FIRST READING Isaiah 58:3-9a
3“‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. 4Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. 5Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? 6Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? 7Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? 8Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. 9aThen you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’”
PSALM Psalm 112:1-9
1Hallelujah! Happy are they who fear the Lord and have great delight in his commandments! 2Their descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3Wealth and riches will be in their house, and their righteousness will last forever. 4Light shines in the darkness for the upright; the righteous are merciful and full of compassion. 5It is good for them to be generous in lending and to manage their affairs with justice. 6For they will never be shaken; the righteous will be kept in everlasting remembrance. 7They will not be afraid of any evil rumors; their heart is right; they put their trust in the Lord. 8Their heart is established and will not shrink, until they see their desire upon their enemies. 9They have given freely to the poor, and their righteousness stands fast forever; they will hold up their head with honor.
SECOND READING 1 Corinthians 2:1-16
1And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. 6Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” — 10these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. 14The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
GOSPEL Matthew 5:13-20
13{Jesus said,} “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. 17Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19Therefore whoever relaxes 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. 20For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
RELIGION’S BUILT-IN HAZARD
There’s a Japanese legend that says a pious Buddhist monk died and went to heaven. He was taken on a sightseeing tour and gazed in wonder at the lovely mansions built of marble, gold and precious stones. It was all so beautiful, exactly as he pictured it, until he came to a large room that looked like a merchant’s shop. Lining the walls were shelves on which were piled and labeled what looked like dried mushrooms. On closer examination, he saw they were actually human ears. His guide explained that these were the ears of people who on earth went diligently to the temple, listened with pleasure to Buddhist teachings, yet, did nothing about what they heard. After death, they themselves went elsewhere, but only their ears made it to heaven.
It’s a humorous story on several levels, but the painful truth is that far too many church people seem, at times, to be mostly ears – people who easily substitute hearing for doing. Religion has always had a built-in hazard. Believers are tempted to be good only for the show of it. The Greek word from which we derive our English term “hypocrite” literally means actor. And in every age, the great temptation of religious people is to go through the motions of piety, without letting their faith permeate every aspect of their daily lives. For example, I always marvel how, just before an election, or during a time of national crisis, our public officials are careful to mention God in their speeches, and to be photographed going to their church or synagogue. Claiming that we are “One Nation under God” we want to believe that our public officials are pious men and women who acknowledge the rule of God. However, after the election is over, or the crisis has passed, we once again see them for who they really are.
Now to be fair, many of our elected officials are people of genuine faith, but numerous others, in spite of their public displays of piety, have turned out to be hypocrites, people who say one thing with their lips, and another with their lives. I read the story of a little boy who flatly refused to go to Sunday school one week. His mother, trying desperately to encourage him, said, “Son, your father always went to Sunday school as a boy.” The little boy looked at her with knowing eyes and said, “That’s what I mean, Mom; it won’t do me any good either!”
That’s a painful truth we must all face, and it was no different in the time of the prophet Isaiah. In fact, the people were making a great show of praying, almsgiving and fasting. Then, as now, it was easy to substitute a great public display of piety for concrete deeds of justice and compassion. The people living in post-exilic Jerusalem, and even in the days of our Lord’s earthly life, would make a great spectacle of praying in the streets. In the synagogues of Jesus’ time, announcements were made of gifts to the poor, and very large gifts were signaled by the blast of a trumpet. And those who bothered to fast, cultivated a lean and famished look, so that others would take note the full extent of their self-deprivation. It must have been this insistence on winning public recognition for one’s piety through fasting that was upsetting for Isaiah.
Looking around and seeing the needs of the homeless, the hungry and the oppressed, Isaiah could no longer keep silent. The self-indulgent displays of sackcloth and ashes, he declares, are not acceptable to God! The only true sacrifice God was pleased with was genuine service to Him and others, by obedience to God’s statutes, by liberating the oppressed, by sharing their bread with the hungry, and taking care of the homeless!
Speaking of fasting, I know that the subject sounds unfamiliar to our modern ears. In a culture where the landscape is dotted with shrines to the golden arches and an assortment of pizza temples, talk of fasting as a religious duty seems ludicrous! If fasting exists at all in our time, it’s in connection with dieting, and that’s largely based on motivations that are either cosmetic or therapeutic. Few people recall that fasting in the Bible was a spiritual discipline that one undertook to get closer to God. The focus wasn’t on the self, but on our Lord, and I cannot help but wonder if that little couplet that used to be quoted to those who quit smoking could well be recited for those who make such a show of their dieting: “Giving up eating too much isn’t enough. It’s giving up bragging about it that’s tough.”
But that’s precisely what Isaiah’s message to us is – a call to move beyond public displays of piety to a faith that touches every aspect of our private and public lives. It’s no accident that behind the Greek word for piety is the Hebrew word for justice. What was a problem for the people of God in Isaiah’s time, is of even greater concern in our own age – namely, that the modern church is in danger of being swallowed up by our culture, to the point where no one can even tell who are the true followers of Jesus Christ. With that being said, we need to once again hear the prophet’s message about the built-in hazard in religion.
First, Isaiah calls us to remember that it’s God’s approval and not human applause that ultimately counts. Jesus echoed the same call when He urged His followers to go about prayer and almsgiving and self-denial as though we were enlisted in the divine Secret Service. (Matt. 6:3) Those acts are to be done for the eyes and ears of God, not for any approval from our fellow human beings. According to Jesus, those who pray on street corners and make a great public show of piety already have their reward: (Matt. 6:5) they receive the approval of others. But the reward they hoped for – to be found pleasing to God – this will be denied to them.
