SERMON TITE: Light & Love
SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 58; Luke 1:5-25 (ESV)
SPEAKER: Joe Sherrieb
DATE: 12/21/2025
Sermon Discussion Guide
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Good morning everyone! My name is Joe Sherrieb, and I’m the Life Group Director here on staff. And it’s a pleasure to be able to preach God’s Word to you this morning.
So — many families have Christmas traditions that they do every year, right? Well — I would say our family has a Christmas tradition — and I’d like to share that with you this morning. So we have this fake Christmas tree, okay? And after Christmas, it’s tradition that we never take it down. And it’s not because we’re lazy, it’s just because it’s too much work. Ya gotta fold all the branches up and try to get it back in the box, which is a feat in and of itself.
And then the next year, you have to get it out again, fluff the branches. It’s just a hassle. So we just take it down to the basement and leave it standing — fully assembled — in the back corner until the next year. Now — we do take the lights and ornaments off — otherwise it’d be too embarrassing to let guests see the tree in the basement and have them think we have some sort of Christmas obsession or something.
And then next December rolls around — haha December, have you met my wife?— November 1 rolls around and it’s time to get it back out. That’s when the fun begins. The tree has to go up a flight of stairs to the living room so it’s always guaranteed that I will add new scuff marks to the wall to be friends with those from past years. Then we’ll get it to the living room and start to put Christmas lights on it. And here’s to add to the tree debacle tradition. We somehow always put the lights on the tree BEFORE we’ve checked to make sure they actually work. Every year. And as tradition would have it — there’s always one strand that doesn’t work — so then I have to take them off, make a special trip to Lowe’s — purchase a new box of lights — and then put the lights back on the tree.
But our tree tradition isn’t over yet. Let’s talk about the ornaments. Every year, we have to have new ornaments. For the married men in the room — you know how our wives can’t be seen wearing the same dress to different weddings or other functions because other women will judge them for it? I think this is how it goes for ornaments. One year it was gold, another year it was the farmhouse look with the wooden balls (thanks Joanna Gaines), last year it had to be “whimsical” (whatever on earth that means). This year — vintage!
So every year, our tree gets decorated differently, but going back to the broken strand of lights from earlier — if the lights don’t work — then the tree isn’t really brought to life — and it can’t really be lit up for the world to see, even with all the decorations on it. And today, we’ll kinda see this idea play out. We’re gonna be in Isaiah 58 this morning to continue our advent series, and we’re gonna see that God’s people, like a Christmas tree, can have all the whimsical ornaments and decorations of fasting, prayer, and other rituals, but if their light is not shining, — if their lights are out — then the decorations don’t really mean much. And God’s people had broken light strands. Why? Because they lacked mercy and justice — they lacked love. And we’re gonna see that — God’s light doesn’t shine through empty religion, or ornaments so to speak, but through genuine love that is expressed through mercy and justice — or light.
We’ll see that light dawns not when God’s people simply carry out their rituals, but when they love — when their rituals are accompanied by their love.
And at first glance, it kind of seems like this text is out of place for an Advent series. There’s no explicit prophecy or mention of our coming Messiah. It’s about fasting, worship, justice, and how God wants his people to repent of their sins. But I think there is a connection between Isaiah 58 and the birth of Jesus— because Advent is about God bringing light to the darkness. Where God called his people to be light for the nations, they failed — pointing us to the true light, which gives light to all men —this light is and has always been, and will always be Jesus Christ. And that’s exactly who Isaiah in chapter 58 is pointing us forward to — to Christ, who is the Light.
And with that in mind,
Let’s read Isaiah 58, starting in verse 1:
“Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness 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, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And 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 dwell in. “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.””
Now — the background of Isaiah has already been covered pretty well by Justin Stiles and Pastor Ben, so I won’t spend much time there. But there is something important to keep in mind as we look at Isaiah 58 this morning.
The prophet Isaiah spoke God’s Word to his people across different moments in history. What do I mean by that? Well — starting in chapter 40 — Isaiah, speaking in the 700s BC — BEFORE Judah’s exile to Babylon — uses present-tense language to address a future generation — the generation of God’s people who have returned to Judah and Jerusalem, have rebuilt the temple, and resumed worship. They’re fasting, praying and so forth. And outwardly, everything looks like it’s headed in the right direction. But on the inside, their heart posture and rebellion is following in the same footsteps as their ancestors before they were exiled. There is still empty worship going on — and injustice, self-centeredness — and evidently — they’re confused why God is distant from them, not answering their prayers — because “isn’t God going to be gracious to us now that he brought us back to our homeland?”
And now God’s message to Isaiah long ago will address them in the present. Look at verse 1
Isaiah 58:1–5 “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?”
