The Gamble

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and unite the cord 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? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.  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 on 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 the noonday.  The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.”

Isaiah 58:6-11 (NIV)

I have underlined this passage in my bible again and again.  I read the words and think of my beautiful Haiti girls, my Mexico babies and the hundreds of women and children on the streets and in brothels I have only met through the pages of my books. These are the oppressed people I feel called to set free!

Then I realize how limiting that is!  The passage says to feed the hungry.  It does not say to feed the hungry people who are in an economically worse situation than you.  It says to clothe the naked. It does not say to clothe the naked who shop at Goodwill more often than you do.

Everyone says to eat your food, because there are starving children in Africa.  What about the starving children in Seattle?  

What about my classmate with uncomfortably worn out shoes?

What about the people I see every day, oppressed by a racist, sexist system?

They need me too.

I know, that sounds like a lot of people.  1 in 4 children in Washington are at risk of hunger, according to Food Lifeline.   

How can one person given enough to feed them all?

Before you fall into the depths of inadequacy and despair, remember the rest of the passage.

After this call to action, there is a promise!

If we do these things, we will be healed!  

If we do these things, God will answer our cry! 

Our light will rise, night will be like noonday and – my personal favorite – “[The Lord] will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land.” 

How amazing would it be to feel satisfied? 

Not satisfaction from sitting in the lush green of nature with the sun caressing your face and the wind just barely lifting your hair, with the taste of bacon on your tongue and a Jane Austen novel in your hand.

Nothing like that.

Satisfaction in a place where none of this exists.  Satisfaction in a sun-scorched land where the only water is the perspiration on your brow caked with the dry dust that floats chokes your nostrils with every step.  

Satisfaction in that place of utter lack and desolation.   

I think we do not give because are afraid of that place.  

“If I clothe all the naked, what will I have left to wear?”  Well, should you reach a point of having no clothes, do not worry about it.  

You have reached the sun-scorched land and you are satisfied.  Having given so completely you will have reached a point where what you have simply does not matter anymore.

It is a risk; to give until you have no more.  You might end up with nothing, but according to this passage, it will not matter.  You will be satisfied.

Will you take that gamble?

Light and Shadows

The shadow of death.

An image described with every recitation of the 23rd Psalms, but how many of us really think about what it means?

The shadow of death.

Death ahead, death behind, blocking the sun with its mammoth frame.

The feeling:

Like metal on your teeth.

Like a vice wrapped with waiting to squeeze your throat.

But then, a light.

Not the dull glimmer of a dying ember.

Not the weak beam of a flashlight in need of new batteries.

A bright light.

A great light.

Like a light house standing proud.

Like a baby growing inside its mother.

Like the glow of a bride walking the aisle to meet her groom.  White dress rustling, hair alight with the pleasure of the family she passes, all pleased with the union.

The music swells with joyous epiphany.

Sweet vanilla fills the air.

Glorious.

Dark is the absence of light.

Peace is not the absence of weeping.

The Prince of Peace wept.

God does not say no more distress.

He says no more gloom for those in distress.

Just glorious light.

1 Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—

² The people walking in darkness
    have seen a great light;
on those living in the land of deep darkness
    a light has dawned.

Isaiah 9:1-2

Inadequacy is Irrelevant

Grief.

It is as though a wild beast tears a chunk of flesh from your arm, leaving muscles, nerves, and blood vessels exposed to the world and it hurts.  It hurts to look at.  It hurts to touch.  It hurts when it comes into contact with air.

It is a place where all you feel is pain.  There is no option but to dwell in the sadness.

This is where Mary Magdalene, James's Mom and Salome found themselves.  The man they had called Teacher and Master, who they had voluntarily served, who they had dedicated their lives to, who spoke the words that touched their very souls, died.

Gone.

Forever.

They went to Jesus's tomb, so distracted by grief they did not plan for the mammoth stone that would prevent them from reaching their goal. Only after they had almost arrived did they realize they could not accomplish their task alone.

Tearfully, they reached their teacher's resting place and saw their inadequacy did not matter.

The stone had been rolled away.

It did not matter what they could not do, because the Lord did it for them.

Their inadequacy was irrelevant.

The task was complete.

The most permanent thing had been reversed, the most impossible thing accomplished.

Jesus had risen!

And he did it without the help of anyone.

Dear Jesus,

I thank you that nothing I can or cannot do matters. My failures do not matter.  My poor planning does not matter.  My weaknesses do not matter.  Thank you that everything is covered by your grace.  Thank you for using me for your glory anyway.

I love you.

Amen.

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. ² And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. ³ And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” ⁴ And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. ⁵ And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. ⁶ And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.

 Mark 16: 1-6