Now it’s not easy for some to let their piety be hidden. If one has a lovely voice and sings in the church choir, the temptation is almost irresistible to let one’s voice sound out above the others. But the question that must be asked is, is God glorified by such a display? No, says Isaiah! One doesn’t need public validation. The age old question of, if a tree falls in a forest and no one hears it, is there truly a sound could apply here. If one transposes that to the life of faithfulness, the answer is a solid yes. The hearing or seeing by others isn’t what makes our acts faithful. It’s in being faithful to God that’s our validation.
How easily we forget that the emphasis in the Christian life isn’t on what we’ve done, but rather on what God has done for us in Christ. Our obedience to God’s commands and statutes are simply a response, of gratitude, for all God has already done for us. I read a story recently of how a faithful Sunday school teacher died and went to heaven.
At the Pearly gates, they were met by Saint Peter who began asking them some questions about their life on earth. Peter then explained that they would need a total of 100 points on this exam to enter heaven. “Well, I went to church almost every Sunday,” said the Sunday school teacher proudly. “That’s good for one point,” said Peter. “I taught Sunday school for 53 years,” said the teacher, their confidence somewhat shaken. “Great,” said Saint Peter, “that’s worth another point.” The teacher was now getting nervous, but they managed to say, “And I helped the elderly lady who was my neighbor as often as I could.” “Fine,” said Saint Peter. “That gives you three points. You only have 97 left to go!” Speechless, the teacher fell to their knees, and cried, “All I’ve got left is the grace of my Savior, Jesus!” Gently St. Peter reached down and lifted the teacher to their feet, and said, “And that, my fellow believer, makes exactly 100 points! Welcome to heaven!” Isaiah of old reminds his people that it’s God’s approval, not human applause, that counts in the kingdom of God.
But Isaiah’s message is also a call to God’s people to close the gap between believing and behaving. What infuriated Isaiah, was people who fasted on holy days, and then oppressed their workers the rest of the time. I’m reminded of the 18th century ship captain carrying slaves in the hold of his ship. The slaves were without sufficient food and water, and their situation was desperate. Yet the good captain decided to read his morning devotion on deck. He turned to the words in 1 John which say, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God.” From below deck came the cries of dying men, yet the captain did nothing. He told his crew, “It’s not my problem. I am only a sailor.”
Isaiah, in words that perhaps better describe our world than his own, appeals to people of faith “to lose the bonds of wickedness, to share your bread with the hungry, and to care for the homeless.” In those prophetic words, the prophet calls us to close the gap between our beliefs and our behavior. This is first a call for deeds of justice. We heard these same words from Micah last week, where in chapter 8 we read, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (8:6)
Isaiah’s words to the people of 5th century BC Jerusalem, also speak pointedly to those of us, who live in a land of plenty in the midst of a world that is starving – a world where it’s said that if every hungry person was lined up single file, the line would encircle the globe not once, not twice, but 25 times! Isaiah’s call for deeds of justice along with pious behavior is also echoed by Jesus in those famous words in Matthew 25.
A modern writer has written: I was hungry, and you formed a humanities club and discussed my hunger. Thank you. I was imprisoned, and you crept off quietly to your chapel and prayed for my release. I was naked, and in your mind, you debated the morality of my appearance. I was sick, and you knelt beside your bed and thanked God for your health. I was homeless, and you preached to me about the spiritual shelter of the love of God. I was lonely, and you left me alone to pray for myself. You seem so holy, so close to God, but I am still hungry, and lonely and cold. What does it profit a person to page through their book of prayers when the rest of the world is crying out for help? (A paraphrase of Matt. 25:31-46)
Isaiah’s message is also a plea to God’s people to love and to show generosity in the same ways that God has loved us. Isaiah has no patience for those who claim that what happens in politics, in government, in society, in the business world, or in military affairs is of no concern to the church. For Isaiah, God is Lord over all of life, and that means that God is much more than a small compartment labeled “formal religion.” God is holy, and a moral God demands moral holiness in all of life. That’s why Jesus’ words from our gospel lesson are so appropriate for us today.
Jesus calls us to be salt and light in the world. Consider for a moment what Jesus is saying here. Salt isn’t something that’s simply absorbed and becomes part of what it’s added to. Salt has a profound affect when added to something. It enhances and changes whatever it supplements. You could say that salt affects the whole, the whole doesn’t affect the salt. Salt preserves, enhances, in the case of ice it loosens and melts. As salt were called to change the world. We’re not called to allow the world to change us. This is why Jesus said, that if salt loses its saltiness, it’s of no use but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. We’re to change and illumine this dark world with the light of Christ. Jesus is the light of the world, the light that darkness cannot overcome. (John 1:5) This is why the familiar words of Sir George McCleod to the Iona Community in Scotland still speak of God’s call to carry our faith into all of life.
McCleod wrote: “I simply argue that the cross be raised again at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am for recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves, on the town garbage heap, at a place so cosmopolitan, they had to write His title in Hebrew, Latin and Greek; at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, soldiers gamble and thieves curse; because that’s where Christ died, and that’s what Christ died about, and that’s where church people ought to be, and what church people should be about.”
Closing the gap between belief and behavior isn’t something we’ll ever do in our human strength and wisdom, but in the power of God’s Spirit, all things are possible. The answer to what’s wrong in our world has come in Jesus Christ, who in reconciling us to God, brings us to a place where we can be reconciled to one another. Jesus calls us to be salt and light, and it’s only when we accept that call, then shall “light break forth like the dawn, and righteousness shall go before you.” (Isa. 58:8)
Amen