Shine!

I get asked from time to time why I bother with church – why it’s important to me and why I think it should be important to others – what difference it makes in my life and in the world. I get asked about the relevance of scripture – especially the Old Testament – what could these ancient words possibly have to say to any of us today?

For me scripture is a way to look at the human condition in relationship to the divine. By wrestling with the message of scripture, particularly as expressed in some of the Old Testament prophets, I believe I can see more clearly the values and attitudes that will help me to live with integrity. As I share in this wrestling with others in a community of faith – locally and within the wider context of the church – I feel encouraged and strengthened in my convictions. The Bible and the Church are not here to tell me what to think or how to live – they instead help me to wonder and hope and live faithfully in a world that struggles with cruelty, racism, sexism, intolerance, fear, wastefulness, unkindness, ignorance… etc.

Reading and interpreting scripture – being part of the church – this is what shapes who I am and gives me courage to seek to shine in a broken world. And sometimes I think I do okay with that – sometimes I have enough faith to stand up for what I believe in – to challenge those who say and do hurtful things – to keep my “judgey” voice in check. I am not a pious person by nature, so I don’t think I give off a traditionally “churchgoer” vibe.

One year I tried to be a bit more “religious” – I gave up coffee for Lent – fasted from coffee for more than a month! I am not convinced it made me a better person – perhaps I did it wrong. My focus was on what I was doing – on my discomfort at not having that caffeine hit every day – on my “goodness” at letting go of something I love. The idea of a fast however is supposed to bring me closer to God – help me attend to my relationship with the divine. It is not meant to be about my self-righteous piety but about remembering what it means to be God’s beloved – to shine forth the light of God in the world – to make a difference by living the mercy and grace I have received. That’s what I tell people I go to church for – that’s why I read and wrestle with scripture. Somehow, I forgot all that and fasted for all the wrong reasons and God remained distant.

This too is the experience of the people to whom Isaiah is speaking on our text today. They have been worshipping and fasting but not in a good way. When we celebrate together with word and sacrament, our religious devotion can nourish and inspire so our light may shine – it’s not inherently legalistic or futile. Yet in this text the people fast – and they complain that God seems to be ignoring them.

Here’s the situation… It all takes place a very long time ago – sometime between 515 and 450 BC – so likely not even the oldest of you remember it! The exiles had returned home after 70 or so years of exile in Babylon – more than a lifetime. They had expected God to come and establish dominion over all the earth. But times were hard – the future was anything but certain – there was no new kingdom – no golden age. They had heard those promises all their lives and no longer believed them.

As the euphoria of the homecoming wears off – as the hard work and drudgery of renewal weighs heavily on the citizens, a malaise creeps in – apathy and discouragement dim their vision of the future – they begin to wonder whether it is worth serving God. In fact, pessimism begins to replace hope – I think we all know how that can feel. The people were going through the motions of religion – of worship and fasting – expecting God to reward their external piety. Yet they no longer really believed that it made much difference – and worse, they saw no connection between their ethical behavior and their worship. It is in this moment of crisis – in this atmosphere of indifference and cynicism that our reading lands.

God sees that the people’s fast – their worship – their life in the church – does not lead them to better behavior. It does not lead them to treat their neighbors or workers well. Their piety does them no good. In fact, their fasting is selfish – oppressive and violent. Their worship does not result in ethical treatment of others – it does not enact justice. So, God redefines fasting!

Fasting – worship – religious devotion (call it what you will) – it is not just the setting apart of times for prayer – not only the inward searching after the will of God. The purpose of the fast is not to compel God to pay attention. Isaiah says God has no patience with such a fast – will not let us sit comfortably in an inner spirituality that does not share divine light – does not yield justice in the world. God is concerned with the prosperity of society – liberation from injustice – freedom and breaking bread with those on the margin.

So, we have these people who are busy with worship – busy with church life – they are fasting their socks off but feel God is not helping them. They complain to God – they despair that God will ever help them – they go through the motions, but it seems that their worship is hollow – only for show – only for Sunday mornings. The very people who are so busy engaging in a fast as a sign of their religious faithfulness are also exploiting their own workers – arguing and quarreling with one another, probably over which of them is more religious. Most of the time they cheat and take advantage – they ignore those in need. They bicker amongst themselves – pretending moral superiority. And God is not fooled – God is not impressed.

