000 Allen FMT (i-xxii) - The Presbyterian Leader

20 Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany/Year A
The answer comes from a different set of assumptions altogether. To
begin with, the questioner is asked why she is asking. “He has told you, O
mortal, what is good” (v. 8). It has been made abundantly clear in the
Torah and the Prophets and the Wisdom teachings; why ask about what
has been plainly disclosed?
The second difference is that what the Lord wants is not “things.” The
Lord’s gracious offer of love finds its appropriate response in an attitude in
which we love God with all ourselves and love our neighbors as ourselves.
In other words, God wants us, not stuff. And the God of compassionate justice
wants to see us acting out our love for the neighbor in compassionate
justice for them: “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly
with your God” (v. 8). “Humbly” could well be translated “sensibly.” The
Scriptures are all about the “way” in which we should walk, a way for which
the Torah and the Prophets are a light unto our feet and a lamp for our path.
The way is made by walking, and the walking of the way of life and blessing
is what God asks of us.
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany/Year A
Isaiah 58:1–9a, (9b–12)
In our commentary on Isaiah 56:1–8, we note that it hinted at behaviors
in the community of returned exiles that necessitated a reminder that
doing justice and keeping the Sabbath were equally important (Proper
15/Year A). Today’s reading makes clear what chapter 56 intimated. The
likelihood is that Third Isaiah is criticizing the Zadokite priesthood and
those most closely associated with it rather than the whole people of
Judea. Those criticized seem to be sticklers for proper religious observance.
They complain that in spite of all their fasting and humbling themselves,
God does not notice (v. 3); they “bow down the head like a bulrush,
and . . . lie in sackcloth and ashes” (v. 5), and they seem to think that doing
this is the be-all and end-all of faithfulness to YHWH.
From Third Isaiah’s perspective, theirs is a hypothetical faith: “day after
day they seek me and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation
that practiced righteousness” (v. 2; emphasis ours). They are templetreaders
who never miss church; it’s such a great place to gossip about the
neighbors. They fail to note that they “forsake the ordinance [mishpat] of
their God” (v. 2). “Ordinance” refers to YHWH’s love acted out in justice,
justice expressed as love. Instead of loving the neighbor in word
and deed, they oppress their workers and fast only to quarrel and fight
(vv. 3–4). Prayers like this will not reach God’s ear.