The Lord lift up his countenance upon you

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The Lord lift up his countenance upon you

Friday, February 12, 2016

First Week of Lent

Isaiah 58:6-7

Set free the oppressed, break every yoke. Share your bread with the hungry, shelter the homeless, and clothe the naked when you see them. Do not turn your back on your own.

On our best days, these are the words we live by. We learn to accept the bread when we are the hungry ones and share the bread when we are the well-fed. In church or in the market square, at home or on the road, in Congress or at our borders, we can do these things. On the good days.

Alas, there are also many bad days … and always have been. In the grand history of these United States there have been plenty of bad days. We have been selfish and greedy and conniving and just plain ugly-old-evil. We have pretended to be givers but taken back what we pretended to give. We have wrinkled our noses in pride and refused to accept what others freely chose to give. Late at night we might be disgusted with ourselves, but then we get up and do it again. On the bad days.

In politics and religion God expects me to hate the sin and love the sinner. Especially he insists that I love myself as the child he made to be his son. Get over it, Dave. You’re a sinner, and you’re forgiven.

Stop participating in the structural evil all around you, yes. Learn to receive love and give it. But when you mess that up, let me love you back to life.

Isaiah’s are among the most beautiful words ever written about this universal issue. How does he describe what happens as we make our way back to more consistent “good days”?

“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed. Your vindication shall go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer. You shall cry for help, and he will say: Here I Am!”

Oh Father, let these words stir up my hope. I CAN trust in you. Over and over, I can turn back toward the good. The momentum of your goodness sweeps over all of us. We might fight it off as if we’ll drown, but we won’t drown. We can all be changed in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye. Time after time after time.

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