Isaiah 58:1-12, Ash Wednesday, February 25, 2009

   Dearly beloved, we are gathered together this evening in an historic edifice—one whose image graces the pages of a variety of publications, from multiple phone book covers to Western Reserve promotional literature.  Right now an artist from Carmel, California is considering whether this church might grace a commemorative plate he issues annually.  This has not been part of a carefully crafted marketing campaign on the part of the church.  In many cases we do not pay for this publicity.  Indeed, we are not even asked for our permission before we discover that yet another image of the church has been used.

   One of the pitfalls of being housed in such a stately edifice is that the uninitiated will discount the church as "just another pretty face" without substance and without depth of commitment.  We are seeking to avoid that pitfall with our congregation’s theme for this, its bicentennial year: "More than a Landmark."  200 years after its founding this church remains a vital staging area for ministry both within the walls of this structure where Christian education, fellowship, nurture and worship regularly take place; and beyond its walls where we are allied with ministries such as Volunteers of America, Habitat for Humanity and a host of other nonprofits supported by our missions giving and volunteering members.

   Having said that, some churches are little more than landmarks—magnificent edifices supported by large endowments whose dwindling congregations and programming are a shadow of their former selves.  Virtually all of the resources and focus is committed to the upkeep of the facility, and for what we might ask?  Perhaps there is something to be said for historical preservation, but certainly God expects more from his church than picturesque buildings and simply going through the motions of religiosity.

   The title of our message this evening, taking a cue from our theme for this year, is: "More than the Motions."  Being baptized, receiving communion and having ashes placed upon our foreheads are important rites of the church, but they are only important insofar as we embody the spiritual truths they signify.  But if we are only going through the motions without embodying the truth, then the motions become meaningless.  The most extravagant wedding means nothing if it results in a failed marriage.  But the simplest wedding becomes sanctified by the enduring faithfulness of husband and wife to their wedding vows.

   In our text for this evening God, through the prophet Isaiah, is confronting those who are simply going through the motions of faith without embodying faith in their lives.  In particular, God is addressing his people who have been exiled from the land of Promise because of their rebellion against his will and ways and laws.  But this is not to say that they were without religion.  Quite the contrary, they were very religious by all outward appearances.

   After the temple had been destroyed and the people of Judah had been exiled to Babylon, they developed new houses of worship called synagogues where they kept alive their religious traditions such as praying and fasting and making a show of their humility with sackcloth and ashes.  But they were frustrated because all their religious devotion did not seem to be getting God’s attention or, more importantly, his help in their distress.

   God describes their frustration in our text: "For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God.  They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them.  ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it?  Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’" (Verses 2-3).  Day after day the people are going through the motions of religion, but they are not getting the intended results.

   God goes on to explain why.  "Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.  Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists.  You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high" (Verses 3-4).  "You cannot love me and hate my other children.  You can say you love me until your face turns blue, but if you mistreat my other children your prayers are falling on deaf ears."

   What is more, God is turning a blind eye toward their so-called acts of religious devotion such as denying themselves through fasting and humbling themselves with sackcloth and ashes.  "Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself?  Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes?  Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?  Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?  Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?" (Verses 5-7).

   "My other children are your brothers and sisters—your own flesh and blood.  They only reason I ask you to deny yourself is so that you can help your brothers in need.  The only reason I ask you to humble yourself is so that you can exalt your downtrodden sisters.  I am not looking for some token, shallow and superficial observance here.  I am looking for the kind of substantive and relevant personal sacrifice which actually makes a difference in someone else’s life."

   So just when God’s people are asking him, "What have you done for me lately?"  God is asking back, what have you done for my other children in need?  I think that is pretty instructive in this day when we are wondering why all this economic misfortune has befallen us, where God is in all of this and what can he do about our dwindling 401k’s.  Does it not occur to us that it was precisely self-centered greed that got us into all this trouble in the first place?  Does it not occur to us that maybe, just maybe it will take the exact opposite before God can dig us out of this hole?

   Did you hear about General Electric’s Chief Executive, Jeff Immelt waiving his right to collect a 12 million dollar bonus?  Is that not a breath of fresh air in the wake of rampant corporate greed?  No wonder Warren Buffett is buying up GE stock like it is going out of style.  Let us pray that he makes a killing because Warren, the richest man in the world according to Forbes (at least during the first half of 2008) has announced that he is giving away his fortune to charity, with 83% of it going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Until then he continues to live in the house he bought in 1957 for $31,500, but I digress.

   The point, according to our text, is that by denying ourselves and humbling ourselves on behalf of those less fortunate and less privileged than ourselves we can expect God to hear our prayers and meet our needs.  Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.  "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like noonday.  The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.  Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Streets with Dwellings" (Verses 9-12).

   As our President said last night, "We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before."  We can repair and rebuild our broken world with God’s help, and we can secure God’s help, but it is going to take more than going though the motions of faith to get it.  It is going to take more than having the sign of the cross marked upon our foreheads with ashes this night.  It is going to take denying ourselves and taking up our crosses to follow the Master who laid down his life for us.  It is going to take a shift in outlook embodied by the Chief Executive of GE--from what is owed me to what do I owe and how can I begin to repay it.

   The great good news is that God can raise us up from the ash heap and restore us to the Promised Land.  God can raise us up from the dead and glorify us with his Son, our Savior.  God can resurrect us, but we are getting ahead of ourselves.  It is not Easter yet.  It is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent--the season of spiritual preparation.  May what we do tonight not be an empty gesture.  May it be more than going through the motions of faith.  May it be an outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual graces: the graces of self-denial and true humility which puts others before oneself.

   Then may we look forward to the sure promises of God as proclaimed in our text for this evening from his Holy Word, and as proclaimed in the hymns of faith we sing: "If my people’s hearts are humbled, I will surely heal their land."