3rd Wednesday of Advent (December 18). IF… THEN

Prepare to Listen.  The LORD will guide you continually.
 
Prayerfully Read Isaiah 58:9b-12
9bIf you remove the yoke from among you,
   the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil,
10if you offer your food to the hungry
   and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,
then your light shall rise in the darkness
   and your gloom be like the noonday.
11The LORD will guide you continually,
   and satisfy your needs in parched places,
    and make your bones strong;
and you shall be like a watered garden,
   like a spring of water,
   whose waters never fail.
12Your 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 live in.
 
Prayerfully Wonder and Reflect
If you… then…, writes Isaiah.  How would you fill in the blanks that would be appropriate for you and your community today?​

Twice the prophet says If you.  There are three conditions with the first one.  The first, remove the yoke, is a reference to injustice and exploitation of the poor and powerless, a repeat of v. 6, “to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke.”  The next two conditions, “the pointing of the finger” and “the speaking of evil,” are less specific.  Perhaps, says Brueggemann, they “refer to social recriminations, accusations, slander, and gossip that make neighborliness impossible.”[1]  I suspect most, if not all of us are guilty of at least one of these three.
 
The second if you, is followed by further emphasis on helping the poor and marginalized—offer food to the hungry, satisfy the needs of the afflicted.  That is, God’s people must attend to “those who are humiliated, exploited, and demeaned by social practice,” [2] and by lies from political leaders.
 
Too many today are silent about the poor, humiliated, exploited and demeaned.  But the Bible is loud about it.  Sadly, I often hear Christians argue against helping them because then, they say, the poor will never learn to help themselves.  God, says Isaiah, disagrees.  We’re obligated to obey God’s Word not popular opinion; to heed God’s ifs, and not to choose a less demanding way.  Remember, God’s then, God’s gift is conditioned on our response to God’s if you, not our own ifs.
 
What challenged you in these words of Isaiah?  What do you need to change to be receptive to God’s gift of then…?
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord, forgive me when I get sidetracked on my own conditions, telling others ‘if you do what I say then you’ll be okay.’  Where I’ve ignored your conditions, I repent and ask for help to live this more difficult way that is not my own but all yours.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Try practicing at least one of God’s if’s today.
[1] Brueggemann, Walter.  Isaiah 40-66.  Louisville, KY:  Westminster John Knox Press.  1998, p. 191.
[2] Brueggemann, 1998, p. 192.