many Christians today in busy, image-conscious, performance-driven Singapore! We tend to equate spirituality with Christian ritual or activity. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. He sees through all the superficiality. Christian rituals and ministry-busyness without heart transformation is profoundly offensive to Him. Merely going through the motions of religious piety is false worship. It is prideful and pretentious. He exposes it with a shout: Announce to My people their rebellion. Read :1-7 again. Spend a few moments reflecting on it. If the prophet Isaiah was alive today, and addressing us, what would he say? What would be his lingo? Might it possibly sound like this: Shout it from the pulpit. Teach it at cells. Preach it in your grand conventions. Blog it. Podcast it. Don t censor it! Do whatever you can to get everybody s wandering attention. Tell My people their transgression, and each tribe their sins. Yes, they appear to be serious about seeking Me in their quiet time, in their liturgy, in their prayer gatherings. They run from church to church, from conference to conference, from prophet to prophet, seemingly eager to discern My agenda. Thinking they are spiritual and special, a cut above the rest, they yearn for My now word. They strive to impress Me; they crave for the applause of men. Why have we put in so much effort, spent so much money on so much stuff and still end up having so little to show for? Why have we prayed long and loud, and still there s no turn around no revelation, no revival, no results? Allow God to search our hearts and expose subtle forms of rebellion that lurk and hide behind the facade of piety? Are we merely going through the motions of church, care group, community outreach, conference, and so forth, running hither and tither, just for show, just to stay in line and appear involved, but our hearts aren t really in it anymore? These people make a big show of saying the right thing, but their heart isn t in it. They act like they are worshipping Me, but they don t mean it. They just use Me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy, ditching God s command and taking up the latest fads. MARK 7:6-7 THE MESSAGE It s an integrity issue. Today, get real with God. In the presence of our loving Father, choose to end the show. Ask Him to free you from the foul spirit of false piety. Humbly submit to His deeper work of heart transformation. Let Him heal you inside out. 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? Isaiah 29:13 13 The Lord says: These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.

4 03 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? the great farce From the time of the exile, fasting became a regular feature of Jewish piety. Daniel fasted and received end-time revelations from God. Esther called for a national fast that helped to avert an empirewide genocide against the Jewish people. Fasting is an important spiritual discipline that can bring great rewards. But something went wrong with Isaiah s generation. The exiles humbled themselves, bowed down like bulrushes blown by the wind, and lay on sackcloth and ashes. But it was all to no avail. They went hungry for nothing! God wasn t impressed; nor did He intervene on their behalf. So they complained: Why do we fast, but You do not see? Why humble ourselves, but You do not notice? God s answer was immediate and direct. The rebellion announced in verse one took several forms, which are described throughout. First it was ritual without heart transformation. Merely going through the motions. And now it s ritual mixed with self-interest. Fasting is a way of dealing with self-indulgence. But without genuine love and pure intentions, it can have the opposite effect. We can become more cranky, irritable, and self-serving than ever. We remain hot heads and cold hearts! Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers. Even while fasting, it was business as usual: How may this exercise increase my spiritual standing in the eyes of all? What s in it for me? How will I score with God? How much can I get out of my employees? Fasting and bickering went hand in hand. In one of his more colourful sayings, Martin Luther said: God uses lust to impel man to marriage, ambition to office, greed to earning, and fear to faith. Some philosophers doubt whether humans can do anything without self-interest. Even the apostles, after some three years of following Jesus, were jostling for tenure at the throne. Self-interest dies hard. Even in the midst of leading worship, preaching sermons, teaching the Bible, leading prayer, mentoring others, or going on missions, we can be promoting and pleasing ourselves rather than God. Fasting pleases God, only when it is accompanied by heart change, character transformation. Don t waste your fast. Let it work deeply in your heart. Ask God to expose where and how you may have been serving your own interests, even in the name of piety and ministry. Ask: In all of my doing, how am I truly doing? What am I becoming? Make it a personal goal to fast from selfishness and strife. Most of all, fast from anger. If you re prone to anger, don t blame the DNA you inherited. Take ownership of the problem. It s a character issue. Commit to practise self control a fruit of the Spirit. Probe deeper. Prayerfully examine the state of your walk with God in the light of His Word. Do these statements reflect your thinking? It s wrong to miss church but ok to deny the maid a day off. It s sinful to talk behind the pastor s back, but ok to insult the cleaner at the hawker centre after church service. It s spiritual to give generous offerings at church but ok to fudge on your taxes. Call it a crisis of inconsistency, sheer hypocrisy, or spiritual schizophrenia! If that s you, turn to the Lord in repentance. LORD JESUS, I confess that I have been absorbed with myself and my wants. I have made You into my personal god of favour and fortune, with little (or no) concern for others. I am deeply sorry. Let Your Word pierce my heart. Help me to live a life that truly pleases You. In Your Name, amen. Be spent for others [ISAIAH 58:10]. The life of Jesus and a few precious saints, like Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa, have shown us that humans truly can love God and neighbour without self-interest. Let this be the goal of our 40-day fast. May our prayers and action be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. [1 TIMOTHY 1:5 NLT].

