No Cheat Code [Epiphany 5A]

The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson

Isaiah 58:1-12

No Cheat Code

The key is finding the shortcut, the cheat code. UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, B, A, Start. And...Heaven. Hacking God: that's the holy grail.

We all want to know how much is truly required. I mean, what'll do it? Communion every Sunday? You're in? Seven Daily Hail Marys? In? Say the Sinner's Prayer? Jackpot? DVR all of Joel Osteen's, let's call them “motivational sermons”? Well, let's not push it. The question is: what is the least that I can do and still sneak into Paradise? Is there a minimum threshold to achieve maximum eternal rewards?

It's an old question. In fact, it shows up in our reading from Isaiah today. The pious folks in the Old Testament lesson are pretty sure they have cracked the code. It's the fasting. Fasting is not that fun so it makes a pretty convincing shortcut. And when you are fasting it does feel like God should be impressed – especially around lunch time. And, like, it's easier than loosing the bonds of injustice (which sounds like a lot of work) or letting the homeless into your house (which sounds kind of risky and wacky) but it's still uncomfortable. So, that must be it. Surely fasting impresses God.

And they do it well. Not only are they fasting, they are, as they point out to God, being very humble about their fast. They were the most humble fasters. Much more humble, it seems, than God could really understand. And the sackcloth. Did I mention the sackcloth? The sackcloth is the extra mile of humble fasting. You're welcome, God.

See the thing about finding the divine skeleton key for the pearly gates, why it is so exciting, why we long to get that key, is that once you find it you don't have to worry so much about getting the rest of it right. Like if you read enough Bible maybe you don't have to love your annoying brother-in-law. Or maybe if you cross your self correctly you get to say a few racist things every once and a while. Or if you vote for pro-life candidates you can ignore refugee children. Or like in the Isaiah passage, if you fast like a pro you earn the OK to oppress your workers and punch people.

It is much easier to go through the motions on a Sunday morning than it is to live and love in this messy, messy world. It is easier to follow the rubrics than to follow Jesus.

That's why we say “I will, with God's help” after every baptismal promise. That's why we say that same confession every week. I mean Jesus only gave us two commandments – but they are hard ones. Fasting every now and again is much easier. We have not loved God with our whole heart. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. Because those two things are hard. It is hard to live like Jesus beyond these walls. Isaiah is not confronting villains in today's text. He is confronting humans. Humans who want to impress God, who want some kind of guarantee, who think they have discovered the cheat code.

The great thing about a cheat code is that once you get right, it always works and always in the same way. We have control issues and God is out of control. We want a predictable God – a God that we can figure out, a God that follows the rules of cause and effect. We press the button; God gives us a treat. And so we develop in our minds, and in our religious communities, these ways to get God on our side. So we do some good and pious things. We hope that God will notice and in return maybe give us a pass on some of our actions, words, thoughts, attitudes that are less than righteous. And then, when all is said and done, God will count up the number of hours we spent in this building and will be super impressed and will reward with a big heavenly mansion. No conversion necessary. No change of heart. No messy, vulnerable love. Just press the button and get the treat.

As a result, our relationship with God becomes very self-centered, all about us; we lose sight of not only God but also of all of those neighbors God expects us to love. Rather than the dynamic, loving relationship God longs for, it becomes a cost-benefit analysis. It's as if we are trying to convert God to us.

But the thing is: God is already sold on you. God loves us. God loves us – even if we are not that good at fasting. God even loves us with our rough edges and half-hearted devotion and our ungodly attitudes. God loves us enough to convert us to God.

Worship is not the cheat code. Worship is a chance to encounter the God who cares enough about us to change us into the likeness of Christ. Worship is a deep dive into the Holy Spirit, intended to light us on fire.

Our goal here is not to impress God with our beautiful music or with a few bucks in the offering plate. Our goal is not to earn some credit towards a heavenly abode. We're here to experience God. Our goal is to be together in the presence of God and to be changed in that presence. We gather not to earn God's love but to experience God's love – in so many ways: in the faces of our sisters and brothers and in the bread of heaven and in the cup of salvation and in the proclaim of the Gospel. God is meeting us here not because we deserve that but because God desires that.

And in that encounter, as we see, touch, taste the living Christ we are transformed. We are sent back into the world looking a little more like Jesus. Better prepared to love and serve the Lord. Sent out these doors, not to impress God or secure some reward, but because we are what we eat: the Body of Christ.

And as the Body of Christ in this world, we are sent out to share the good news, to continue Jesus' work in this world. We are lit here to be lights for the dark places. We go through these doors glowing – lit up by the light of Christ. We go through these doors strengthened in all goodness. We go through these doors full of hope, inspired by God's dream for this broken world. We go through these doors as world changers – ready to answer the violence and hatred we encounter with peace and love.

There is no cheat code. Nothing you will do here today will earn you anything. Nothing you do out there tomorrow will earn you anything. God already loves you because God loves you and there is nothing you can do to change that. That is good news, life changing news, world changing news. Good news that a world of frustrated, hurting, lonely people need to hear. People need to hear that they are loved – perfectly and unconditionally loved.

God is present in this place and in that encounter we are changed, changed for a reason: to tell this story, to share God's love. Changed people ready to change the world.