Call to Action

Last week, we explored how Micah helps us discern whether we are aligned with God’s call to live with justice, mercy, and humility. This week, Isaiah calls us to action. Of course, the first action Isaiah calls us to is confession. As we near the season of Lent, confession is a meaningful practice for our communities to engage. As Isaiah models for us, we need to name our sin so that we know what to turn away from. This is not a time for shaming one another but for corporate truth-telling that leads us into living justly, mercifully, and humbly together. Confession opens us to the work of sanctifying grace that answers our confession with renewal and guidance to continue to answer God’s call on our lives.

Isaiah describes God’s call to action as a fast, which can have some difficult connotations for modern Christians. Importantly, the fast that Isaiah describes is not about personal deprivation but communal flourishing. As worship planners, this is an opportunity for us to introduce spiritual practices in worship that reframe fasting as a focused commitment to God’s path. For instance, instead of inviting people to fast from eating certain foods or doing certain activities, invite the congregation to commit to a practice of visio divina in their neighborhoods, asking God to help them notice where God is calling them to pay attention and act on behalf of neighbors who are hungry, oppressed, or in need. Perhaps you introduce a breath prayer for the whole congregation to pray during the next week, with the expectation that there will be discussion during a Sunday school class or even as part of worship the following week about what people noticed or heard God saying to them. You could do a general breath prayer or one based on Isaiah 58, like (breathe in) “God, help me remove the yoke of evil,” (breathe out) “and seek your healing for me and my neighbors.” These and other spiritual disciplines can be introduced in worship and taken with congregants into the week, connecting mundane moments during the week to the good news we proclaim together on Sunday.