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Sermon February 5, 2023
The Rev. Rebecca S. Myers, MSW
The Church of the Nativity and St. Stephen’s
The Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
https://lectionarypage.net/YearA_RCL/Epiphany/AEpi5_RCL.html
Audio: /documents/Eucharist__February_5__2023
Video: https://youtu.be/yj-PQq23t88
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 rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am. Isaiah 58:8-9
This past week, I participated in an online focus group as part of the Partnership for Better Health Foundation strategic planning process. As you know, I joined the Board of the Partnership last July and I participated in the process of choosing a firm to guide the strategic planning process.
I was especially excited by the firm Equity Through Action. They are based in Rockville, MD and their mission is to “guide corporations to examine their work through a race equity lens by providing training, coaching, and technical assistance. Our work enables organizations to create equitable practices, policies, and mind shifts. Our mission is to aid you in creating a safe, just, and inclusive anti-racist organization.”
This is the firm that was chosen by the staff and members of the Board.
The firm uses a framework that has the acronym of JEDI. Of course all of you Star Wars fans love this. It stands for Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. In our focus group made up of people from Perry County, they presented this framework and asked questions of us that fostered discussion around how the Foundation is doing in these areas.
I found it fascinating and enjoyed hearing what others had to say. To look at an organization through the lens of how it facilitates justice for all, equity among people, celebration of diversity, and having an inclusive environment and grantmaking process, was so interesting and in my experience unusual. I am excited to see the final product.
In our reading today from Isaiah, we are reminded of our reading from Micah last week. The question being raised is what does it mean to truly worship God, to truly give thanks to God, to truly honor God, to be in close relationship with God?
God has sent a messenger to the people who points out their hypocrisy. The people do all of the things that have been suggested as ways to honor God. They have a spiritual practice of fasting from food. They claim to be righteous in their actions in the community. They claim to be humble. They claim to be good neighbors.
Yet, the outcome of their actions is just the opposite. Their worship together is for show and to make them look good. Yes, they fast, but then quarrel and fight amongst themselves. They oppress their workers. They are self-absorbed.
God’s messenger tells us that God is looking for outcomes from worship that create thriving communities. As the noted Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann says, “Worship not congruent with humane economic practice is bad worship!”
We get explicit examples of the worship that God desires:
Be just in your dealings
Work for justice
Share your food with those who are hungry
Bring those who are homeless and poor into your own home
If people need clothing, give them some
Be part of the community
It’s very detailed and exact. It is also jolting, isn’t it? Some of these things are easier to do than others. We have this basket up here collecting food for people who are hungry. That’s made easier because we have a Neighbor Helping Neighbor Food Bank that organizes everything and runs a program that we can contribute to. We have our little food pantry outside that we keep stocked.
We donate to Join Hands, who organizes multi-faceted help for people. Especially through their Christmas and back-to-school programs, we support people’s clothing needs. There’s Perry Housing Project, helping people who are homeless. I participate in the meetings of the emergency winter shelter/warming station that we’re trying to start. The Literacy Council helps with many needs, including helping people move out of poverty. Christian Churches United helps with many basic needs. These are all organizations we support in numerous ways.
Yet, when it says to bring those who are homeless and poor into your own home. YIKES!
And how do we do justice, personally and as a community? How are we equitable and diverse? How do we include all?
Again, Walter Brueggemann likens these actions to a type of fasting. He calls it a “true fast” when we “make a decision against self-indulgence.” We “speak against individualism in order to assert that we are ‘members one of another,’ he says.
When we foster and live in this neighborly, thriving community, we are close to God. We see and reflect God’s light. We are the light of the world! We are healed. God hears us and answers our cries.
Amen
Isaiah 40-66, Walter Brueggemann, 1998. Pgs. 186-194.
Equity Through Action: https://equitythroughaction.com/
Partnership for Better Health: https://forbetterhealthpa.org/
