EPIPHANY 5 Year A February 5, 2023
Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12) • Psalm 112:1-9 (10) • 1
Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16) • Matthew 5:13-20
Ever heard anyone say, “do you want the good news or the bad
news first”? Generally, they have in mind which one they
want to tell you first for maximum impact. Sometimes, you need to know the bad
news before you can understand the Good News.
But sometimes we just can’t see the forest for the trees.
I feel that our readings this week are a
little like this. There is the amazing
Good News, but there are many warnings which can tend to mask the Good News…
much like not being able to see the forest for the trees.
Firstly, there is a warning in our first
reading from Isaiah. It’s a bit of a sad
story… so here comes the bad news. The
people had been going about doing their religious duty. They had been praying and fasting and
imploring of God, but it seemed as if he was not answering. It is a frighteningly familiar and relatable
story. We’ve all been there, imploring
for God’s intervention and wanting to hear God’s voice, but all we hear are
crickets and silence.
However, Isaiah, the prophet hears from God
and has a message. God acknowledges
that the people seek him, day in and day out and they delight to know his ways,
as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness. These people did indeed fast and humble
themselves, even bowing their head and lying in sackcloth and ashes.
What could God possibly have against them?
God says, “Look, you serve your own interest
on your fast day and oppress all your workers.”
It’s as simple as that. And as difficult. It is much easier to fast and pray, than to
actually go out and care for others unselfishly.
I love it when God cuts through the
traditions of man… and throughout the Bible he does this over and over and
still the people went back to getting it wrong.
God asks, “Is such the fast that I choose, a
day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in
sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD?”
In the day of Isaiah there were important
traditions. These traditions helped to
tell the story of God’s grace and goodness to his chosen people. Most of it was God ordered through Moses….
Yet somehow the people misunderstood the purpose of those traditions. Those traditions became a comfort, assuring
them that they were God’s chosen people, and they became arrogant in their
comfort and forgot that God called them over and over to attend to love. To actively be instruments of God’s love in
their society. In fact, all the
commandments could be summed up in two; love God and love others.
We too have traditions that help us tell the
story of God’s grace and goodness to us, his chosen people. We too can feel safe and secure in the love
of God… we are constantly reminded of God’s love through our traditional
actions. But, if this message from
Isaiah doesn’t cause us to reflect on all we do – and perhaps more importantly,
on all we don’t do, then we are also not seeing the forest for the trees… we also, are missing the point…
Our Gospel reading reports Jesus as saying
that, unless our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, we
will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Wow! This sounds daunting to say the
least. Add to that, that Jesus said he
did not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfil them! I don’t know about you but I’m pretty sure my
righteousness isn’t that shiny and whole.
But Jesus also says, “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.”
The law of God needs to be accomplished. It is actually a law of love. One thing that we always think is different
between Old Testament preaching and New Testament preaching is the emphasis on
God’s Grace and love as opposed to the law, but this is not the reality. The difference between the Old Testament and
the New is the Revelation of God’s plan.
God was always about grace and love.
I suspect that our eyes can be just as veiled
now as anyone’s ever was… we don’t see the forest for the trees. That little sentence of Jesus, “Not one
stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished” reminds
me of another very short sentence of Jesus on the cross. “It is finished”.
In the Gospels Jesus often explains God’s standard,
and that standard is high. None of us
can be as righteous as we need to be. That
is the bad news. We want to be, we try
to be, we strive to be… but we fail.
Righteousness is about having God’s love and lavishing that love on
those around us, caring for the poor, the sad, the misunderstood and the
unlovely.
Now that we understand what God requires, let
me tell you the incredibly good news; it is about how we get this love of God,
full inside of us to be able to share it with others.
We actually all have it. We might not be letting it flow however.
When Jesus said, “It is finished” Jesus
accomplished a righteousness for all of us.
Jesus accomplished the law. Jesus
did this for us, knowing that none of us were perfect – none of us could
accomplish it.
