Good Works

The Readings

The Collect

Set us free, O God, from the bondage of our sins, and give us the liberty of that abundant life which you have made known to us in your Son our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Old Testament

Isaiah 58:1-9a, [9b-12]

Shout out, do not hold back!
Lift up your voice like a trumpet!

Announce to my people their rebellion,
to the house of Jacob their sins.

Yet day after day they seek me
and delight to know my ways,

as if they were a nation that practiced righteousness
and did not forsake the ordinance of their God;

they ask of me righteous judgments,
they delight to draw near to God.

“Why do we fast, but you do not see?
Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?”

Look, you serve your own interest on your fast day,
and oppress all your workers.

Look, you fast only to quarrel and to fight
and to strike with a wicked fist.

Such fasting as you do today
will not make your voice heard on high.

Is such the fast that I choose,
a day to humble oneself?

Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush,
and to lie in sackcloth and ashes?

Will you call this a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord?

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?

Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,
and your healing shall spring up quickly;

your vindicator shall go before you,
the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am.

[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.

The Lord will guide you continually,
and satisfy your needs in parched places,
and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring of water,
whose waters never fail.

Your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
you shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

you shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.]

The Gospel

Matthew 5:13-20

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot.

“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The Sermon

I want to go back to the Collect I read at the beginning of this service. It says: Set us free, O God from the bondage of our sins and give us abundant life.

How does that sentence speak to you and me. Think about it. How are you being held back. What is your bondage. What does abundant life look like to you? As far as bondage goes, I think sometimes we create our own bondage. We limit ourselves. We find reasons to not act when really all we need to do is act. It sometimes takes great courage to free ourselves from bondage. African-Americans have endured racial discrimination for years. It was especially evident during the time of the Jim Crow laws. People of color were only allowed to drink out of drinking fountains assigned to them. Their children were educated in poorly funded separate schools. They were told to ride in the back of the bus so white people could have prefered seats in the front.

Finally, they had had enough and as it says in our reading from Isaiah they “Shouted out, they did not hold back” They protested the racism and began on the road to free themselves from the racist bondage they had suffered from for so long. There journey for freedom from bondage is far from over. The fight continues.

In a spiritual sense, what is your bondage? What is keeping you from having a closer relationship with God? In Isaiah, the people ask, “Why do we fast but you do not see? Why humble ourselves, but you do not notice?” Isaiah speaks clearly. He says, “look you serve your own interests on your fast day.” He continues, “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.” Then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.” God tells us that we can do all kinds of visible signs but if we do them for the wrong reasons they will not bring us closer to God.

I remember a time when I lived with a religious group that would fast one day a week. Some of the people would walk about on the day of fast with a somber look on their faces and if they engaged in conversations with others they would weave into the conversation that they were fasting. They would have been much better not fasting at all. Through the prophet Isaiah God tells us that if we want a closer relationship with him we should let the oppressed go free and feed the hungry. We get closer to God by building a loving bond with each other.

Jesus talks about the light in this reading from Matthew. He says; “You are the light of the world. Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in Heaven.”

In some ways this sounds like Jesus is contradicting himself but I think not. Jesus in not telling you to do honorable things such as feeding the poor and visiting the sick so that it will bring attention to your self. He wants others to see someone who is modeling the behavior that God expects of us. When others see you doing these things, they will follow your lead.

When I was on the city council in Glenrock, Wyoming, we started a program called volunteer of the month. We would single out someone in our community who had made an important contribution to the community. When we would call to tell them that they had been named we would frequently get a response saying they would rather not be named because they had not done it for any particular recognition.

Our response was that by shining a light on their contribution others would be inspired to volunteer their time to make Glenrock a better place as well. When they heard it put in this perspective they rarely declined the award.

Jesus and Isaiah are saying the same thing. Do not be afraid to let a light shine on the good works that you do but remember why you are doing it. You do good works because of your love for God and your fellow man and not because you expect credit on earth or in heaven for your good deeds.

Amen