Tuesday of the Second Week of Lent

Lectionary: 231

If you are willing, and obey,
you shall eat the good things of the land;
But if you refuse and resist,
the sword shall consume you:
for the mouth of the LORD has spoken!

 L ent reminds us of the most ancient insight of all the major religions from Protestantism to Judaism to Zoastrianism. Some historians say this doctrine appeared as merchants carried goods, technologies, and ideas from city to city and continent to continent: there are two ways, good and evil. The ways of a nation, a people, or an individual may be good or evil; and, unlike other animals, the human being has a choice. Because we can remember the past and foresee the future with some accuracy we know there are consequences to human actions. And they too may be assessed as good or bad. 

All religions agree that a good God prefers good choices; and those same religions with their spiritual depth and insight have brought meaning and purpose to human civilizations. Without a vision the people perish. 

When we hear Isaiah's warning about a consuming sword we should recognize the ever-present threat of war. Traditionally, most people have believed that if their swords are sharp, strong, and ready the swords of their enemies will not come near them. That belief supposes that a good God supports stability and prosperity with a strong military. 

But the Judaeo-Christian tradition goes further. The Hebrews prophets also insisted that God will not support our way of life if our policies toward "widows, orphans, and aliens" are not merciful. Given our memory of enslavement in Egypt -- and later, the Babylonian exile -- plus the memory of innumerable empires which have risen with a good spirit and descended into civil war and chaos as they neglected their own moral and ethical principles, we should take the warnings of Lent to heart. 

I once heard a Lutheran minister speaking to his colleagues. He told them, "You can ask any Catholic and they will tell you, 'The United States is 200 hundred years old; and the Catholic Church is 2000 years old." I replied, "Guilty! We've seen 'em come and we've seen 'em go." But many Americans do not share that doctrine of God's fidelity to the least among us. Their us is limited to a people like us. 

Lent reawakens our memories of the consuming sword, both of wars between nations and of civil war. We must repent or face the consequences.  

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;

But if you refuse and resist,

the sword shall consume you:

for the mouth of the LORD has spoken!