February 25, 2009 - Ash Wednesday

Looks Can Be Deceiving
Isaiah 58:1-12
Ash Wednesday – February 25, 2009

Looks can be deceiving.

We see that today in the Old Testament reading from the book of Isaiah. The people of Israel remind me of Eddie Haskell of Leave It To Beaver fame. You know who I'm talking about, right? Even if you've never seen the show, you probably know a little bit about Eddie Haskell. On the surface, he seemed like a wonderful kid. He was always well-groomed, always polite, always used his best manners whenever adults were around. But looks can be deceiving – and whenever no grown-ups were around, Eddie showed his true colors, didn't he - cooking up schemes and picking on Beaver. Looks can be deceiving.

Well, the people Isaiah is talking to today are kind of like that. From all outward appearances, they have their religious lives in order. They seem like they have it together. God describes them to the prophet near the beginning of our lesson, and this is what God says in verse 2: “...day after day they seek me and delight to know my ways... they delight to draw near to God.” Like Eddie Haskell, when they come into the presence of God, the ultimate “grown-up”, they are all good manners and politeness. They give God what they think God wants to see. And so they fast on all the assigned fast days, and they humble themselves, walking around with their heads down, dressed in sackcloth and ashes. When it comes to pleasing God, they think they have the rituals down pat.

But looks can be deceiving, and as we read from Isaiah, it becomes increasingly obvious that God is not fooled. God's people want to do the right things; I think they're sincere in that. And they think they are pleasing God, yet as this chapter opens God commands the prophet to “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.” All is not well between the people of Israel and the God they claim to seek. Looks can be deceiving, but God sees through all of their religious play-acting and calls them on it. On the surface, they are doing all the right things, but their hearts are not in the right place. While they are fasting from food, they are being gluttons of their own self-interest. They put their own needs and wants above others. On their so-called holy days of repentance, of turning back to God, they quarrel and fight and strike each other. They think they are giving God what God wants, but religious rituals alone do not make them righteous. God is not pleased.

Looks can be deceiving, but the truth is, the only people who are deceived are ourselves. Just like the people in Isaiah's time, here we are in church on Ash Wednesday, one of the traditional fasting days of the whole church. We come here as good faithful people to observe the traditions of our faith, to start our Lenten journey off on the right foot. Probably many of us have even decided to give something up for Lent, or to add some good, worthwhile activity in, a sign of our repentance, a recognition of what Jesus has done for us. To look at us, any outside observer would think that we are pleasing God, that have our religious ducks in a row. But as much as we'd like to believe that we've got our spiritual lives under control, when we hear this reading from Isaiah, we know in our hearts that we have just been deceiving ourselves. Because when we hear passages like this, we come face to face with the reality that we are not who we should be. We know that we are not who God created us to be, not who God expects us to be. We hear this litany about the kind of fast God really desires from us, and we know that we are not living up to God's standards.

Listen again to these words from verses 6 & 7:

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?

If you're anything like me, this is quite a step up from your typical Lenten discipline. I gave up chocolate one year in college. This year I'm giving up the Internet at night-time. I'm hoping I will use at least some of that reclaimed time to spend with God, but it kind of pales in comparison with what God says here, doesn't it? The fast God wants us to observe is much bigger, more all-encompassing than that. It's hard for me to imagine sharing my bread with the hungry. Bring the homeless poor into my house?! It's a little too up close & personal. But God wants us to get personally involved with the troubles and hurts of this world. God wants us to get our hands dirty. God wants us to take risks, to make sacrifices that are truly sacrifices. God wants us to stop putting on a show here in church and go out into the world to live out the gospel. And the truth is, we Eddie Haskells are not up to this call!

But realizing this is one of the gifts of Ash Wednesday. Here on Ash Wednesday, we realize that our Christian walk is not about putting on a show for God or the world. It's about coming face to face with who we really are, and Ash Wednesday holds up a mirror so we can see ourselves as we truly are. It pushes us to move past our Eddie Haskell masks and our self-deception so we can be open and honest with God and each other about the fact that we don't measure up. We don't have it all together. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 51, we were born guilty. We are sinners from birth (vs. 5). But as they say in recovery circles, admitting you have a problem is the first step. That's what Ash Wednesday helps us to do.

But that's not where it ends. We are sinners, yes, but at the same time, we are beloved, cherished children of God, and our relationship with God is made right through the power of God's grace, God's free, unlimited, boundless love for each of us. And God loves us too much to ever leave us the way God found us. God does have high expectations for us. God does intend for us to stop putting on a religious show and actually live as God's hands and feet in the world, loving our neighbors as ourselves in concrete actions, not just words. But this is not a punishment; it's not a way for us to earn a reward. It's a chance for us to love others as God first loved us. It's an opportunity to grow towards becoming the people God created us to be.

This road God calls us too may look too hard at times, but then again, looks can be deceiving. God never leaves us to do meet God's expectations on our own. God is the one who opens our eyes to the looks that would deceive us. God is the one who inspires us to return to God with our whole hearts. God is the one who gives us strength to turn back each day, to drop our Eddie Haskell masks and be real with God. And when we do that, when we try to live our lives in line with God's challenging call, we find that the LORD is already there, guiding us continually, satisfying our needs in parched places. When we cry for help, we hear God say, “Here I am!” When we travel God's road, God's light breaks forth into our lives, shining on us and through us into the world, offering life and hope and healing, for on this road, God is with us every step of the way. God's road is the road to true life. Thanks be to God. Amen.