ISAIAH 58:1-12

[58:1] “Cry aloud; do not hold back;

                        lift up your voice like a trumpet;

            declare to my people their transgression,

                        to the house of Jacob their sins.

             [2] Yet they seek me daily

                        and delight to know my ways,

            as if they were a nation that did righteousness

                        and did not forsake the judgment of their God;

            they ask of me righteous judgments;

                        they delight to draw near to God.

             [3] ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not?

                        Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’

            Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,

                        and oppress all your workers.

             [4] Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight

                        and to hit with a wicked fist.

            Fasting like yours this day

                        will not make your voice to be heard on high.

            [5] Is such the fast that I choose,

                        a day for a person to humble himself?

            Is it to bow down his head like a reed,

                        and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him?

            Will you call this a fast,

                        and a day acceptable to the LORD?

            [6] “Is not this the fast that I choose:

                        to loose the bonds of wickedness,

                        to undo the straps of the yoke,

            to let the oppressed go free,

                        and to break every yoke?

             [7] 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 him,

                        and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

             [8] Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,

                        and your healing shall spring up speedily;

            your righteousness shall go before you;

                        the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.

             [9] Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer;

                        you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’

            If you take away the yoke from your midst,

                        the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,

             [10] if you pour yourself out for the hungry

                        and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,

            then shall your light rise in the darkness

                        and your gloom be as the noonday.

             [11] And the LORD will guide you continually

                        and satisfy your desire in scorched places

                        and make your bones strong;

            and you shall be like a watered garden,

                        like a spring of water,

                        whose waters do not fail.

             [12] And 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 dwell in.

I don’t know about you but I find it troubling when a mother is thrown into jail for trying to give her daughters a better life.  That’s what happened recently when Kelley Williams-Bolar was sent to jail for nine days.  Maybe you read about this sad situation in the newspaper.  Kelley Williams-Bolar spent nine days in jail because she said her daughters were living with their grandfather in the community of Copley-Fairlawn, Ohio even though they were actually living with her in Akron, Ohio.  She did that so they could go to a better school in the grandfather’s more affluent community.

Now there’s no question that Kelley Williams-Bolar was wrong.  There’s no question that she lied and broke the law but it just doesn’t seem right.  It doesn’t seem right; especially when you have stock brokers and bankers on Wall Street who have done worse than that and haven’t gone to jail.  So, what do you do with Kelley Williams-Bolar.  Give her probation and community service but don’t send her to jail.  Here’s something else to think about. The School Committee in Copley-Fairlawn spent $6,000 to prosecute her.  I wonder how many school books you can buy with $6,000? 

I also wonder what God would say about what happened out in Copley-Fairlawn, Ohio?  When you look at God’s message that the prophet Isaiah delivered to the Jewish people the answer to that question is easy. God told Isaiah to lift up his voice like a trumpet and let the people know that God wasn’t impressed with economic status quo in the land of Israel.  

“Is not this the fast that I choose…” God said,

            to loose the bonds of wickedness…

            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 him,

            and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?”

In those words you see a God who wasn’t pleased with the callous and cavalier attitude that the rich had toward those who were poor.  Now before we go any further we need to be clear about one thing.  There’s nothing in the prophets or the gospels or the epistles that suggest that it’s a sin to be rich.   Jesus never condemned anyone for having a lot of money.  The thing that bothered Jesus was what some people were willing to do to get their money and what they did and didn’t do with their money after they got it.  Jesus knew that money can bring out the best in people and it can bring out the worst in people.

Take the wealthy businessman, for example, who went to Korea shortly after World War II ended.  While he was there the businessman went to speak at a luncheon.  He began by telling an amusing story. He did that to help break the ice.  When he finished the translator took over and the wealthy businessman was amazed at how efficient he was. Even though the translator only used a few Korean words to tell the story the audience laughed and applauded.  After the luncheon the businessman thanked the translator for his help.  “I think they liked my story,” he said, and then he added “it’s also amazing how you were able to tell the story with just a few Korean words.”  The translator smiled and bowed.  “Not at all,” he said.  “I just told them man with big checkbook has told funny story.  Do what you think is appropriate.”

When you come right down to it money always presents you with a mixed bag of possibilities and potential pitfalls.  As someone once said, “Money is like manure.  Spread it around and it does a lot of good.  Pile it high and the only thing it does is stink.”

That’s why God sent that stern message to the people. God wasn’t pleased because while they were in the Temple fasting and praying, outside the Temple they were using deceit and dishonesty to create piles of money for themselves.

