Ash Wednesday happened the other day. It usually flies right by me as it always falls on a busy workday at the practice. As a non-Anglican protestant, we are not particularly tuned to the church calendar. We also don't have the same beliefs about the Pope as Catholics do. All the same, I am liking Pope Leo, IV. Like my family, he is from Chicago; though, he has to be forgiven for not being a Cubs fan. I also really like what he said the other day during the evening lesson marking the start of Lent, "The greatest fast is not merely from food or alcohol. The greatest fast is from sin." Boom. He went on to call for a fast from "insults, backbiting, blackmail, exaggerations that destroy reputations, and from words that wound deeper than knives." Earlier in the week, he was calling for a fast from divisiveness, from speaking anything ill of anyone else. This is a tougher challenge that one might think, especially for someone judgy like me.
Over 2500 years ago, the prophet Isaiah quoted God (in Isaiah Chapter 58 in the Bible), defining the kind of fasting that pleases God. It is good to take a look at this writing, to think about our own thoughts an dactions, to take a look at what is going on around us, and to ask what Jesus would and would not do.
“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[a] 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.
-Isaiah 58
So then, what do positive actions look like in this time? We might confront our own religious hypocrisy in living out traditions or rituals which, as sacrificial as they may seem, really don't amount to much. We need a true heart change to realize it is not so very humble to demand that God notice our superficial religious actions when there has been no change of heart. What would Jesus do in these days? What would He not do?
Are there ways we are exploiting others? Paying too little for services? Failing to honor those who serve us? Waiting too long to pay our bills? Stopping short of generosity when there are obvious needs before us? Did we short-change the tip?Are the things we buy for cheap making someone else's life more difficult? Are we fighting NIMBY kind of arguments? What kind of policies are the officials we elect fighting for? Do we agree with the foreign policy of our country?
Then what about the things we fight eachother about? Are these issues really issues which matter to God? Or are we worshipping things like money, reputation, power or love so much that we fail to value the humans around us who were created in God's image? As a fan of murder mysteries, so often the question asked is, "Just what would it take to murder someone?" This follows the obvious conclusion that every human being is, in fact, capable of murder if pushed far enough. What you would kill for is likely also what you worship more than God, what you honor more than other humans. Sadly, when collective worship is involved, what follows are warped justifications for war. Jesus confronts anger and discord in the Sermon on the Mount and ultimately demands that his followers love our enemies (see Matthew 5). Thus, Jesus calls us to think twice before confronting, conflicting with or even speaking evil of other people.
According to the Prophet Isaiah (and to Jesus who fulfilled His prophecies), we all have a call to action to confront systemic injustices (and any personal injustices we ourselves have imposed). This involves righting wrongs and addressing unjust laws. We need find ourselves protecting, sheltering, feeding and clothing the vulnerable - and not just the poor but also the wanderer. In other words, we should care about those who are in material need and particularly those who are refugees. So many worldwide conflicts were fueled by industrialized countries, resulting in mass migrations of refugees. We owe it to the world to be part of the remedy, to work toward resolution of conflicts and reconciliation. Think about how extreme things would have to be to cause you to leave the home, the community, and the country where you had lived and invested!
Jesus is calling us not only to repent from our sins but to lean into the positive action of loving our neighbors as ourselves (and not just the nextdoor neighbors). Not only are we called to lean into love, but He is also calling us into the deep and lasting enjoyment of the blessings that come only from God. Only God is powerful enough to orchestrate the solar system (night into day), to heal whole societies, to answer prayers with His holy presence, and to overcome droughts (not just physical ones but spiritual ones, too). God, Himself, is the ultimate inexhaustible spring, the ultimate restoration artist!
No comments:
Post a Comment