Second Sunday, March 1

Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet!

Announce to my people their rebellion, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why do we fast, but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?’

Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day, and oppress all your workers. Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to strike with a wicked fist. Such fasting as you do today will not make your voice heard on high. 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? 

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? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin? 

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. 

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. Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to live in. 

Isaiah 58:1-12

What are you giving up for Lent?

The question grows out of the traditional religious disciplines of self-examination and self-denial during the forty days preceding Easter and the celebration of Christs resurrection. Over the years I've tried giving up chocolate (though perhaps as much for weight loss as for spiritual renewal). My son would gladly forswear lima beans.

The text from Isaiah encourages honest self-examination, while challenging the superficial and hypocritical ways we do that. We are called, instead, to self-denial in the service of others: "...to loose the bonds of injustice........ to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house........"

In so doing we follow the footsteps of One who loved and sacrificed even his very life for the life of the world. Curiously, the path of service will lead to our own healing, renewal, and resurrection.

What are you giving up for Lent?

This year I'm going to try giving up some personal time to work on ministries relating to the poor in the Metro Detroit area. I'm going to try giving up some personal spending in order to make a sacrificial contribution to the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering. I'm going to try giving up some of my protective walls in order to become more open, more accepting, more connected to the pain and the healing of our community.

Gracious God, accompany us on this Lenten journey. Use our hands to do the work of your creation, and use our lives to bring others the new life you give this world in Jesus Christ, Redeemer of all. Amen.

Rev. Louise Westfall (1993)

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn ...