Isaiah 58:6-7 “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?”

It really isn’t such a great accomplishment to skip a meal, or even several. We haven’t made a huge sacrifice of time, or effort. We even come out ahead financially. We can afford to feast later on, or spend our savings on some other indulgence.

In the end, no one is really served but ourselves. The Lord gets nothing out of our hunger pains or the grumbling sound our stomachs make. Put yourself in his shoes for a moment. If I came to you and said, “Look, I did no grocery shopping today. I spent no time in the kitchen, prepared no food. I took no time for even a single meal, didn’t put a single bite in my mouth. I did it all for you. Aren’t you happy? Aren’t you impressed?” How might you respond? “Uh, thanks, I guess?” What good does it do you? That’s exactly what it does for the Lord, too: nothing. Why should the Lord care?

But what if there were a cause you deeply cared about? An old friend of mine lost his father to lymphoma when he was just a little boy. For him, supporting cancer research through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society was a big deal. He was involved in fund raisers and cancer awareness. What if I made a large donation and sent him a card that said I had made my gift on his behalf? Now maybe I would have his attention, and his appreciation.

Through Isaiah the Lord makes known that there are some causes he cares about deeply. The world is his creation. The people he made to populate it are the crown jewel of that creation. They are especially dear to his heart. Caring for them is his cause.

But sometimes injustice gets in the way. Isaiah’s words about loosening the chains and taking off the yokes suggest he may be alluding to the abuse of Israel’s laws dealing with land and slaves. Every seventh year any land that had been sold was to be returned to its original owner, and all the slaves were to go free. Some people found ways to manipulate the laws so that they could keep their slaves from freedom and the land from its rightful owners.

But the prophet isn’t so specific. Applications in our day might include anything from human trafficking to frivolous lawsuits to certain issues of domestic abuse. Instead of caring for others, people take advantage of them.

God’s concern is not limited to what one person does to another. “Is it (God’s kind of fasting) 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?” The Lord wants people to be fed, clothed and sheltered. “Do you want to make a sacrifice that makes a difference to me?” the Lord is saying. “Then don’t just sit by and watch all this happen. Don’t let people be mistreated and turn the other way. Don’t let people go without the necessities of life. Get involved. Do something. Give up your time. Give up your money for something that makes a difference.” Serving others who need help is the kind of “fasting” God seeks.

Serving others who need help is not a random idea the Lord thought of. It’s not a requirement he intends to force on others while living an entirely different way himself. The kind of fasting he chooses is the kind he chose for himself. Look at the life of Jesus. Did he not feed the masses? He distributed food to 5000. Though he himself had few possessions, he kept a fund from the donations he received for his ministry to help the poor. He is still giving us our daily bread today.

More than that, he made the greatest sacrifice ever “to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke.” No, he did not reform the government. He resisted becoming a political figure. He reformed individuals. And he set us all free from the injustices we have committed, from the oppression of our own sins, when he gave his life on the cross to pay our debt to God.

This is the kind of fasting our Lord chooses for himself. Today he invites us to make it our choice, and serve those who need help.