How Do You Do That?Helen P. Almanza August 8, 2004
Text: Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 When I was a child, I loved to play games. One of my favorite games was “Hide and Seek.” You close your eyes and count to 10 or 100 and everyone else hides. Then, you open your eyes and say, “Here, I come, ready or not!” You hunt for the others, and if you can't find everyone, you say, “Come out, Come out, Wherever you are” and everyone who is still hidden runs for home base. Believe it or not, that game reminded me of the Scripture we read today. The Scripture is very serious and contains harsh words. It comes from the Prophet Isaiah who probably wrote it around 750 BC. Some scholars tell us that this first chapter of Isaiah summarizes the whole Book of Isaiah. Isaiah has had a vision from the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. Isaiah summons the people to hear the Word of the Lord who is very angry over the sin of the people. In his summons, Isaiah calls the leaders, “rulers of Sodom ” and the others, “people of Gomorrah ”. You can't get much more sinful than Sodom and Gomorrah ! Isaiah accuses the people of rejecting the way of the Lord. The people are in rebellion, and rebellion brings disaster. Isaiah tells them God is uninterested in their offerings and sacrifices. Who asked them to trample around in God's courts? The festivals have become a burden. The incense is detestable. He tells them to cease doing evil, learn to do good, and seek justice by defending the orphans and pleading the case of the widow. Then Isaiah tells them that God is willing to forgive them but their future depends on their response. The priests and the people have been worshipping and doing what the law requires, but it is not enough. They must come out (”Come out, Come out, Wherever you are”) and act on behalf of the powerless as represented by those who have no husbands and children without parents. We are to have a life of prayer and worship but it must be balanced with intervention on behalf of those who have no power. Now I have been thinking. I spend a lot of time at church. I am there every time the door opens. I love to worship and pray. Am I like the people in the Temple ? Are you? I do help others. I try to be kind, encouraging, and caring. I try to treat each person as if they were Jesus. But I have not spent a lot of time on JUSTICE. Have you? I may have spent time thinking about justice, but Isaiah used action words, “cease, reprove, defend, plead”. Isaiah is talking about intervention. Here I've just been working on having Jesus come into my heart. Not that that is wrong, but I haven't done much about justice. There is a famous painting by William Holman Hunt done in 1853. It is called “Light of the World”. For 100 years or more the picture served to remind Christians about what it means to believe in Christ. Perhaps you have seen it. It is on stained glass in churches, on prayer cards, jewelry boxes and posters among other things. It reminds me of asking Jesus to come into my heart. There is a very old door that obviously hasn't been opened in a long time. The hinges and nails are rusty. A tree limb bends over the top. It is partially covered with ivy and other plants whose flowers are like little wisps. If you disturb them or blow on them they float away. This door hasn't been opened in a very long time. It has no door knob or handle. Jesus is knocking at the door. He has on a crown of thorns, but wears the cloak of a king. He is carrying a lantern and he knocks and knocks. It is a perfect statement of Jesus trying to get into our hearts. The door can only be opened from the inside. We must invite Jesus to come in. But as I look at the picture, I notice several things I hadn't noticed before. Jesus seems to be on a path. He is knocking at the door but looking away from the door. His foot is pointed down the path. The thought comes to me that maybe Jesus not only wants into my heart, but that he also wants me to come out. “Come out; Come out, Wherever you are!” – to follow him down the path in the light of the lantern, to join in service to the world, to hand me the lantern so that I may carry it into the shadows of the world. Jesus said to us, “Do the will of my Father.” Isaiah says the Holy One of Israel wants us to have a life of prayer and worship balanced with intervention on behalf of the powerless. Is Jesus asking us to come out into the world and seek justice? But what are we to do? The problems of justice are so great. Just think about it: The New York Times just reported that Texas has the largest number of uninsured children of any state in the United States . Who do you do when your child gets sick? I guess you take them to an emergency room at the hospital where doctors are busy saving lives and not necessarily interested in your child who may have a virus or even the measles. The doctor who checks yourchild is not a pediatrician. They have no personal knowledge of your child as well as few if any records. You probably see a different doctor every time. Children are the most vulnerable part of our society and they are the future, our future! And this is inadequate health care! All children should have access