“Our God of grace and love and mercy, be with us today as we worship together. In Christ’s name, Amen”
Good morning. I truly am happy to be with you here today. In churches in this city, in this state, in this country and in churches around the world, people come together each week, on a designated day of sabbath, to worship that which is unseen but acknowledged, unheard but felt, and invisible yet known. This is why we come together here today. The story of what brought each of you into this house of worship today is different from mine – each of our story’s are different in details and timings and depth – but they are also so alike. At some point in your life you came to the realization that there had to be something greater than us – something or someone who was responsible for all of this – and for us being here – for even existing. Throughout and even before recorded history people intuitively knew that something or someone was greater than us. This is when people began to realize the truth of our own spirituality and questioned our role in it. And then the question came about, “Okay, so what?” Now what are we supposed to do, be, or act about this ‘God’?
These are the questions wrestled around in our Old Testament reading for today from Isaiah. Actually, all of our readings today go to the very basics of what it truly means to be alive in this world, whether Christian, Jewish, Muslim, agnostic, or whatever faith, denomination or belief system you might embrace. It is to see your fellow human beings. To really see them with respect, honor and dignity – and to treat them accordingly and justly.
Our Isaiah reading tells of the people who go through all of the motions of looking like they are doing the things they are supposed to be doing. They implore God saying, to the effect “…see, we are fasting, but you (God) don’t see it”. “We humble ourselves, but you don’t notice! We’re going through all the motions – just like you wanted us to! What else do you want??” But God wasn’t having any of it – God knew what was in their hearts – what drove their actions.
Have you ever really pondered Lent, or fasting, or any of their accompanying actions? Like, what is the basic purpose of Lent? Yeah, the common refrain you will hear is that it is to quiet your mind and your heart to prepare for Holy Week and Eastertide. When you hear the term fasting, especially relating to Lent, this time period corresponds to the 40 days that Jesus wandered in the wilderness, directly after the Epiphany, when he was baptized and anointed with the Holy Spirit. It is called to be a time for self-reflection, repentance, ‘re-centering’ oneself again – all with the implied goal of becoming more charitable, loving and Christlike in all your words, and deeds, actions and in your soul. Not to be taken lightly or given ‘lip-service’.
The people talked about in our reading from Isaiah are not the common folk or the poor, no these were the elites of society. Those who made a show of what they were doing so everyone could see how “humble and righteous’ they were. These were the ones who made sure people noticed them when they were praying, or made sure people noticed them when they handed out a denarii to a poor person.
God was having none of it. God spoke specifically when he said, “This is the fast I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke.… to share your bread with the hungry, to bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to clothe them. You do this, Then I will hear you and see you. THAT is what it means to practice righteousness and NOT forsake the ordinances of God! Any worship practice rooted in Scripture risks irrelevance when it fails to produce empathy for the hurting people of the world. Such is the enduring dilemma of US Christianity—a faith that has, at various times, sanctified slavery, genocide, and now, mass deportation. If the prophet’s critique still speaks today, any faith system that cultivates worshipers who, in society, oppress workers and perpetuate the bondage of the poor, the hungry, and the naked is not a faith “heard on high”
We are a country too enslaved to the land of ‘Haves and Have Nots’. What words would the prophet Isaiah proclaim to us in today’s world? This Old Testament reading is telling us that God was not pleased because the hollow actions of the people in Fast were not genuine. The people were not penitent. There was no empathy for the poor and the marginalized. Social justice had not even been considered. And empathy is such a key word for today’s world. With empathy, you see and hear and feel the other person. With empathy, you cannot not help the other. You cannot keep from giving out food, or clothes, or money because that person you see is your brother or your sister. With empathy, you have been changed. You are no longer the one who goes through the motions giving lip-service with no depth. You understand. You get it!
This past week, our Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Phil N. LaBelle issued a note type email to our Diocesan Clergy and Laity. In it, he speaks of the state of affairs in our country, the state of our spiritualities, and our upcoming season of Lent. Let me quote a few lines: “No matter how you slice it, things in our country are pretty dire. News headlines focus on the revelations of men in power who were connected with a known pedophile, on American citizens being killed on the streets by federal agents, on the continued rise of costs for basic necessities, on the arrests of people with brown skin—citizens, immigrants, or refugees—by agents wearing masks and refusing to identify themselves. It’s a lot. But it’s not the first time in history when similar events have taken place. Sadly, we humans have a tendency to repeat the past unable to learn the painful lessons when those in power do anything they can to feed their insatiable desire for more.
During one such time, Dietrich Bonhoeffer expressed in a letter to Mahatma Gandhi that the issues of the day were neither political nor economic, they were spiritual. And he lamented that churches as a whole were not responding in a spiritual way. Friends, the issues of our day is neither political nor economic but spiritual. And spiritual matters need spiritual responses.” End quote.
This is what it means to be a Christian in todays world. To acknowledge your true nature – that you are a spiritual creation enmeshed in a mortal world. When you recognize and acknowledge this truth, this then is when the veil is lifted and you truly see your neighbor as yourself. That every person you meet and encounter is your brother or your sister. We are all one and the same regardless of skin color, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religious affiliation, or political affiliation. We cry, we bleed, we laugh, we rejoice, we lift up and we love. THIS is what it means to see the other regardless of all our foibles, errors, biases and beliefs – because we are humans and the human experience is to experience life, to grow, to learn, to teach and ultimately, to love one another – and ourselves. No one said it was going to be easy, but it is worth it.
Jesus did not live his life ordering people what to do, but he did show people how to live their lives. Our gospel reading for today tells us to be the “Light of the world – let your light shone before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven. And this was His one commandment, to love one another, just as he loved us that we should love one another. It all seems so simple – and maybe it is, but, it is hard to do when we have activities around this country and around this world that stretch the limits of our patience and endurance. The times of decision we have thrust upon us are the times when we can make a difference in our own corner of the world. It is in the naming out loud the brood of vipers poisoning the life blood of our people. It is in standing up and voicing your true feelings in protest to the atrocities being inflicted upon innocent people.
But it is also in the kind touch, the thoughtful smile, the giving of oneself for the betterment of the other. It might be the blowing of a whistle when evil sets upon your neighborhood or your town. It is shining the light into the darkness. It in the following of the example set by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The answer, I think, is that Jesus knows what we all are truly capable of. He knows what is in our hearts and the potential that is just lying there. We can have a very different world if we want it. Love must replace fear. Hate is not the opposite of love – fear is, because fear is always the driving factor. A fear of loss, or a fear of oppression, or a fear of missing out. A fear of survival, A fear of isolation. All these fears drive us to actions that can be harmful or degrading to our fellow humans. Jesus truly knew and understood that we are all the same – that my brothers and sisters around the globe bleed and feel and cry just like you and me. That homeless person pushing the shopping cart with all their belongings IS my brother or sister. Nations of the world can and should be helping each other – not building walls to keep each other apart.
With God, there is no us vs. them. There is only ‘us’. This is the love Jesus knew and tried to teach us. We are learning, it is a slow and tedious endeavor but we will get there. It is with the love of God and Jesus helping hand that I can say, to God, ‘I appreciate what has been done for me. I am humbled and I say thank you’. ‘Thank you for being in my life.’ ‘Thank you for leading me out of ‘my wilderness’. ‘Thank you for just being there’.
Our lives are good. Our lives are finite. It is on our shoulders to make to most of what God has joyously given us, with candor and humility. Thanks be to God. Amen.