Word to the Wise
Tuesday, March 2, 2021 - 2nd Week of Lent - Tues
[Isa 1:10, 16-20 and Matt 23:1-12]Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan's plea, defend the widow. Come now, let us set things right, says the Lord: though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool. If you are willing, and obey, you shall eat the good things of the land; if you refuse and resist, the sword shall consume you: for the mouth of the Lord has spoken! [Isaiah]
Isaiah offers a thundering invitation to conversion with a startling contrast - scarlet and white! Where would we find ourselves on that spectrum? Pink? Rose? In the gospel scripture today, Jesus takes the Jewish religious authorities to task for their behavior. He does not question their authority, but their behavior! "All their works are performed to be seen!" Hmmm.... does that say anything to us? Is it important to us to be seen doing things that are good, especially if those actions are "religious" in nature? Isaiah suggests that doing justice is a religious act. If that is true, how "religious" would we be?
Isaiah and Jesus summon us to an honest self-examination in the light of God's commands. Isaiah speaks for God with the words, If you are willing and obey you shall eat the good things of the Land.... In the season of Lent we are invited to wash out the scarlet, to hear the orphan's plea and defend the widow, whether or not anyone sees us doing this. Are we up to the challenge? AMEN