Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 (New Jerusalem Bible)
Luke 12: 32-40 (Common English Bible)
Jesus declares his purpose on earth by quoting the prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim the liberation of the captives, recover sight to the blind, let the oppressed go free and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor (Isaiah 61:1). Throughout Luke’s gospel, Jesus’ concern for the poor and the suffering is his priority.
Jesus tells us that God’s greatest joy is giving us his Kingdom. That is not just a future promise, it is a present reality. The Kingdom or Kindom, as some call it is not built on power, security or status. It is built on grace and shared abundance.
The command to “sell your possessions” isn’t just an economic action, it’s also a spiritual action. It’s letting go of what insulates you. Now I’ve accumulated too many books over the years, but I don’t need them to survive. I could sell them or even give them away. But I have a lot of strange books which might not be accepted. The Urantia Book is one example. Just remember last Sunday’s reading about the farmer who became rich. He had enough livestock and money to share, but he chose not to.
I know there is a lot of confusion of what the Kingdom of God is. It is not a physical thing like a castle or something we get after death. Rather the Kingdom can be experienced now through a Christ Consciousness which opens one’s mind and heart.
In the Gospel of Thomas, one of those books not in the Bible, finds Jesus in a debate with confused people about the Kingdom of God. Some of their leaders say Look, the Kingdom is in the sky! But Jesus rebukes them and says, then the birds will be there before you. Some others say, the Kingdom is in the sea. But Jesus laughs at them and says, then the fish will be there first. But Jesus sums it up perfectly and says, "The Kingdom is within you and outside of you.”
The reason the Gospel of Thomas was excluded from the New Testament was because it was a “sayings” gospel. It only contained words of Jesus but nothing about his miracles, crucifixion and resurrection. Some people even found the book boring.
The Kingdom isn’t a reward you have to earn, it’s a gift already given. So let us stop guarding the door and start opening it instead.
Isaiah the prophet was active during the reigns of four kings in Judah. His call from God came in the year King Uzziah died. And his calling from God continued into the reign of Hezekiah, one of the better kings of Judah. We can place Isaiah’s ministry during the second half of the 8th century BC between 750-700 BC.
Some years before the Babylonian armies invaded Judah and took the Judeans into exile, Judah was enjoying a rich economy. But beneath it, something was wrong and Isaiah realized it and he tried to warn the Judeans before it was too late.
God was angry at the Judeans and even rejected their worship despite the fact that God gave them that form of worship. God offers the Judeans a new beginning to avoid punishment but if they reject his offer bad things will happen to them. God even compares Judah to Sodom and says, “This was the guilt of your sister Sodom, she and her daughters had pride, plenty to eat, and enjoyed peace and prosperity, but she didn’t help the poor and the needy.” Ezekiel chapter 16, verse 49.
God tells the people of Judah he no longer cares about their sacrifices of animals. God also tells them, “what are they to me? I’ve had enough of them. Stop bringing your sacrifices to me. They have become a burden to me.”
So what made God angry? God tells them, “Your hands are full of blood. Not the blood of bulls, lambs and goats, but the blood of human beings, from your fellow Israelites. Judah and the Northern Kingdom of Israel had wars against one another, even though they worshiped the same God, Yahweh. A comparison is World War One, the most useless war in history. In that war, you had Christians killing Christians. War can bring out the worst of people, not only on the battleground but also on the homefront. A minister, John Holmes, who spoke against World War One, was seized by pro-war vigilantes and nearly beaten to death.
The God of justice told them, God does not want war. God wants justice for all people. He reminds them of the prophets like Amos and Micah who were champions of social justice.
Social justice is more deep than just giving a loaf of bread to someone poor. We should ask, what makes them poor? Who is oppressing these people and what can we do about it? The God of justice wants his people to defend the oppressed even if they have to go to court to plead their case. There is much needed today when migrants are being jailed by the hundreds, even if they have a green card to work.
Now many Christians avoid the call for social justice because they think it minimizes Jesus’ call for disciples. They even believe pursuing social justice is an enemy of evangelism. I strongly disagree with that and so does the Presbyterian Church USA. Making disciples also includes seeking justice for one and all. Martin Luther King Jr. is a good example. If we want people to follow Jesus, we must help them overcome obstacles that exist in their society. Some of those obstacles are embedded in their own social systems where they live. That is the purpose of being part of a Matthew 25 church. It should be more than just charity. Seeking social justice and winning souls go hand in hand. And it also goes with everything Jesus taught.
Some people see a conflict between worship and social justice. They say the church only exists to worship God and not to change the world. The other side says NO, what we do in the courts and streets matter more than what we do in church. The words of Isaiah in today's reading seem to agree with the second opinion. And remember what James the brother of Jesus said, in chapter 2, verse 17 of James’ epistle, “So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.” AMEN
