Isaiah 58:6-14
For the people Isaiah was addressing in today’s scripture, God had proved to be unfaithful. They had been conquered, taken into exile far from home. “What did we do wrong?” they asked. Did we not make enough sacrifices? Did we not sing enough psalms or offer the right prayers? Like many of the prophets in the Hebrew scriptures, Isaiah tells the people that the rituals of religion are not a payment for God’s favor. Saying prayers, making burnt sacrifices, keeping all the rules about being religious don’t guarantee an easy life. God isn’t impressed with external trappings, but cares deeply about matters of the heart.
If you want to live a good life in a prosperous country, create a good life in a country where everyone prospers. Isaiah tells the people what matters: justice, fairness, economic opportunity for everyone. Before first Israel and later Judah were conquered by invading nations, their prophets had warned them about income inequality, the rich exploiting the poor, those with comfortable lives ignoring those who struggled to put food on the table. If you don’t stand for justice, they said, you will fall. And fall they did.
Jesus knew the prophets and internalized their message until it formed his very core. Then he repeated it in his day. He told those with power that they weren’t going to get ahead by cooperating with Roman occupiers or exploiting workers or sharecroppers to line their own pockets. He denounced those who didn’t care when children had no bread or adults had no work. He repeated the message of ancient prophets: If you want to live a good life, create a life that’s good by your daily actions.
The first century followers of Jesus weren’t able to change the ways of Empire around them, so they created communities of people who lived by Jesus’ values in spite of Empire. They focused on ways to love their neighbor – sharing food, giving shelter, offering food. They learned to tell the truth in their dealings with each other. They cultivated generosity. They protected people from the harm of Empire as much as they could. They still had to deal with the hardships of first century Empire, but they also lived lives of joy and purpose. They believed they were living in God’s reign in spite of also living in Caesar’s reign.
I love the ways we are growing into creating a first-century community in our own time. We even use some Isaiah-like vocabulary when we talk about being light in the world. We take seriously the fact that people need food and shelter. Right now we’re working with other churches and agencies to help a man who is camping in a storage unit. He would qualify for housing vouchers, but first he must pay over $4300 in past-due rent. Together we’re going to pay that bill. Housing will give him stability and allow him to access food assistance and medical care. Helping one person doesn’t solve the problem of people without homes, but it does plant a seed of hope that the problem can be addressed. It makes a public statement that the problem of homelessness belongs to the whole community, not just people having a hard time. It says we look forward to the time when enough realities shift that people in financial trouble get redirection before they fall in a hole so deep they can’t get out. When housing is affordable and medical care doesn’t bankrupt families. Shelter, food, medical care, work -these belong not just to the rich and powerful but to the community and we get to decide how it’s shared to benefit everyone. When we center justice and dignity in the heart of who we are, then we create a God-like community in which everyone can participate. We make the love of God and the reign of God visible every day in our everyday lives.
Our passage today mentions the Sabbath. In Isaiah’s time and Jesus’ time there were lots of rules about how Sabbath was observed. Rules about not cooking or walking or working. People hoped that keeping the rules would earn them a reward. Prophets tell us that keeping rules isn’t the same as being holy, being steeped in the heart of God from the inside out. You can keep every rule and not be kind or just or generous. But you can’t be filled with the presence of God and not be kind or just or generous. Good deeds don’t count unless they come from your heart and your heart beats in tune with God’s love. Lots of people want to keep the letter of the law and earn credits toward heaven. Jesus tried to show us that living the SPIRIT of the law creates heaven right now. In his day, keeping the Sabbath meant not doing everyday things on the sabbath day. Instead he wanted people to make every day a day to put God’s love into action. The sabbath was meant to help people focus on God by resting. But when the needs around us are so great, we focus on God by helping and caring. When God’s love flows through us, even though we are working to help others, we’re resting in God. And when we physically rest from that work, we know we are that much more connected with God.
I’m not telling you today that until we fix everything that’s wrong with the world, we can’t rest. Or that every problem needs to be your personal problem. I am telling you that we have the privilege of seeing the world through God’s eyes, and that allows us to see some ways that we can bring love to a few folks. We do what we can, when we can, but God allows us to see both a need and a solution. By being God’s hands in this bit of the world, we find God’s joy, we see God’s hope and we rest in knowing we’ve made a difference. We are creating God’s reign in partnership with all those who allow God’s Spirit to move through them into this holy life. Watch for it, and you will see it.