So again — we see that God’s people are engaging in empty worship and empty religion here. They say, “why have we fasted, and you see it not?” But what does God say just before that? He says, “they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness.” True — they were fasting, but at the same time they were living their lives — not according to light and love — but according to darkness and evil. And we know how God thinks of “worship” that isn’t accompanied with love for him or others.
Let’s stay in Isaiah for a minute — chapter 1, starting in verse 11 says, “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices, says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.” And skipping down to verse 15, “When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.”
Amos 5:21-24 says, “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
God hates empty rituals — and he does so because he hates hypocrisy and deception. He hates when his people try to use religious activity to cover up a heart of darkness. In Isaiah 58, God’s people are confused. They’re saying, “God, we’re fasting — we’re humbling ourselves. Why aren’t you impressed? Why aren’t you answering our prayers? And God basically responds by saying, “Because you’re acting like you’re spiritual — but in reality you’re living in darkness.” What was the darkness that they were living in? Let’s continue in our verses.
“Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord?”
We do this at times don’t we? We go through spells of dryness and times when we aren’t really pursuing God or obeying his commands — yet we come to church on Sundays, we read our Bibles — though quickly because the next episode of Stranger Things just got added to Netflix and surely we’ve gotta watch that before it gets too late — and we serve once a month on one of the hospitality teams or teach in the Next Gen ministry —and in return we expect in some way that God is going to bless us or that he owes us something. But then oftentimes during the week, we neglect showing mercy and compassion for the less fortunate or oppressed in our community. And now-a-days, even mentioning the word “oppression” will cause division among us because it’s become a political buzz word that’s distasteful because of how it’s been defined or addressed (or not addressed) by the opposing political party no matter which side of the aisle you’re on. But the reality is there is injustice all around us —and there are people in need all around us. If we go about our weeks passing by homeless and hungry image bearers on the streets (and especially those who are of the household of faith —see Galatians 6:10 — if we’re passing by them weekly and we actively choose not to be a neighbor and help them — and then go to God in prayer asking that he answer our requests — should we really assume he will answer our prayers?
Let’s talk about fasting because that’s what the bulk of this chapter is about. Fasting is simply the practice of not eating food for a set period of time to grow closer to God. And fasting is meant to be a blessing to us in many different ways. I’ll briefly mention a few:
So our fasting is meant to be a blessing to us. BUT here in Isaiah 58 — we see that our fasting is meant to be a blessing to others as well. Were in verse 6, “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”
Have you ever thought about fasting in this way? If we are fasting correctly, it should move us not just toward repentance of sin — as mentioned earlier — but also toward loving others and being the light that God calls us to be. God speaks through Isaiah to let the oppressed go free and feed the hungry and bring those with little into your house. Some of you might be thinking, “Bring the homeless into my home? That seems a bit dangerous. What if they take all my stuff? That’s way too far-fetched.
Well, imagine the supernatural kind of love that would be on display for the world to see if Christians would actually be a bit more bold in their efforts to bless people. And when people would ask why we love this way, we point them to God who loves them and has loved us with this supernatural kind of love, which by the way is the perfect segue to share the gospel.
But think about it, we walk past many people in need — even here in Findlay. And what’s the first thing we do when we see them? We look down, don't we? Pretend they aren’t there? Why do we do this? Or when we contemplate helping the poor, what are the common excuses we give?
“They're probably drug addicts. My money would hurt them, not help them.”
“They’ll probably just buy cigarettes with this money. That’s no good.”
Or, “I’m socially drained and I can’t afford another human interaction.”
Or, “I’m too busy.”
Or how about this one — I hear it a lot — “If they would just pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get a job, then they wouldn’t need to be standing out here on the street corner.”
We come up with all these excuses for not helping the less fortunate, don’t we? And ya know — some of these might actually be true. But the problem is — oftentimes — we make the judgement call without ever speaking one word with them. Now — we can use discernment in how we care — it’s just important that we do care — that we do love, and be a light to the world. In fact, the language that God uses in caring and loving the poor in verse 10 is to “pour yourself out” for them.
A while ago, I met a guy at church one Sunday morning. And he shared that he was homeless and living out of his car. At first — I wondered if he came to church because he was just looking for some financial help, but then I realized that he came with someone else who had invited him.
I offered to meet him at Plato’s Closet to get him some warm clothes since it was cold out at the time — so I wanted to get him some sweatshirts, sweatpants, and a coat. And so I got there and I waited in the parking lot for about twenty minutes. After 10 minutes, I wondered if he was gonna show up because he hadn’t confirmed, and he wasn’t texting me back. And I’ll be honest, I was getting really frustrated that I’d gone out of my way to help and he wasn’t showing up. And he didn’t show up. After 20 minutes, he finally texted me that he wasn’t gonna be able to make it due to an excuse I thought was questionable. So I went home.
