Good Lord! What Do You Want From Me?

For August 22, 2010

What does God want from us; what should we have as a vision for a vital spiritual life? Jesus gave us a shorthand answer when asked to identify the greatest commandment:

Matthew 22: 37-40 Jesus said, "'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."

It seems that an important component of our spiritual life is made up of relationships. The primary and first is with God and the second and very closely tied to it is with "others" (our neighbor in most translations). This seems fairly straight forward but as we hear so often it appears that the devil is in the details. The writer of Isaiah 58 gives us God’s voice speaking to our relationship with Him. For purposes of our reflection you might substitute “congregation” for “nation” as you read Isaiah 58:1-3:

"Shout! A full-throated shout! Hold nothing back—a trumpet-blast shout!
Tell my people what's wrong with their lives, face my family Jacob with their sins!
They're busy, busy, busy at worship, and love studying all about me.
To all appearances they're a nation of right-living people—law-abiding, God-honoring.
They ask me, 'What's the right thing to do?' and love having me on their side.
But they also complain, 'Why do we fast and you don't look our way? Why do we humble ourselves and you don't even notice?'

Isaiah records God responding to the nation of Israel as it appears they have questions and concerns about their spiritual lives (and who doesn’t?).

1. How does God describe his family? What is he making clear to and about them?

2. How do they and possibly others perceive them? (Insert congregation for nation to make it more relevant for us today) Are these worthy and important goals for congregational life? Whom do they turn to for guidance on “ the right thing to do”?

3. But there seems to be trouble in the family; how does God describe their quandary? Based on your spiritual journey what might be some examples of these concerns, issues we have in spite of seemingly living a life of faith? Have there been times of doubt, a sense that something is missing, or feeling the need to grow closer to God?

Jesus description of the greatest commandment point out an important reality for us - that our relationship with God will be played out in the quality of our relationships with the other (our neighbor). Isaiah 58 gives us God’s voice addressing the same issue, what can they do to address the sense that something is wrong:

6-9"This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
to break the chains of injustice,
get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
free the oppressed,
cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
sharing your food with the hungry,
inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer. You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'

1. What kind of fast day is described? What is your reaction to the four areas that God wants us to address?

2. Again, as in listening to Jesus describe the greatest commandment, we can all agree with what God is calling for, but what might be some things we need to consider more deeply:

• Who is experiencing injustice in my community? Does this go beyond issues with the legal system? Do you know anyone who is experiencing injustice or will you need to seek them out?
• Who is exploited in the workplace? Where do people work who might find themselves being taken advantage of?
• Who are the oppressed? How do you define oppression, is this just a criminal justice system issue or are there other ways people find themselves oppressed?
• Whose debts should be cancelled? Are debts limited to money issues or can it be interpreted more broadly?

You might want to seek prayerful answers for yourself in both identifying who might fit into one or more of these categories and how God might have us address them.

3. What is God “interested in seeing” us do? Which is the most difficult for you to imagine doing? For instance what might enter into your thinking in responding to “feed the homeless poor in your house”?

4. How does God tell us our lives will be changed if we incorporate them into our lives? Have you ever experienced any of these feelings after helping someone?

5. What does it seem that God knows we will need in order to live in this way? How is God prepared to help us deal with the many ramifications of responding to God’s call?

Jesus spoke over and over again living in this way and God’s presence in the doing of it. One example to close with is from John’s Gospel:

15:5-8"I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.

Living a spiritual life can be both fulfilling and frustrating. Because we are human we will always sense the reality that we have more potential for growth in our faith lives. But the good news is that the Spirit will be with us, if only we open ourselves to its presence.

Closing Prayer

O Holy Spirit, whose presence is liberty, grant us that freedom of the Spirit which will not fear to tread in unknown ways, nor be held back by misgivings of ourselves and fear of others. Amen. The Oxford Book of Prayer

Next Week’s Scriptures: Jeremiah 2:4-13 or Sirach 10:12-18 or Proverbs 25:6-7, Psalm 81:1, 10-16 or Psalm 112, Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16, Luke 14:1, 7-14