Epiphany 5 A + God is good + 2.9.20

Melissa Campbell-Langdell

All Saints, Oxnard

(Isaiah 58:1-9a, [9b-12]; Psalm 112:1-9, (10); 1 Corinthians 2:1-12, [13-16]; Matthew 5:13-20)

God is Good. Am I right?

But sometimes it is hard to feel that way. Sometimes God seems so far away. Sometimes we seem caught in an injustice or like we are believing a lie. A lie that says this is all there is. That God doesn’t care. There are times when we feel all alone. There are times when life just seems full of despair. And yes, we believe in eternal life. But I also believe in loving this life God has given us until the end. That’s faithfulness. But if we are in pain, or just so down we don’t know how to get up, it is hard to feel God is there with us. Sometimes some of us just want to give up.

But that is why we go to church! Because then we hear these strong words from Isaiah.

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

 And we know we are not alone. That the oppression we are feeling is not just our personal cloud of the moment, but rather a symptom of the fallen world we live in. Because we live in a world where Jesus came and dwelt among us. Where God pitched God’s tent in our midst. So we are redeemed. And yet, we are in the not yet. We are not yet in the kingdom. We do not yet feel the Kin-ship with all of creation which is the great unfurling of the petals of the time to come.

And so we struggle. We struggle with pain and sorrow. With moments when it all just seems too much. And then we remember these words of Isaiah; we remember that the oppression we feel is felt in all the world, and that in fact our job as people of faith is to do something about it, we may see a glimpse of hope. We may see that light at the end of the tunnel.  

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

Because God is good.
And we need to work together to be that hope for others. Whether they are despairing that life will ever get better in a hospital bed, or whether they are on the streets unsure whether there is any up from here. Whether they are vaguebooking about depression online, or whether we get a text in the evening from a friend in need, we must strive to be the repairers of the breach.

And we do not do this alone. The Holy Spirit is with us. Divine Wisdom empowers us and God’s grip upholds us and will not let us go.
But, thus accompanied, go we must. Out in into the world. To make a difference.

Is not this the fast that I choose [says God]:

To loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?

Sometimes we can feed the hungry. Sometimes we can take someone in. Sometimes our help is in another form. But God calls us out to do justice and to love mercy, and to walk humbly, to paraphrase the Micah passage that so resembles this one from Isaiah.

And there is a promise here. A rainbow. A bow in the clouds, the sunshine breaking through the clouds of oppression. God says, if we do all this, God will turn the lights on.[1]

[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.

God will restore all of it. Jesus talks about us, his beloved brothers and sisters in the Kingdom in today’s gospel as salt and as light. This should keep us humble. God just expects us to be what we are. The very essence of God’s good news in the world. If we strive to follow and to combat the oppression of this world, we will be refreshed, renewed, salt that can nourish the world and light in a world that is almost overpowered by cynicism and dismay.
That is why we support projects to help others. Not for our good names as Christians, but because God is using us to repair the world.

The Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam is one of my favorites. Drawn from texts like this one, it envisions people of faith as re-weaving what is torn and broken in the world through acts of kindness. What is one kindness we can do today to help mend a little tear? Sometimes that kindness is to ourselves. Sometimes it is for others.
So often the act of kindness that helps another heals a part of the giver’s soul, too.
So, fellow repairers of the breach, may you be healed today. As you participate in worship and sacrament. So we can work together to heal this world.

Amen.

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[1] Joy J Moore, in Sermon Brainwave Podcast #706, Posted January 31, 2020, https://www.workingpreacher.org/brainwave.aspx?podcast_id=1227.