"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." (Isaiah 58:9b-10)
Every year, the question comes back, just in time for the holiday shopping season: "What do you get for the person who has everything?"
And ironically, every December, I see that question show up as the headline for online articles and targeted ads that then proceed to list for me "Suggestions for what to buy for those people in your life who already have all they need." This is the culture we live in, isn't it?--where "having everything you need" is seen as a problem because there still must be presents bought and money exchanged, and everyone must be turned into a consumer of commodities. And so these "helpful" guides come into existence, arising out of thin air every year like ghosts summoned at a seance, offering quirky and unique gifts for the people in your life who already have so much stuff they don't have a place to put it all. And so you and I find some new gadget, or trinket, or funny t-shirt, and we shell out our money and buy these gifts for the people we know who already have everything, because we have been told (and have come to believe) that this is how it works. We live in a time where the assumed answer to the question, "What do you get for the person who has everything?" is "More of what they do not need."
The Scriptures ask us to imagine a different question, however. Particularly the voices of the prophets, like this passage from Isaiah which many of us heard this past Sunday in worship, comes from a larger section of the book which basically poses the question, "What does God really want?" If you thought it was hard shopping for your tech-savvy brother-in-law who already owns every gadget, or for your parents whose cupboards are already full of decades' worth of charming coffee mugs you have gotten for them, just imagine how hard it is to shop for God. After all, God is quite literally, the One who has everything--right? The Scriptures are full of reminders that the whole earth, and indeed the heavens, the seas, and whatever other realms are beyond our comprehension or categorization, all belongs to God. "Every wild animal of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills," God says in Psalm 50:10, with the reminder that God doesn't need to be fed with our sacrifices, and God does not have to accept our offerings if we have brought them like they are a bribe or a transaction in exchange for services rendered. (And while we're on that subject, here's a reminder to every Loud Voice from a Podium out there who talks about "getting into heaven" as though it is a matter of "making a great deal" or doing enough to "get in"--not only is that not how it works at all, but God takes it as a personal affront when we speak like God is a business negotiator.)
So... what do we get--or do, or say, or offer--for the God who has everything? What is it God really wants us to do with our time, our talent, our treasure, and our energy? Well, earlier in this passage from Isaiah, the prophet rules out a few of our standard wrong answers. When the people have tried to impress God by declaring a national day of prayer and fasting, God responded by saying, "I am not interested in your theatrics." When the people put on sackcloth, sang their hymns and praise choruses, and covered themselves in ashes as shows of their piety, God said, "Do you really think this is what I wanted?" And when the people put on big public displays to demonstrate that they were "taking back their country for God," the Almighty responded, "I'm not even paying attention to your hullaballoo."
And instead, God replies (see Isaiah 58:6-8) that what God would rather have had from the people instead of a "fast" or a special day dedicated to God was for them to care about the folks with their backs against the wall. "Is this not the fast that I choose," God asks, supplying these examples: "to loose the bonds of injustice... to let the oppressed go free... to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house?" In other words, God tells the people, "If you are trying to offer me your gratitude, love, or worship, I don't need you to have a public fast or a religious pageant." God says, "What I have always wanted is for you to take care of each other, and in particular, to take care of the people you have overlooked, pushed aside, or actively stepped on." God has never needed (or wanted) us to put on a show of our religiosity, but instead to authentically care about the people for whom God cares.
It's out of that line of thought that today's verses flow. These verses continue the examples of what God really wants--things like finally outgrowing petty scapegoating and cruel speech, or like feeding the hungry and attending to the needs of those who suffer. This is what you do for the God who has everything--you love other people, starting with the folks we have been overlooking. Now, none of this is meant to be about earning God's love or racking up "points" with in heaven. Not how it worked in ancient Israel, and not how it works now. But it is about the question that comes on the other side of being graced. The late theologian Gerhard Forde used to put it this way: "What are you going to do, now that you don't have to do anything?" Once you realize you have already been loved by God and that it wasn't something you could achieve with shows of piety or religious hoop-jumping, what do you do with your life? Chances are, when you realize what you have been given, you are going to be moved to gratitude--to thanksgiving, to some kind of response of love back to the God who has loved you first. And when you get to that point, you'll find yourself asking the Big $50,000 question: what does God want from us anyway? What do you get for the God who has everything? Here, God speaks and gives an answer: you show love to the people who are most vulnerable, most at risk, and most on the margins. You show empathy for people who are suffering, because that is the way God loves, rather than asking, "What will I get out of it?" You share your abundance with those who have nothing, because that is the way God runs the entire universe on an economy of mercy. And you welcome those who are without shelter, without food, and without belonging to find a place set for them at your table, under your roof, and among your family.
Even more so than your tricky-to-buy-for relatives, the living God doesn't need anything we could buy out of a catalog, order from Amazon, or work up into a catchy praise chorus. God doesn't need anything--period. But if you want to get on the same wavelength of seeking the kinds of things that God seeks, you might start with love for the folks who are hungry, homeless, and harassed. God always sees through our attempts to "take our country back for God" as so much posturing or power-grabbing dressed in piety. Instead, God would rather have us feed hungry people and provide housing for the people without it, and just skip the empty show. What do you say--should we give God what God actually wants?
Today, part of being a disciple of Jesus is to listen when God gives us clear direction about the things that are on God's heart and priority list, even if it's not the kind of splashy show we wanted to put on.
Lord God, teach us to want what you want, to seek what you seek, and to love whom you love.
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