Is not this the fast that I choose?

Sermon for Epiphany 5A – RCL

Isaiah 58:1-9a, [9b-12]

Psalm 112:1-9, (10)

1 Corinthians 2:1-12, [13-16]

Matthew 5:13-20

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus said you are the Salt of the earth and the light on the hill.  I hear these as both promises and commands.  The promise is that we are salt and light.  We do not need to become salt and light.  We are called and given the tools necessary for ministry.  We are called to be beacons of light in this hurting world. We are given the tools necessary to bring God’s loving reign into being here and now. And as such we are commanded to use those tools. The church is here to not just make space for Christ but to do the work Christ has commanded us to do.

Jesus is not asking us to have a perfect liturgy and then go home and feel that we have “done our duty”.  Jesus is commanding that we work as his partners.  He is calling us to follow and fulfill the law and the prophets.  And we need to look no further than the reading from Isaiah this week to hear what that looks like.  And we can also hear ourselves in the reading from Isaiah.   The passage from Isaiah is a conversation between the people and God.  The people are complaining that they are fasting and God is not hearing them. “Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”  We might as well say “We go to Church, We pay our pledges but you God are not listening”

God’s response is biting to say the least.  He tells the people that they are not fasting at all.  Instead they are oppressing their workers, they quarrel and fight!  God says that all we think about worship is that we bow our heads and lie in sackcloth and ashes.  So with these complaints and questions God tells the people of Israel, and us, how to worship God.  It’s not with perfect liturgy – as much as I am a liturgical nerd.  Hear what God is asking us to do:

Is not this the fast that 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?

Is it not to 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?

Are we, as a society listening to the prophet? How much of that is going on in our society?  If you have dared to open a newspaper or turn on the news – or heaven help us all – open Facebook you certainly know that we are not doing what the prophet Isaiah and Christ have commanded us to do.  We hear about people being excluded with broad reaching and far reaching executive orders on the pretense that it will make us safe.  We hear about insults to our allies.  We hear about insults and injustice.  We have an executive branch that seems convinced that it is going to make good on his promises by executive order and not by any legislative process – not that that process is always perfect.

And the responses are polarized.  Some are cheering the locking out of whole  countries and their peoples,  The locking out of refugees.  The promise to deport people and the demonizing of the other.  The promise to repeal healthcare reform and yet we still have no replacement package – at least none that have made it out for public vetting. 

And I have to ask where are we as a nation in taking care of the hungry?  I hear about lowering taxes but I don’t hear about feeding the hungry.  I hear about financial reform but where do I hear about clothing the naked?  I hear about exclusion and expulsion where is the welcome and loosening the bonds of injustice.  I hear about a right to discriminate based on some vague and misguided notion of  “religious freedom”.  Where is the call to welcome the stranger?  Where is the call to see Christ in each other and especially in the least of these?

I hear about loosening the rules on churches endorsing candidates and promoting candidates but I don’t hear a call for listening to the prophets – both the ancient prophets and those who reside among us today. 

But we –as a community are called to do better.  We are called to feed the hungry and the cloth the naked.  We are called to be much needed salt of the earth.  We are called as a community to be the light on the hill. 

But how?  How are we to follow the calls of the prophets and the commandments of God in this uncertain time?  I can tell you that I am not certain how to react in this time and place.  But I do know that we are called to do more than retreat into our selves and retreat into our houses of worship and hear comfortable words.

Jesus calls us to be a light and being a light means doing things that call attention to those who are in need.  It means opening up our churches as sanctuaries and as safe places.  It means redoubling our efforts to ensure that our government is one that welcomes the stranger, feeds the hungry, and clothes the naked.  It means listening and following the pro.

It means marching for equality.  It means confronting those who would oppress.  It means taking action to call out fake news.  It means doing all the things that make us – well many of us – uncomfortable.  It means preaching that calls us to action and not preaching that just comes up with a nice explanation of the scripture.  Because as crazy Jesus people we are called to follow Christ and that means action.

John Stott - a 20th century Anglican Evangelical and prolific author, from his commentary on the Sermon on the Mount,  sums up our call, “We cannot opt out of seeking to create better social structures, which guarantee justice in legislation and law enforcement, the freedom and dignity of the individual, civil rights for minorities and the abolition of social and racial discrimination. We should neither despise these things nor avoid our responsibility for them. They are part of God’s purpose for his people. Whenever Christians are conscientious citizens, they are acting like salt in the community. As Sir Frederick Catherwood put it, ‘To try to improve society is not worldliness but love. To wash your hands of society is not love but worldliness.’” (John R. W. Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount, 67).

And I can promise that it will not be comfortable.  Even if you agree with some or all of the executive actions – and eventually I presume legislative actions – that are being taken nationally our call is still to follow Christ and to bring to fulfillment the prophets.  To hear Isaiah telling us that God chooses a different type of worship and fasting.  Listen again to the prophet Isaiah:

Is not this the fast that 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?

Is it not to 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?

And as uncomfortable as these things may makes us there is a promise.  A promise that we will enter into the kingdom of God.  A promise that we can help bring God’s loving reign to fruition now.  The prophet Isaiah says that if we let the oppressed go free by tearing down walls – not building walls.  If we feed the hungry – not demonize the poor, if we cloth the naked not scapegoat the homeless:

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;

your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

If you remove the yoke from among you,
the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,

if you offer your food to the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,

then your light shall rise 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.

Jesus said he did not come to abolish the law and the prophets but to see their fulfillment.  And we as his followers are called to continue to bring to fulfillment the calls of Isaiah.  We are both called and promised that we are salt of the earth and lights on a hill.  If we let our lights shine we can and will change society.  It won’t happen tomorrow or next week but it will change.  But only if we accept the call to be salt and light. 

But the good news is that I do see people all around us standing up for what is right.  Many people took place in the women’s march two weeks ago.  Many churches are asking what it looks like to be a place of sanctuary.  Many of you are feeding the hungry and bringing clothes in to cloth the naked.  Many of you take seriously the call to welcome the stranger.  So take comfort in this uncomfortable time.  God is still calling us into account.  God is still asking us to be salt and light – and as such we can and will bring in God’s reign of love and light.

Amen