to adequate health care . It is an issue of justice. • We have many needy children who go to school. Schools with the most needy children frequently have teachers with the least experience. All children should have access to qualified teachers . When they don't, it is an injustice! • Firefighters, police and teachers are some of the most dedicated people we have to our society. They can't afford to live in Austin . Did you see the piece in the paper about police who live in San Antonio and commute to Austin ? We do not have affordable housing. The lack of affordable housing is an injustice! • People who earn minimum wage do not make enough money to house, feed and clothe their families, even when they work two jobs. I used to work at O'Henry Middle School. It is a great school! When a child would get in trouble, it was often because he or she was unsupervised. Nine times out of 10 when I looked into it, I would find two parents, each working two jobs to make ends meet, and they didn't have time to supervise the child. What an injustice! I want to tell you a story. A man was standing by a river, and he noticed a baby floating down the river. He jumped into the river and rescued the baby. How happy he was to save the baby. Then he looked up and saw another baby in the river. He rescued it. Then he saw another and another baby. He continued to rescue the babies. Finally, he turned to the man next to him and said, “You grab the babies.” “I am going up the river and find out what is causing this problem and fix it.” Rescuing the babies is a work of charity. Going up the river to work on the problem is a work of justice. At Tarrytown , we do many works of charity. We buy clothing for children, socks and underwear. We are providing 60 children with new clothes for the beginning of school this year. We prepared gift bags for every child at Sims Elementary before school let out for the summer. The bags had shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, hand lotion and other goodies for them. We build houses; we repair homes. We feed the homeless and do many other things. Acts of charity are very important, and we need to continue doing them, but have you noticed that churches are being asked to do more and more acts of charity in the past few years? Perhaps the reason for this is that acts of justice are not being done. Do you and I live as if we all have equal access to education, healthcare and employment? Do you and I act as if the poor who are in the cycle of poverty could get out of it if they really wanted to? When the working poor are unable to feed their families, have adequate healthcare and provide so their children will be better off , do they have less liberty than those of us who are able? We must come out of our Churches and Temples and balance our lives not only with a life of prayer, worship, and acts of charity but intervention on behalf of those who are powerless and are without justice. How do we know a work of justice when we see it? Look around: I have a friend who is an advocate for victims. She sits in courtrooms during trials and hearings as a support for women who have been battered or raped. Often these women have no one there on their side. She and her group also sit in courtrooms and follow the decisions of judges. She tells me there is a huge difference in how judges treat these cases between now and 15 years ago. These are acts of justice. We have people in our congregation who are CASA volunteers. They are court appointed advocates for a child who either has no family or else the family is so dysfunctional they are unable to support the child. Can you imagine a child going in front of a judge with no one to support him or her? These CASA volunteers are performing acts of justice. We have others in our congregation who assist persons who have paid their debt to society and are just now getting out of prison. Did you read about Houston and the erroneous lab work that has convicted people? At first it was just one man who had served 17 years for a rape he didn't commit. Then it turned out to be a few cases. Now they are saying it may be as many at 1,000 to 2000 cases. These people will need to be assisted as they return to society . They will need someone to intervene for them. Know how to dress for success? Volunteer at the Battered Woman Center and teach women who are trying to get jobs how to dress appropriately. Are you fluent in Spanish? Teach workers who can't communicate in English and have trouble getting a job. We must each look within ourselves to discover the gift God has given us to do works of justice. Remember the family from Bosnia that we sponsored? We found them an apartment, took them to doctor's appointments, and enrolled their children in school. Munib Ibrahimovic's two daughters have now graduated from high school as valedictorians! What a victory for justice! “Come out; Come out, Wherever you are!” Jesus is knocking at the door to come into your heart and lead you on the path to perform works of justice. It may not be easy but the Good News is that we can follow the Way of the Lord. Thanks be to God who gives us such an opportunity.
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