Psalm 112:1–10
Isaiah 58:1–12
Matthew 5:13–20
1 Corinthians 2:1–16
- O Lord, Teach Me to Follow You (Psalm 27)
- Lord, Have Mercy
- In Christ Alone
- All the Poor and Powerless
The Isaiah passage presents a church whose worship seems spot-on. Yet there seems to be a distance between them and God. God then exhorts and reminds them of what he wants from them. The list strikes a resemblance to this morning’s Gospel passage in Matthew 5. We are reminded to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, free the oppressed. In other words, our worship is incomplete unless it is applied in the showing of mercy and the love for justice (1 John 3:18). This week we are challenged to consider the humility Christ exhibits in His incarnation and not take it for granted. Instead we need to consider our own poverty, nakedness, oppression, and in response to our emancipation in Christ, identify our fellow sufferers in the world. Only then can we be the light of the world. Otherwise, we hide our light beneath a basket and lose our saltiness. We will sing “Lord, Have Mercy” as a confession of complacency in the world. After this, we will remind ourselves of the glorious gospel and our great need of forgiveness by singing “In Christ Alone.” Our commissioning song will be new: “All the Poor and Powerless” by All Sons and Daughters. This song explicitly connects these ideas by citing the naked, hungry, and oppressed.
