Raise Up the Foundations

February 9, 2020

St. John’s United Church of Christ, Union, Illinois

Isaiah 58:1-12; Matthew 5:13-20[1]

I used to read science fiction comedy by Douglas Adams, about this average guy from a town in England who discovers his best friend is actually from another planet. In one of the novels, they have to park their spaceship in a town on Earth near a sporting event. In order to keep the spaceship from being seen, they have to use an invisibility shield. They wrap the ship in an energy field called “Somebody Else’s Problem.”[2] You see, when it’s somebody else’s problem, you don’t really notice what’s going on and you can ignore it.

Now, as Americans, we enjoy certain inalienable rights; and individual freedom and opportunity are protected in our laws. The value that our society places on the individual enables us to achieve incredible things, allows us to do and be our best, and promises that every person has value – no one is expendable.

Those who serve our country and protect those rights, particularly those in uniform, know what it means to “Be all you can be.” And they deserve our thanks for their service. Several years ago, I read an article by General Stanley McChrystal, U.S. Army, retired, former Commander of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan. The article, “Step Up for Your Country,” was published in the January 31^st, 2011 copy of Newsweek. McChrystal raised an important point about our rights and freedoms. He says, “As important as those inalienable rights are, there are also inalienable responsibilities that we must accept and fulfill.”[3]

A soldier knows a great deal about responsibility. If the unit doesn’t perform as a team, or if any member of the unit fails to do their job, someone is going to die, and it won’t be the enemy. There can be life or death consequences if anyone thinks something is somebody else’s problem. And the tremendous responsibility that comes with command in the armed forces has given McChrystal an important perspective on what many of us might dismiss as somebody else’s problem. He wrote, “We have let the concept of service become dangerously narrow, often associated only with the military.”[4] He continued, “This allows most Americans to avoid the sense of responsibility essential for us to care for our nation – and for each other.”[5]

Are there any Boy or Girl Scouts here today? You know something about responsibility as well. “‘Do a Good Turn Daily’ is a core Scouting precept. Scouting encourages young people to recognize the needs of others and take action accordingly. Scouting works through neighborhoods, volunteer organizations, and faith-based organizations to help young people appreciate and respond to the needs of others.”[6]

Shared responsibility for the well-being of our neighbors, our community, and our world is not as clearly defined in our laws. It is, however, quite clearly defined in our scriptures.

Isaiah’s people are trying to figure out what led to their exile in Babylon. They believe that they must have angered God, who punished them, and so they focus with zeal on worshiping God and over-observance of religious ritual. “Isaiah’s people appear to be very religious. They not only go to worship daily; they also fast frequently. The people complain that they have observed the fasts, but God has not answered their prayers. Isaiah has to point out that the wealthy are fasting on the holy days, but their employees still have to work.”[7] “Look, you serve your own interest on your fast-day, and oppress all your workers.”[8] Their energy is misdirected, they are missing the point, and their fasting serves no purpose. “Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself?”[9]

Isaiah suggests that observing the letter of the law misses the spirit of the law. Worship is supposed to fill us with the power of the Holy Spirit, and charge us to go forth to bring the “Day of the Lord” or the “Kingdom of God” to fruition. Worship should remind us of our responsibility to our fellow family members, the children of God. Fasting is supposed to free up resources that could be used to serve others in the community. “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?”[10]

Both Isaiah and Jesus make the point that worship of God is about more than faithful observance of ritual. When Jesus says “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven,”[11] he means that there is something more important than obsessive observance of the letter of the law. What God desires, offering food to the hungry, satisfying the needs of the afflicted, is what gets missed when our focus is on ourselves rather than on our responsibility to our neighbors.

In that Newsweek article,[12] General McChrystal described a situation he saw in Afghanistan. In that harsh environment, agriculture was sustained by a complex and extensive irrigation system using underground tunnels. This system was essential, and required labor-intensive maintenance. The members of the community understood their responsibility to do the work necessary to keep the system flowing. It was a shared task.

When the Soviet Union invaded in 1979, the system was damaged. Ironically, this resulted in private individuals digging their own wells and setting up their own systems, disrupting the community dynamic. What had been a unifying responsibility for all was now a source of wealth for a few – and yet another source of frustration for the rest.

In our own country, it is often more efficient and cost-effective to hire professionals to complete a project, but not if our objective is to shape our society with a sense of shared responsibility.[13]

Snow removal is a perfect example of this type of shared responsibility. Clearing the sidewalks so children can safely walk to school is the responsibility of all of us. And it’s more than just the sidewalk in front of my house – if the path ends in a snow-bank where it meets my property line, that’s a dead-end, not a safe and clear passage. Now, I have a deal with my neighbor, who has a bad back and a snow-blower, that I can use the machine and clear the snow from both properties. But ultimately our responsibility goes all the way to both corners. When it snows, if my neighbors and I work together, there will be a clear path by the next morning.

There are other examples, things that members of this congregation are already involved in. Serving at the MORE Food Pantry, or the Food Pantry in Huntley. Raking leaves and shoveling show for our neighbor with a bad back is one way our family takes responsibility for others. Loosing the bonds of injustice and letting the oppressed go free are more difficult duties, but not beyond the ability of people in this room, particularly if we work together.

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.”[14] Worship of God means to bring salt to the world. Salt is that spice that brings out the flavor of food. A life lived in worship of God can enhance our experience of the world, and help us bring out the best in others. Salt also preserves food. A worshipful life helps us hold onto our heritage and all that has made us who we are. Salt makes us thirsty. Worship of God can give us a thirst for justice and the desire to end oppression.

“You are the light of the world.”[15] To be told we are the light of the world encourages us to share our gifts and talents with others. “However, there is another reason for light to shine. There is darkness in life – external and internal.”[16] “The light is not given for our own personal enjoyment.”[17] We are given the light in order to go into the darkness, “to engage and walk through it, so that, in time, the light can overcome it.”[18]

To be the light of the world is to take on the responsibility to rebuild the ancient ruins, to raise up the foundations of many generations. To be the light of the world means that we repair the breach, we restore the streets to live in. To be the light of the world means that we recognize our shared responsibility for the well-being of our world in the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves. To be the light of the world means that we see through what seems to be somebody else’s problem, and understand that we have a responsibility to serve one another in the name of Jesus Christ.

When we bring salt and light to the world, we raise up the foundations of something better. We bring glory to God and raise up the foundations of the City of God![19]  Amen.

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[1] The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[2] Douglas Adam, Life, the Universe and Everything (Harmony Books, 1982).

[3] Stanley McChrystal, “Step Up for Your Country,” Newsweek, 31 January, 2011, 36.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Boy Scouts of America, from http://www.scouting.org/Visitor/WhyScouting/ServingOthers.aspx (accessed 2/7/2011).

[7] Brett Younger, “Homiletical Perspective” on Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12), in Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary, Year A, Volume 1 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), 319.

[8] Isaiah 58:3b.

[9] Isaiah 58:5a.

[10] Isaiah 58:6-7.

[11] Matthew 5:20.

[12] McChrystal, 36, 38.

[13] Ibid., 38.

[14] Matthew 5:13.

[15] Matthew 5:14.

[16] Charles James Cook, “Pastoral Perspective” on Matthew 5:13-20, in Feasting, 336.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Ibid.

[19] The worship service concluded with the singing of the hymn “You Are Salt for the Earth, O People,” paraphrase by Marty Haugen, 1986, alt.; in The New Century Hymnal (Cleveland: The Pilgrim Press, 1995), 181.