God sees through their false fast and points to what they need to do instead. God tells the people how to let go of their sin – tells them – tells us – that justice-making for those who exist on the margins is how our light shines – illuminating the grace and wisdom of a God who loves and cares for the least among us. Isaiah links the providence of God to the justice practiced by the people – then their light shall rise.

The "fast" that God chooses is not a fast at all in any traditional sense. It is not religious devotion that delights the people and meets their own needs – it’s not “feel good” religion. God's fast – God’s choice of worship and devotion is what meets the needs of others. In concern for neighbor, the faithful will shine. Then, God will be present to the people – to hear their prayer. Stop the finger pointing and back-biting – then gloom and darkness will dissipate. For these returned exiles it is a radical shift in their understanding of what it means to be God’s people in the world.

The people of Israel who had endured injustice – bound under the yoke of slavery and oppressed by the lords of the land – cried out to God for relief. God had heard their cries and had entered human history to bring freedom and deliverance as an act of grace. They had suffered horribly at the hands of the Babylonian invaders and been taken to the very brink of extinction as a people. Yet again God's grace had entered human history and brought them back to the land and given them a second chance.

God dealt with the people in terms of grace – choosing them as God’s people. Now God chooses them – chooses us – to respond to divine grace by acting in the world in a way that reflects that same grace – to treat each other and all people as God has treated them. God's choice is for the practice of justice in the world – daily – grassroots – at home – in the nitty-gritty of life – the kind of justice that meets the most basic human needs of the powerless, oppressed and hurting of the world.

When they were treated unjustly and cried out, God responded to their cries. When they were slaves and exiles God freed them. When they were bound under the yoke of oppression, God loosened their bonds. When they were hungry and thirsty in the wilderness God provided them food and drink. When they were naked God provided clothes that did not wear out. When they were homeless and wandering in the wilderness and exiled in Babylon God brought them into the land. They had experienced all of these things in their history. And God expected the Israelites to learn from all those experiences the divine nature of the God whom they served – the God they worshipped. And it was this divine nature of God that defined who they were to be – who we are to be – as God’s people.

They were expected – we are expected – to live out in the world the same mercy and grace that has been received from God. Drawing on the imagery of light, this passage turns to the purpose for which the Israelites existed as God's people in the world – to be the means by which God would be shown to the world. Israel was to be God's light to the rest of the world, reflecting to all the light of God's mercy and grace.

When the people have responded to God and divine grace properly by living appropriately in the world as God’s people – when that has been done, their light will break forth in the world. They need to become the light! The mission of God's people as light to the nations is to live as God's people in ways that mirror the nature of God. They can only be the light to the nations – can only fulfill their mission as the people of God – as they live out God's grace in the world. They have been created as a people to shine light into the world’s darkness!

We need to hear the message of Isaiah as a definition of what it means to be the people of God for us today. We need to hear what it tells us about God and being God's people in the world. Our reason for being God’s people is about the transformation of society – about justice and allowing God’s light to rise and shine through our lives. We are called to nothing less than being light in the world.

This is why scripture and church is so important to me and to our broken world – these texts and this community help us see that we are worthy and blessed with the gifts to make a difference.

What is the fast you choose – how does God’s divinity shine through you – how will your light shine?

This is the fast that I choose, O God.

To live hospitably in the world – reaching out in kindness –

sharing the gifts with which I have been blessed.

To struggle for justice in large and small ways – to empty myself of oppressive habits,

to touch and share the burden of those I encounter.

This is the fast that I choose, O God.

To put myself in your hands – in your presence –

To stop hiding from your will – that your light may shine through my heart

and your healing may pour from my hands.

This is the fast that I choose, O God.

To accept the parched places and the oasis –

to rest in your strength and seek my passion in you –

that the oasis of Eden created in me by your Holy Spirit

may be the watered garden of another’s arid path.

This is the fast that I choose… amen.