A couple of days later, he texted me from a motel in Findlay, asking if I could send him money via Cash App for a night’s stay. I didn’t feel comfortable just sending money — especially after this guy didn’t show up to Plato’s — and I didn’t know what it was going to be spent on. So instead — I decided to meet him at the motel and pay for the room in person.
When I got there, we sat in the lobby for about two hours, talking through his financial situation. He was only working a few hours per week at Subway because his manager wasn’t scheduling him enough. So we worked together to look for jobs in the area that he could apply for online. Then I helped him download a budgeting app, and set up his income and expense categories based on what a reasonable take-home pay might be for a factory job. I also gave him enough money for food for a few days and gas to get around.
Throughout all of this, I felt the cost of pouring myself out. My time — and energy — and money were going into something uncertain. I didn’t know what the outcome would be. Would he follow through on interviews? Would he continue to use the budgeting app? I didn’t know. And yet, I got to listen to his story, walk alongside him, AND — I was even able to share the gospel with him which was really cool.
A little while later, he texted me to say he had gotten the job at the cookie factory. And he ended up working there for some time before eventually moving away to reconcile with his mom.
And through all of this, God taught me something. He taught me that we can be faithful in loving and helping others, even when there are uncertainties — even when we don’t know what may come of it. And that there is a joy in pouring yourself out, even when it feels a bit too costly. It takes patience — it takes willpower — and it takes pushing through some discomfort — but the love you show and the light you shine can make all the difference in someone’s life.
So let’s forget the reasons why we don’t provide for the homeless on the street real quick. Let’s start with a completely sober-minded question. What would it look like for you — for us — to pour ourselves out for the needy to the glory of God? THIS should be our fast. This should be the outcome of our genuine fast before God — where we turn away from wickedness AND toward a supernatural sacrificial love.
And when we do — when we fast in THIS way, look at what God promises. We’re in verse 8:
Isaiah 58:8–10 “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness 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, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.”
A fast that loosens the bonds of wickedness, frees the oppressed, feeds the hungry — will be a fast where God light bursts through in his people. It was true for God’s people re-establishing their lives in Jerusalem following their return from exile in Babylon. And it’s true for us. But if you keep reading through the Old Testament, you’ll see that the “fast” that God was calling his people toward — a fast that came with many of God’s promised blessings — was neglected — for the people of Judah and Jerusalem were living in darkness. They failed to let the light break forth like the dawn — even after returning from exile, even after receiving mercy, even after watching God rebuild their city and their land.
They went right back to empty religion. And Isaiah 58 exposes that gap between empty religion and genuine love. And that gap is meant to cause a longing for God’s people. A longing for the One who’d be the true Light. A longing for the One who would pour HIMSELF out. A longing for the One who would loosen the bonds of wickedness, and a longing for the One who would free the oppressed and bring good news to the poor.
And this is where our New Testament passage that was read earlier comes into play — right? — the story leading up to the birth of John the Baptist — the promised one who was foretold by the prophet Isaiah in chapter 40, who would prepare the way of the Lord and would prepare a people for Jesus’ ministry. It was John the Baptist who prepared God’s people by administering a baptism of repentance, calling everyone to repent of their sins, and then he hopped off center stage — because during his ministry, he attracted a pretty large following — and pointed them to one whose sandals John is unworthy to untie — the one who is the true Light — whose light will break forth like the dawn, where darkness will not overcome it.
And if Jesus — who is the embodiment of light and love — has made us who are in him — the light of the world as we read in Matthew 5 in Jesus’ sermon on the mount:
Matthew 5:14–16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
If Jesus who is the light — has made us the light of the world. Then in him, we can let our light shine in the darkness through our love for others. And when our light is shining — truly, not in empty religion — then we will help others to see God for who he truly is — love, and full of glory. And when our light breaks through like the dawn, which could’ve only been possible through the One who shines his light through us, we get to experience the promises of God: Let’s all hear them one more time:
“Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness 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, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And 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 dwell in. “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 58:8-14)
And now — as we celebrate the first coming of Jesus this Christmas, and anticipate the bridegroom’s second coming, let’s partake in the true fast, until he comes and makes all things perfect and as they should be. Where all the bonds of wickedness are loosened — forever — for those who love him.
God — I thank you for your Word. I thank you that we can open it up and study it and learn from it — and be transformed by it. And God — would you, by your Spirit, transform us more and more into the image of Christ — who embodied the true fast — who loosened the bonds of wickedness, who fed the hungry multitudes, who healed the sick and afflicted, who gave sight to the blind, who set at liberty the oppressed, who poured himself out for the undeserving when he hung of the cross, to defeat Satan, sin, death, hell, and darkness forever. And we await his second coming where he will restore all things and make all things new. Let us lean to those promises as we celebrate Christmas. And may you receive all the glory and honor. Amen.
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