Action Steps

Sometimes we get the message all wrong.

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 rear guard. 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

We humans like to put on a show.  We love recognition.

Look at me.  I am marching for a cause or I am posting about oppression.

But like those who fast and believe that is what God wants from us, they may be sending the wrong message.

If we want people to see the need for something, like feeding the hungry or treating people fairly, shouldn't we be out there doing those things ourselves?

Isn't the best way to change behavior to model it in our own actions?

There are three steps we can take in order to immerse ourselves in God's work.

The first is to offer support.  Whether that is financial support or simply to let people know about the work being done, support helps us get engaged.

Then we can volunteer.  Once we experience the work others are doing, we become more engaged and more committed.

Finally, we can do the work ourselves.

As Isaiah says, "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."

God doesn't want signs from us, gestures that we care.  God wants action steps.

So, this coming Lent, maybe we should all plan to get more involved.

More to come...