Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's case. (ESV)

Let’s set the scene a bit: Israel has been in a bit of a tough spot politically and socially. After years of spiritual neglect of the nation and ignoring countless warnings from prophets, we see a nation divided into Israel and Judah. God has used the prophets Amos, Micah, and Hosea to try to get their attention, warning about some bad things to come.  

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As I read through the former part of chapter 1 of Isaiah, I see a picture of a people who seem to be putting on religious show but are completely separated from God. In Isaiah 1:11-13, The Message version says, "‘Why this frenzy of sacrifices?’ God's asking. ‘Don't you think I've had my fill of burnt sacrifices, rams and plump grain-fed calves? Don't you think I've had my fill of blood from bulls, lambs, and goats? When you come before me, whoever gave you the idea of acting like this, running here and there, doing this and that— all this sheer commotion in the place provided for worship? Quit your worship charades. I can't stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings— meetings, meetings, meetings—I can't stand one more!’”

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Isaiah paints a picture of a people who are operating out of a past pedigree instead of a reverence for their God. They are a people doing all the religious acts and making sure they are seen doing them. Yet, when faced with the true calling God placed on them – to work for justice, help the down-and-out, stand up for the homeless, go to bat for the defenseless – they look the other way.  

The thing I keep coming back to in my mind when going over this passage is passivity. I see a nation who has been lulled into apathy regarding injustices happening in their world, both spiritual and physical, so they sit back and say, “I did my religious act, so I’m good.”  

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I remember my dad telling me an analogy when I was a kid: think of the Spirit’s prompting as an alarm in your heart. Whenever you see a place that the Spirit wants to move, or when you are entering a sinful area of your life, the alarm goes off – you know right away there is something wrong. Now pretend there is a big wool blanket sitting right next to that alarm, and when it goes off, you throw the blanket over it and the alarm is a little quieter. The next time the alarm goes off it becomes easier to throw another blanket on it. After a while the alarm is so buried, you can’t hear it at all.

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An alarm is only as good as the people who respond to it. Isaiah tells us that when we get stuck in the mire of our own sins and become apathetic to injustice, we need to start peeling away the blankets and be active in what God calls us to do.  

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Like King David in Psalm 139, you can ask God to search your heart to help you see the blankets over your sin. You can ask him to peel them back so you can seek Christ’s justice: to free the oppressed from the prison of sin, to show people their Heavenly Father, and to care for the bride of Christ.

Father, give me your eyes for your people. Give me passion and compassion to stand for the injustices I walk by every day. Father, let me be your hands and feet as I walk into those places to radiate you. Amen.