We are called to accept Jesus. To accept his sacrifice – his body, and to
accept his life – his blood. We are
baptised into Jesus and his life is united to ours. Our righteousness is not our own, but it
is the righteousness of Jesus living in us by his Holy Spirit. And how we allow that love of God to flow
through us, is by understanding that Jesus is there, desiring to work through
us. We are the body of Christ --We say
this every service. The life and love of
God is in us, we simply need to be aware of it and allow it to flow, by saying,
“Jesus, let your love flow through me this day.”
In just a couple of weeks we will be in the
season of Lent. It is a season of
fasting. There are many I know who have
already begun a fast for the start of the year…. They figure that it is a way
to start their year off on the right foot, and get their lives lined up with
God. While there are different kinds of
fasting, from mild to extreme, those that I knew to be fasting, gave up meat,
sweets and then each time they felt like having these things, they turned to
prayer. They found it beneficial. They were able to focus more of their time on
their relationship with God.
However, I do feel that many times when we
fast, we only understand half of what God is calling us to do. Listen to what the prophet Isaiah says as he
reports God’s words to him; “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?”
We can not go forward until we examine this
challenge. Is there injustice
anywhere? Unfortunately, burdens and
injustice are plentiful.
An injustice that concerns me; is that we
have many young people who are confused, hurting and experiencing serious
depression.
Two major aspects of modern life that are
causing problems for our young people is sexual orientation and depression over
climate change. There are a number of
youth who don’t see any point in studying, working or being, what was
traditionally thought of, as a productive part of society because they believe
they will die young due to climate change.
I’m no expert. I don’t know the scientific facts, but these
young people are experiencing an injustice.
It is an unfair burden that has been cast upon them, such that they feel
that their future is hopeless. We,
however, are a people of hope. Our
lives are safe in Christ and we have a promise about this in the end of our
Isaiah reading, if we get involved in justice and walk according to God’s ways,
then he says that we shall raise up the foundations of many
generations; we shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of
streets to live in. I don’t know
what the answer to all our problems are, but I do believe in God and He
promises us a hope and a future… In him there is an answer, but we have a part
to play, and it is in actively loosing the chains of injustice.
I passionately believe it is an injustice
that our young people are encouraged to question and even reject their own
gender identity. there is currently a
Bill that allows children over 16 to apply to alter their record of sex without
the consent of a parent and children as young as 12 to “apply to alter the
record of sex of the child if the child has obtained an order from the
children’s court.” Parents are told to
be financially responsible for their children, but are not allowed any say….
Sometimes are not even told what is going on.
This is an injustice. Our
children and their parents are suffering.
This is not causing freedom and equality; it is causing confusion,
grief, loss and a world of pain. We, as
God’s people – the body of Christ, do have a solution – It is found in
Psalm 139. God knew us before we were
born and formed us while we were in our mother’s womb. We are created who we are, purposely, and
with great love, by God himself.
We need to pray and ask God where he wants us
to be involved, because this is the fast that he desires…. to undo the thongs
of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke
There is a story I read on Facebook that
illustrates our usual response to many of today’s issues. It is about a mouse who saw the farmer come
home from Market with a mouse trap.
Alarmed he went to warn the others.
The chicken said it was not her concern.
The lamb said he would remember the mouse in his prayers. The cow refused to get involved. In the middle of the night there was a
ruckus… a snake was caught in the trap by the tail. In the dark, the woman, expecting a mouse and
not a snake, was bitten by the poisonous creature. She was rushed to hospital and when she
returned, still ill, the farmer made her some chicken soup. Unfortunately the woman did not recover… she
died, and at the wake the farmer put on a roast …. Roast lamb. The expense was such that the cow needed to
be sold to the slaughter house to cover costs.
Moral to the story; Just because an issue isn’t affecting you now, be
warned it may devastatingly affect you later.
Jesus says we are the salt of the earth, but
if the salt loses its saltiness, it is good for nothing.
We belong to Christ and he lives his life
through us if we allow him. Our will is
like the electrical wiring conducting the light, and if we are willing, his
light will shine through us. We have the
righteousness of God dwelling in us…
Don’t quench the spirit, but let it flow and then know this about your
identity – Jesus says that you ARE the light of the world. You were born to be a blessing to our society
– you are salt and you are light, born for such a time as this. Rise up church and shine.
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