Isaiah 58:1-12 Matthew 5:13-20 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
What happens when God doesn’t hear your prayers?
Likewise, what should we think when we are going through trials and difficult circumstances and God doesn’t seem to care?
Honestly, I don’t have all the answers because every circumstance is different.
However, scripture does give us some insight that can help to clear the fog but, before we get to that, let’s think about some of the reasons that sometimes we don’t hear or see the things that are happening around us. In my case, you all know that sometimes, with my hearing loss, particularly if there is a lot of noise, or there are overlapping conversations, I simply don’t hear some things or what I hear is unintelligible. Similarly, we sometimes miss important emails or text messages because they got lost in our general busyness and the crowd of other messages that were fighting for our attention.
And, still other times, we did hear the questions that were asked of us, or we did notice what was going on around us, but we simply chose not to pay attention to them. As parents, we have told our children not to do certain things, explained to them why doing those things was a bad idea, and then watched events unfold when they did those things anyway. Certainly, we could have intervened and rescued them, but at times, the best parenting is to simply watch and let them suffer through the consequences of their actions.
But which of these kinds of actions might we attribute to God? Surely, God isn’t hearing impaired so we can easily eliminate that one. And, while it isn’t difficult to imagine that the prayers and activities of several billion humans might be an overwhelming burden, once again, from what we know about God, that shouldn’t be an issue either. We can be sure that our messages to God aren’t simply being misplaced because God is busy. So, at this point, let us look at some scripture and see what answers we can find that might help us to gain a better understanding of what is happening when God seems to be deaf to our prayers and blind to our suffering. We begin this morning reading from the words of the prophet Isaiah found in Isaiah 58:1-12, where God says:
58:1 “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
6 “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?
7 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?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
Through Isaiah, God says that he stopped watching the fasts and the worship of the people when they stopped acting decently toward the people around them. God says that he stopped listening to their prayers when their actions showed their rebellion against him. Instead, what God wants is people who fight against injustice, free those who are enslaved and oppressed, share their food with the hungry, give shelter to the homeless, clothes to the naked, and provide care for your family when they need assistance. If we do those things, God says, then he will guide you, strengthen you, satisfy your needs, protect you, watch your back, answer your prayers for help, and give you the strength to rebuild your life.
In that passage, Isaiah explains some of the ways that we might find ourselves feeling unheard or unseen by God, and all of these seem to be an “us” problem and not a “God” problem. And, when we turn to the New Testament, we find Matthew recording Jesus as he goes farther in explaining who we are supposed to be and how we are supposed to act. As we read Matthew 5:13-20, we hear this:
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus teaches that we, his followers, are supposed to be the salt that changes the flavor of the world and seasons the people and culture around us wherever we go. We are supposed to bring light into the lives of everyone around us so that they can see the good things that we are doing and understand that God should get the credit. On top of that, Jesus is clear that we are to follow all the commandments and teachings of God and that we cannot choose some to follow and others to ignore.
Finally, in his letter to the church in Corinth, found in 1 Corinthians 2:1-16, Paul gives us all some advice on how to follow Jesus and do the things that we have been talking about. I’m not going to read it all, but this passage is in your bulletin, and I recommend that you read it for yourself.
2:1 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
6 We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 However, as it is written:
“What no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
the things God has prepared for those who love him—
10 these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12 What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 14 The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 15 The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, 16 for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
But what Paul says, is that when we teach others about Jesus, God, and the gospel message, the words that we speak are taught by the Spirit of God and explain spiritual realities that are unseen by people who are unconnected to the spirit of God. This is why we can pray to God for discernment and understanding so that we can see the world around us in ways that others cannot hope to see it.
And so, while it is possible that the reason that God doesn’t seem to be listening is because there something that he is trying to teach us, Isaiah says that often our problem is often self-caused. When we claim to be the followers of God but act as if we are not, when we defy God and do the things that he has taught us not to do, and refuse to do the things that he has commanded us to do, God may choose to leave us alone, to ignore our prayers, and turn a blind eye to our worship. Our mission is to change the flavor of the world and to bring light into the lives of the people and the community around us. Jesus made it clear that God cannot walk with us if we only choose to follow some of the commands of God that we like and ignore the others. If we are to be faithful, we must follow, and practice, all the teaching and commandments of God.
Doing so won’t be easy. But God has sent his spirit to live among us and within us, and we are invited to pray for discernment and understanding so that we can see the world the way that God sees it.
The short answer to all of this is that while God always hears our prayers and knows what we are doing, we can’t half follow God. A scout, or a football player at the Super Bowl, that only does what they are supposed to do half the time, is going to get sidelined pretty quick.
If we’re going to choose to follow God, we have to be all-in.
*You have been reading a message presented at Christ United Methodist Church on the date noted at the top of the first page. Rev. John Partridge is the pastor at Christ UMC in Alliance, Ohio. Duplication of this message is a part of our Media ministry, if you have received a blessing in this way, we would love to hear from you. Letters and donations in support of the Media ministry or any of our other projects may be sent to Christ United Methodist Church, 470 East Broadway Street, Alliance, Ohio 44601. These messages are available to any interested persons regardless of membership. You may subscribe to these messages, in print or electronic formats, by writing to the address noted, or by contacting us at secretary@CUMCAlliance.org. These messages can also be found online at https://pastorpartridge.com . All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
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