5 04 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 righteousness 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. the great reality The ancient prophets insisted that true worship cannot be divorced from faithfulness to community. is not so much about fasting, but about creating the conditions in which fasting and all other expressions of worship become meaningful, effective, and life-giving. So, afflict your stomach with fasting? Sure. Deny yourself? Certainly! But if we do such things merely to put on an act, to impress God or to earn favours from Him, it s a waste of time. If, however, we deny ourselves for the sake of community, a neighbour in need, then this is the fast that pleases God. True fasting, therefore, is abstaining from things that divide the Church and destroy community spiritual pride, self conceit, disunity, infighting, oppression, injustice, exploitation, intimidation. True fasting is doing those things that build community, and helping those who cannot help themselves feed the hungry, house the homeless, clothe the naked, don t sidestep those who are hoping for your help, especially your kin. In short, true worship and social justice are two sides of the same coin. It s about right relationship with God, and right action toward others. As we seek God, we are to seek the harrassed and the helpless. As we look to Him for heaven s help, we must look out for others who need our hand of help. Do these things, says God, and THEN! THEN your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly. THEN your vindicator 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 for help, and He will say, Here I am. In other words, you will see a turn around! You will truly experience salvation as a life lived in direct contact with God! Your salvation will work the way it s supposed to work. Not as a ticket to heaven when you die, but as a force for personal and community transformation. Like ants to sugar, we seem irresistibly drawn to claim the wonderful blessings promised in, but ignore the larger context of why those blessings flow from God in the first place. We have become a people who feast on spiritual blessings and fast from social responsibility! Return to the Lord in humble repentance. Ask the Holy Spirit to expose things in our personal lives that have been less than edifying to family, fellow Christians, and pre-believers. Do you accuse more than you affirm? Do you have a habit of taking advantage of others more than serving them? Are you cold and cocky, full of selfimportance? Determine to fast from such things today. Beyond words of repentance, beyond words of apology to those you ve offended, ask the Lord to help you live out your commitment to change. Walk the talk. Is your church perceived as a positive contributor by the community at large? Pray for every church in Singapore to become an oasis of hope and healing, a magnetic hub of care and share for the poor and needy. John Kirvan in God Hunger says: Solitude and silence may be the meat and potatoes of our prayer lives, but they are empty of nourishment when separated from service of our brothers and sisters. Pray for a pure heart that freely receives the love of God and freely shares it with others in concrete ways. Ask God for tangible opportunities to bless the needy today and in the coming days and weeks. Pray for genuine heart transformation, so that when we do what is right for God and others, we will be truly happy doing it, with no thought of what s in it for us.

6 05 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 ageold foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. the great promise Life in Babylon was a real challenge for the exiles. Their Temple was destroyed. The altar of sacrifice was broken down. The Ark of the Covenant was gone. The people were far removed from the Promised Land. How to be God s holy people in an unholy land? That was a difficult question. Isaiah s answers were simple, but not easy. The stripping away of the outward trappings of holiness was a blessing in disguise. It forced God s people to get down to the business of what true holiness entails: Remove the yoke from among you. Fast from enslaving people to your selfish agenda. Get rid of unfair practices. Stop the manipulation game. Relate to superiors and subordinates in ways that free them to realize their God-given calling and destiny. Stop pointing the finger and speaking evil. Fast from speaking negatively about others. Quit shifting blame. Quit gossipping about other people s shortcomings. Mother Teresa said: If you judge people, you have no time to love them. Jesus said: Judge not, that you be not judged. Feed the hungry, satisfy the afflicted. Fast in ways that feast the poor. Be generous with the hungry. Be gracious toward the down-and-out. Start giving yourselves to those who can no longer cope with life, those ready to give up! Bring hope. Restore dignity. Indeed, we are saved by faith, but faith without works is dead. Jesus said we will be judged by how we treat the poor and needy, the weak and weary. This, says Isaiah, is how to be the holy people of God in an unholy land. Do these simple things from a heart of love, and THEN your lives will begin to glow in the darkness, your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight [THE MESSAGE]. You will be the city on a hill, the light of the world. THEN, Isaiah says, The LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places. Because you satisfied the needs of the poor, the LORD will satisfy your needs, even in dry times, in economic downturns, in bereavement, and in retrenchment. You will not flounder. You will flourish! THEN, says the LORD, you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Because you gave a cup of cold water to the poor (that is, to Jesus), your life will be refreshed continually. Singapore, because you did not withhold from helping your impoverished neighbours, your taps will never run dry! THEN, 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 live in. You will see the revival of godly values in society. You will see wholeness return to dysfunctional families. You will be His instruments to restore broken communities. You will rebuild failed nations on the foundations of truth, righteousness and justice. Your legacy of spiritual fathering and social justice will be honoured down the generations. Talk about cut-and-paste selective reading of the Word. Again, many of us are naming and claiming the lavish promises of without first meeting the conditions clearly laid out by God through His prophet. That s a serious misuse of Scripture. Time to repent. Do you enslave others to your agenda? Are you a fault-finder, harsh and petty? Do you ignore the poor? Ask God to help you change! Make a commitment today to live life differently in the light of. Put an end to consumeristic Christianity. Crucify self. Shift the focus from yourself to others. Think about how you normally pray. Do you pray mostly for the me-mine-myself stuff? Today, decide to pray significantly for others. Think about the Myanmar cyclone and Sichuan quake. Pray for on-going relief and reconstruction efforts; and for traumatized survivors to experience God s mighty power to heal and to save! Ask the Lord to help you prioritise your time, energy and resources for the benefit of the distressed poor. Ask for eyes to discern felt needs. Beyond words, act! Go meet that need.