Repairing the Breach

A sermon by the Rev. Dr. Margaret Aymer Oget

Scripture: Isaiah 58:8-14

Presbyterians love words. We love speaking words, writing words, reading words; we LOVE words. Seriously, what other denomination has not one, not two but eleven confessional statements? Where else are clergy called ministers of WORD and sacrament? Yes, Presbyterians LOVE words. But there is one word of which we Presbyterians, we people of Reformed Theology, are not terribly fond: the word "if ... " We hear that word "if," and suddenly we find the hairs on the back of our neck standing up, just a little bit. We hear the word "if," and subconsciously one of our eyebrows starts to climb imperceptibly toward the ceiling. We hear the word "if," and suddenly we get this unbidden urge to clear our throats, as though we will choke if we can't stammer out Sovereignty of God and unearned grace.

So, in order to hear the prophet's voice today, we must understand that when Third Isaiah says the word "if," she is not referring to the unearned, free, transformative grace represented by the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper. Instead, we might think of this prophetic "if" as akin to the "if" at the end of each chapter of the children's book series: Choose Your Own Adventure.

Choose You Own Adventure books all work the same way. You read a short chapter — perhaps one or two pages in length. And at the end of each chapter, you are given a choice. If you chose option A, you are sent to one page; if you chose option B, you are sent to another page. You never knew what the consequence of your choice might be. But, you quickly picked up on the basic premise. How your adventure would turn out depended entirely on your choice, on what you did when you got to that word "if."

Today's passage presents us with two important "ifs." The first is this: IF you do justice ... Hear the words of the prophet: "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 (58:7) (lit: If you give the hungry your being) /and satisfy the needs (or the being) of the afflicted (see vv. 3, 5)."

The choice is yours, says the prophet. You can go home from this place and ignore the working poor among you, with no property, no renters' right, and very little political clout. You can turn a blind eye to the persons who are malnourished in your wealthy cities, towns, and communities. You can ignore the immediate and long-term impact of the escalation of war, as scant resources are diverted from the poor of the United States, and spent so that their children can be sent to fight poor people of another nation on behalf of the rich and powerful. You can make that choice; and no one would bat an eye. For, the truth is, many who consider themselves to be devout, faithful Bible-believing Christians make this choice everyday.

But there IS an alternative. There is another choice. You can choose to break the yoke; you can choose to feed the hungry; you can choose to work for justice and for peace. George and Kathy Todd made that choice; John Park Lee made that choice ... Indeed, today we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who have made that choice. And so, it's up to you. What choice will you make, as you choose your own adventure?

Again, the prophet speaks to us. For, there is a second great IF in this passage. If, she says ... IF you keep a Sabbath of justice ... Hear again her words: If you take back your foot from trampling the Sabbath, / from pursuing your own interests on my holy day / if you call the Sabbath a delight / and the holy day of the LORD honorable (glorious); / if you honor (glorify) it, not going your own ways / serving (see 58:3) your own interests, or pursuing your own affairs ....

The choice is yours, says the prophet. You can continue with life as it always has been, ignoring the impact of the lack of rest, the lack of Sabbath on your health and the health of those who work for you. You can continue to mistreat your medical workers, giving doctors longer hours than they can safely work and putting nurses in untenable positions. You can turn a blind eye to work-addicted corporate culture that boasts about its obscene numbers of hours put in at the office, nonexistent vacation times, and so-called productivity, while denying benefits and pensions for so-called pre-existing conditions for the most vulnerable among us. You can push and push and push until your ministry runs at the frantic, 24-hour a day, seven days a week pace of the internet, burning out church members and clergy, oppressing custodians and office staff, just to try to be what you think is a relevant church in a world in which work and ethics no longer coexist. You can make that choice; and no one would so much as shake their head. After all, faithful, gospel-centered, praying, church-going people make this choice every day.

But there IS an alternative. There is another choice. It is a choice to keep a Sabbath of justice, to keep a Sabbath of right relationship. Martin Luther and Coretta Scott King called us to that choice over the course of both of their lives. This denomination makes that choice every time we choose to purchase fairly traded tote bags, t-shirts and coffee. And so, it's up to you. What choice will you make, as you choose your own adventure?

You know, the problem with the options in the Choose Your Own Adventure Books was that the story never gave you a clue about which option might be the RIGHT option. You just had to choose it and find out. And this was always frustrating, because sometimes you chose correctly; and sometimes you didn't. And that meant doubling back and trying to start over again.

But we do not face this choice without any help. The prophet of Third Isaiah offers us a hint, a STRONG hint. More than that; she paints us a picture, a glimpse of what will happen IF we choose to do justice; if we choose preserve the Sabbath for all people. For, the prophet speaks to us of a God who will guide us; a God who will strengthen us; a God who will fulfill the needs of our very being. The prophet hints at places of joy, even in the midst of frustration; at soul-nourishing food, when we feel most empty; at mountaintop experiences, when sometimes the valley gets overwhelming. The prophet offers us a vision of a ruin rebuilt, of foundations laid and walls restored. In the face of our hesitation, she offers us a name and a legacy. YOU shall be called the repairer of the breach; YOU shall be called the one who takes back the streets so that people might live in them. IF ... IF ... IF ...

And so, friends, we are left with that uncomfortable word ... that nagging, unrelenting word, that deeply convicting word. IF ... but we are not left alone.

For, two thousand years ago, the God who made the rivers and lakes, the God who made wind and rain, the God of hurricanes and floods — that Almighty, everlasting God made a choice, a choice to be born into to this beautiful and pain-filled world as a poor, brown child of a woman with no reproductive options in an occupied territory patrolled by imperial peacekeeping forces. Two thousand years ago, that Almighty, everlasting God in the person of Jesus Christ made a choice, a choice to walk among those who were cast aside because of physical and mental disability; to touch those that society would not touch and to eat with the outcasts; yes, even to honor the children, the very least of these. Two thousand years ago, our brother Jesus walked with day laborers and wealthy women, healers and tax collectors, and created community, community built on love for one another, and action taken on behalf of each one's neighbor.

It is this Jesus, the one at whose table we will dine again today; this Jesus, whom even death could not hold down; this Jesus who intercedes for us right now, and each and every day .... It is this Jesus, God with us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that enables us to face that nagging, convicting, insistent little word "if."

And so, friends, it is up to us to make a choice. The prophet has spoken; she speaks to us still. Listen for her VOICE calling over the waters of the Mississippi and of Lake Ponchartrain, and from every great lake and little stream, every pond and oasis in every part of this nation. Listen for her CHOICE, a choice with a promise, a choice put before us by that insistent little "if." And, trusting in the power of the Triune God, choose justice. Trusting in the power of the Triune God, choose Sabbath. Trusting in the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God and the transgressive presence of the Holy Spirit, choose your own adventure. Amen.