Things aren’t all that different today. The economic landscape that we have now in this nation under God leaves a lot to be desired. We’ve created an economy that follows the golden rule.  It’s not the golden rule that Jesus gave us though.  It’s not the Golden Rule that says, “Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”  No.  It’s the golden rule that says, “Those who have the gold make the rules.”   

Here’s the thing about those rules though.  They often bring pain and suffering into the lives of people who don’t have the gold.   That’s what happened a few years ago at the North Shore Mall.   It’s an embarrassing story that unfortunately made the national news.  It all started when Maria Grigorian took her four year old daughter Michelle to see Santa Claus.  When the little girl got to the front of the line though she was told she couldn’t sit on Santa’s lap because her mother couldn’t afford to buy a picture.  The least expensive picture was $21.  The little girl was so upset that she burst into tears.  The mother later said, “To see her crying and saying, ‘Mommy I just want to tell Santa what I want for Christmas…I was heartbroken, totally heartbroken.”  An official with the North Shore Mall later apologized and said a meeting with Santa is free of charge.  I wonder though.  Did he apologize because it was a grinchy thing to do to that little girl or did he apologize because he knew that it would be bad for business if he didn’t?

What was it that the prophet Isaiah said?

Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure,

and oppress all your workers.

Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight

and to hit with a wicked fist.

Fasting like yours this day

will not make your voice to be heard on high.

When it comes to our economy today all you need to know is one simple statistic.   It has to do with supply side economics.  Supply side economics operates on the principle that you start by making it possible for people at the top of the economic ladder to succeed. The riches will then trickle down to those at the bottom of the economic ladder.   Here’s something to ponder though when it comes to supply side economics.  While it’s works that way in theory it hasn’t worked that way in practice. Do you know what’s happened to every additional dollar of added wealth that we’ve created over the last 30 years? Ninety-five cents of that dollar has ended up in the pockets of the richest ten percent of the people in this country.  What that means is that the other 90 percent of us get to fight over the remaining nickel.  (You can verify this statistic if you Google “United States added wealth distribution.)

What we have today is an economy that is more concerned with what the lobbyists want than what the least among us need. 

We have an economy that is more interested in getting the politicians re-elected than it is in easing the suffering of the middle class and the poor.

We have an economy that leaves elderly widows shivering in cold living rooms while CEO’s of questionable character receive golden parachutes worth millions and millions of dollars.

Maybe what we need is a Christian form of capitalism, a way of doing business that doesn’t operate under the principle that whoever dies with the most toys wins.  It is possible.   

Many years ago there was a story in the Guide Post magazine called “True Stewardship.”  The story was about a man name Claud H. Foster.  Claud Foster was a man who liked to tinker.  Shortly after the automobile was invented he learned how to take the new contraption apart and put it back together bolt by bolt.  One part of the automobile that often failed when he put it back together was the horn.  So, Claud Foster decided to build a better horn.  He went to work and was able to do it by looking at the reeds in his trombone.  He called his new invention Gabrielle’s Horn and he started a company by using $1,500 that he’d managed to save over the years.  The company became a big success.  Eventually a big investment firm offered him $10 million for his company.  Claud Foster was “floored” by the offer but he later wrote:

“True the company was bringing in a large income, but it was all based on patents soon to expire.  Therefore, I figured the business was not worth $10 million.  If I sold at this price, many little stockholders in the purchasing firm might lose their money.  Over the years I have come to realize that nothing we earn, none of the things we accumulate, belongs to us.  While on earth we are merely stewards or trustees for God’s resources.  Our job is to handle these resources as wisely as possible and to use what money we have for the good of the greatest number.  So I finally sold the company, but for $4 million instead of 10 which I thought was a fair price.  Then I had an idea to hold a party for my friends.  Many of them had worked years to build up an orphanage, or raise money for a desperately needed new wing on a hospital, and other such causes.  They wouldn’t know about it in advance, but at the party I decided to give away to these wonderful people the $4 million God had entrusted to me.  Do you know, I actually felt a little selfish having as much fun as I did that night.  It was the best party I ever had.

“Cry aloud;” God said, and “do not hold back;  lift up your voice like a trumpet..

            …if you pour yourself out for the hungry

            and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,

            Then shall your light break forth like the dawn,

            and your healing shall spring up speedily;

            your righteousness shall go before you;

            the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.”   Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes

February 6, 2011