Christ Episcopal Church
August 11, 2013
14 Proper C
Last August, we hosted what was likely the largest Neighborhood Fair in our 12 summer history. Of course, we did not know when we arrived early that afternoon that we would serve more people than ever before. But, other than having enough food, which we did, the numbers really don’t matter in terms of our set up. We haul every table out of the Parish Hall and all of the chairs. We bring up all the cement blocks and stakes out of the basement to create the booths. We inflate all of the colorful balloons, cook all of the hot dogs, and sort all of the rummage with no idea how many people will show up. And thanks to the efforts of many people, every year the Neighborhood Fair is a roaring success. But last year, more people came than ever before. Perhaps word about free food and rummage, along with a good time, is getting out. Perhaps people are hungrier and a little more anxious for a free afternoon of family entertainment. Whatever the reason, the food line stretched from the entry to the alleyway all the way to the porch of Hollenbeck House for the whole two hours. Most of rummage had all been claimed in a few short minutes, but the there were lines at the games and the ice cream stand all afternoon. Because my husband takes photos during the Fair, we know we see familiar faces at the Fair year after year. We’ve watched children grow up by looking at the Fair photos over the years. Our neighbors now look forward to the Fair and they voice their appreciation for the occasion.
The easy connection this morning is between our efforts with the Neighborhood Fair and the reading from Luke’s gospel. "Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit. Be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks." At Christ Church, we are called, in the words of the Baptismal Covenant, to seek and serve Christ in all people. We draw on Jesus’ words in the gospel of Matthew "For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you gave me clothing. I was sick and you took care of me. I was in prison and you visited me." Jesus comes to the Neighborhood Fair and we serve him. We are ready. There are many Jesus moments at the Fair-when we see the light in a child’s eye at something so simple as a second hotdog or the choice of a cheap prize at the prize booth, or when we see the small occasions of fellowship created as strangers sit together for a meal, or when we are able to engage in conversation with our guests over both the joys and the challenges of life, or moments of grace with each other when we are hot and tired and are asked to do just one more thing. When we look out at our parking lot during the Neighborhood Fair, we see a more robust expression of the Kingdom of God than most of us see in our everyday lives. We do know the time that our guests will arrive and the Fair will begin, but we never know in what ways we will experience Jesus at the Fair.
What could possibly be the connection between our Neighborhood Fair and the blistering reading from Isaiah? First, Isaiah calls his hearers "you rulers of Sodom, you people of Gomorrah." The story of Sodom and Gomorrah is a horrible story, found in the 19th chapter of the book of Genesis. This is a story that is often taken to be God’s condemnation of homosexuality. A close reading of that story, however, which should be R-rated for violence, reveals that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is a condemnation of abominable hospitality and gross injustice. The prophet Ezekiel also refers to Sodom and Gomorrah, and the accusation against them is "pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but they did not aid the poor and needy." Isaiah’s comparison of the people to those of Sodom and Gomorrah is about worship by people who disregard justice and mercy. According to the Hebrew Scriptures themselves, the story of Sodom and Gomorrah has nothing to do with sexual orientation, and everything to do with living lives of justice and mercy.
So what does God have against the worship of the Hebrew people? After all, they are simply following the rather complex set of laws given to them, primarily in the book of Leviticus, about sacrificial worship. Apparently the people are worshiping exactly the way the law requires-making the proper sacrifices of bulls, lambs, or goats, rams, or the fat of fed beasts. When God says "Who asked this from your hand?" the answer is "You did, God." What is the problem?
God’s distress over worship is not a condemnation of worship itself, however. God’s distress is over the hypocrisy of worship when the lives of the worshipers reflect injustice and oppression. The worship outlined in Leviticus is to be an expression of faith in the God of justice and mercy, a sign of commitment to honor those values with our own lives, and a longing to seek forgiveness when we fall into sin and fail to live as God would have us live. According to Isaiah, the worship of the people is empty because they do not do justice and love mercy with their lives.
But all is not lost. There is hope. At the end of this scathing rebuke, God’s heart softens and God says. "Wash yourselves and make yourselves clean...cease to do evil, learn to do good. Rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow." Learn to do good. Or, in the words of Jesus in the gospel lesson "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." When we engage in ministries like the Neighborhood Fair, or the Food Pantry, or Interfaith Hospitality Network, or Rainbow Table, we are learning to do good. We have not mastered good. We put our treasure in places that can be challenging or uncomfortable, because when we look injustice and poverty in the eye and with an open heart, we are justifiably challenged and made uncomfortable. Once we have taken a risk with our treasure, our heart will follow and we work for justice and learn to do good. When our hearts are formed by the doing good, we can seeing new places where injustice and oppression need to be fought.
How do we keep from becoming overwhelmed by the need for justice and mercy in the world around us? We come to church to worship God, to be nourished and strengthened by that worship, to be forgiven when we fail, and to be reminded that we are not called to work justice and mercy all by ourselves. We work together with each other and the Holy Spirit. Just as in the days of Isaiah, God desires worship that nourishes us and sends us out into the world to do justice. And just as in the days of Isaiah, God desires acts of justice and mercy so profound that we are led back to worship for renewal and strength. Between acts of justice and kindness, and the nourishment and strength of worship, we will learn to do good. Amen.
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