5th Sunday after the
Epiphany
February 5, 2017
Isaiah 58:1-12; Matthew 5:13-20
This passage from Isaiah is one of
my all-time top favorite Scripture passages. There was a time when it was my
top favorite. It was how God got me to Nicaragua. It convicted me so thoroughly
of the need to serve others and not focus on myself or my wants. There’s a lot
in there, and this morning, we’re going to unpack it from the end.
The end is this beautiful
description of wholeness and healing and restoration and redemption. Isaiah
says, “then your light shall break forth like the dawn and your healing shall
quickly appear… The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in
parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered
garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. 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 live
in.” Doesn’t that sound lovely? Light, healing, strong bones, a well-watered
garden, a spring of water that will never run dry. Rebuilt ruins, foundations
raised up, breaches, gaps, chasms, repaired and overcome. “You will be called
Mender of Broken Walls, Restorer of Livable Streets.” Who doesn’t want to be
called that? Who doesn’t want to fix what’s broken? We’re not talking about
fixing what ain’t broken; we’re talking about fixing what is broken. We all know things that are broken. Relationships,
systems, communications, probably at least one thing here at church, no matter
how hard our trustees work. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to fix things?
Wouldn’t it be nice to have everything working properly? Anyone disagree? Good,
because that’s the whole premise of this sermon, is that you do want health and wholeness and
restoration. If you like things broken and left broken, I’ll see if I can find
a counselor for you ;-)
So, that’s the end goal, that’s the
vision. Things made right. Breaches repaired. Streets restored. Ruins rebuilt. With
plenty of water and light, two of the things necessary for life. How do we get
there? Isaiah talks about two categories of actions, two types of things to do.
The first one is what got me to
Nicaragua. “Loose the bonds of injustice, undo the thongs of the yoke, let the
oppressed go free, and to break every yoke… Share your bread with the hungry,
and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover
them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin… offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted.” That is directly what God calls us to
do. Isaiah is speaking for God here. These are specific things God wants us to
do. And the list should sound familiar. It’s not too different from what Jesus
says in Matthew 25 about visiting the sick and those in jail, clothing the
naked, welcoming the stranger, feeding the hungry, and giving something to
drink to those who are thirsty. This list in Isaiah is not any different. And
the good news about a list like these is that there’s usually at least one
thing we’re good at or that comes naturally to us. Maybe you’re good at
visiting, or you’re good at feeding the world, or you’re good at giving away
your clothing, or feel especially called to serve with persons who have lost
their homes. There’s enough on this list that you probably pretty regularly do
at least one of these activities. Maybe you even do two or three of them on a
regular basis. My challenge to you is to try one that you don’t normally do,
one that doesn’t come naturally or easy for you. You could even make it into
your Lenten discipline, since we’re only a few weeks ago from the beginning of
Lent. If you haven’t been involved in Streets of Hope, maybe it’s time to try.
If you noticed your closet or dresser is bulging, maybe it’s time to go through
your clothes and give away the ones you don’t wear or don’t need anymore. If
you don’t often go visiting, we have a list of members who are sick and shut-in
who would love to see you. If you tend to be shy and not welcome a strange
person, perhaps it’s time to put yourself out there to be friendly. Know what
you’re good at and where your strengths are. And be aware of which part of that
list makes you shy away and say, “please don’t ask me.” Consider giving that
activity a try. At least once. Sometimes we get to stay in our comfort zones;
sometimes God calls us out of them. And if you haven’t been out of your comfort
zone in a while, then it’s time. Visit the sick and those in jail, clothe the
naked, welcome the stranger, and feed the hungry. It’s really not a very hard list;
it just requires you to put in a little elbow grease and intentionality to make
it happen.
That’s the first category of things
to do to bring about healing and wholeness and restoration. Pay attention to
and spend time with those in need, and provide for those needs when it’s within
your ability to do so. By focusing on others, you will then accomplish the
second group of things, which is a list of what not to do: quarrel, fight, hit each other violently, oppress your employees,
do whatever you want, point fingers, pass the blame, don’t take responsibility,
only look at after yourself, and speak evil. It’s quite a list, isn’t it? And
just like the first one, I’m sure there’s one of those sins we commit more
often than the rest. Do you have a quick temper? Do you think you earned the
right to do whatever you want? Are you quick to point out others’ shortcomings?
Do you get a kick out of stirring the pot and creating drama? God says to “remove
the yoke from among you.” What is holding you back? What is tying you down? What
has you, figuratively or literally, in chains? And what is tying us down as a
church? What’s preventing us from reaching full restoration and health? We’ve
made a lot of progress the last three years. I know you felt somewhat abandoned
and forgotten and forsaken when I arrived, but you are not. The Conference is
paying a lot of attention to us. And they wouldn’t be if we were still doing
business as usual like we used to do. But things have changed, and mostly for
the better. Change is hard. Healing is hard. Fixing a broken street or a breach
in a dam is hard. And it takes time. That’s why we’re not done yet. So, what’s
the next yoke to break? What’s the next chain to break that’s holding us down? I
know not everyone loves me, so perhaps your answer is me. Or perhaps you can
easily identify something else. Give it some thought, give it some prayer.
“Breaking chains” was actually the
prompt of my writing this past week. I have a friend from seminary who was in a
spiritual formation group with me called “Writing as a Spiritual Discipline.”
She was a year behind me and ever since she graduated, we still write together
once a week. She texts me a prompt, we both write, and I call her after about
twenty minutes and we share both our writing and what’s going on in our lives.
With the prayer that it’s helpful and might get ideas going for you, I’ll share
a few of the chains I listed this past week when I wrote with her. These are in
no particular order, just a stream of consciousness list: sleep-deprivation,
disease, unmet expectations, fatigue, overwhelmed, stress of moving in five
months, more to do than I can physically do, untimely interruptions, and lack
of stamina. Those are what I’m struggling with and I ask your prayers to help
me with them. If you’d like my prayers as well for something particular,
please, just let me know. You should know by now that all you have to do is
tell me. And if you put it in writing then I’m less likely to forget it.
“If you remove the yoke from among
you… then your light will shine in the darkness and your gloom be like the
noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched
places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. 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 live in.” All you
have to do is remove the yoke on you and take care of those in need. Easy
enough to say, right? Hard work to do. As I mentioned last week when I shared
about moving, we do still have work to do. We still have five months together. Let’s
keep moving toward that place where “there is no darkness at all. The night and
the day are both alike. The Lamb is the light of the City of God. Shine in my
heart, Lord Jesus.”[1]
For
Jesus’ light to shine through, sometimes we have to clean the windows. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, welcome the
stranger, visit the sick and those in jail. Quit pointing fingers, quit
gossiping, quit putting chains and limits on yourself or on others, don’t speak
evil, of anyone. If you can do that,
“then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring
up quickly.” That’s how we work our way to health and wholeness and restoration
and rebuilt ruins. That’s how we fix the ruins. Working together, not against
each other. Working out in the open and not in secret. Meeting the needs of
people we encounter as we have the ability to do so. Not the desire to do so or
the natural tendency to do so, but what’s within your ability. Then Jesus’
light can shine through you, and shine through our church, and others will see
Jesus through you. As Jesus said in our Gospel reading this morning, “let your
light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory
to your Father in heaven.” May it be so with us as well. Amen.
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