The Rev. Austin K. Rios
5th February 2023: Epiphany 5
As we keep journeying through this season of Epiphany—a season of light and revelation—our readings this week invite us to consider questions that lie at the heart of our humanity.
Who are we? Who do we claim to be? Do our actions accord with our true identity and calling or do they align with a shadow version of ourselves?
This section from the book of Isaiah asks the people of God to confront the foundations and aim of the ceremonies they observe—especially the public observance of fasting.
Refraining from eating food in order to express devotion to God, while a potentially meaningful practice, loses its meaning if it remains only an individual pietistic act.
Isaiah is quite vocal that the fast that God calls for is primarily about mending the broken parts of the world—a concept called Tikkun Olam in Judaism.
The famous Sheep and the Goats judgment scene in Matthew 25 picks up this cry of Isaiah and calls those who would claim identity as followers of Christ “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.”
Isaiah calls those who love God to be repairers of the breach, to be doers and lovers of justice, and to companion with God in seeing the wrongs of this world that we name as sins made right.
Our identity in God is less about what outward displays of piety we prefer, what rites and rituals we observe in order to make ourselves important or acceptable to others, nor about what name is attached to our practice of faith.
Much more essential is the way in which we live into our identity as children of God by helping heal the world in local, national, and global ways through our commitment to justice in thought, word, and especially deed.
It is the integrity of our witness that we are called to review today.
Identity and Integrity.
This portion of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians that speaks about the difference between the world’s wisdom and God’s is asking his hearers to ground themselves in the otherworldly wisdom of Christ’s cross—a sign and symbol of the complete and self-emptying love of servanthood—instead of a worldly wisdom characterized by knowing and associating with the “right” people in order to rise in the ranks of influence.
Paul is calling the Corinthians and us to put more energy and emphasis on the integrity of their fellowship instead of worrying about who baptized them, what words and form of service were used, or about any social standing that they may have gained from aligning with a specific part of the Body of Christ in Corinth.
Their identity as members of the Body of Christ, gifted diversely and abundantly through the grace of God to form a holy fellowship engaged in the transformation of this world into a reign that reflects God’s own, is what Paul cares about most.
And it is the same care that Jesus has when he talks about salt losing its saltiness, or light being hidden under a bushel basket.
Our calling in God has always been about being a community who worships in sincerity and truth, who sees and proclaims the fundamental connections between authentic worship and just actions, and who seek to incarnate the Spirit of wisdom and the law into our daily lives.
We are not expected to be perfect in our practice.
But we are called to pursue integrity between what we say and do as children of God and members of the Body of Christ, and who we know God has called us to be.
Identity and Integrity.
If you are a regular member of St. Paul’s, or if you have traveled with us for some time, I hope that you know just how important questions of identity and integrity are to us.
The way we worship—which is designed to encourage an authentic and personal connection to the God we serve without making us oblivious to the needs of our neighbors nor the needs of the larger world—shapes us as individuals and as a community toward the identity that we share in God.
The way we serve—in ministries of hospitality and justice like the Joel Nafuma Refugee Center, as parents and teachers and leaders working with children, youth, and young adults, as choristers and musicians using our gifts to uplift others, as members of this body who go forth in faith and integrity to share God’s love and healing beyond these walls—shapes us to seek integrity between who we are called to be and who we are becoming through God’s grace.
We who worship here at St. Paul’s, we who follow Christ and pray for God’s reign to come on earth as it is in heaven, we who long for just and fruitful relationships between all God’s children regardless of their creed or country of origin—are charged to know and feel that we are the ones called to be repairers of the breach, we are the ones called to be stewards of the wisdom of the cross, we are called to be salt with taste, and light that is not hidden but brightens the whole house and beckons the entire world to join in the doing of justice, the loving of mercy, and in walking humbly with our God.
Lean into your deepest identity this week dear friends in Christ and allow your highest calling to lead you forth in the way you interact with others.
Pray for and work toward a greater integrity between who you are called to be and who you currently are and look to one another for support and companionship along the way.
For when we concern ourselves with matters of identity and integrity, we will know the joy of God’s dream becoming real, and:
“our light shall break forth like the dawn,
and [y]our healing shall spring up quickly;
Our ancient ruins shall be rebuilt;
we shall raise up the foundations of many generations;
and we shall be called the repairers of the breach,
the restorer of streets to live in.”