I read Isaiah 10 and I feel a bit like my friend Wiley E Coyote chasing the Road Runner to the edge of a cliff, where the Road Runner pulls up short of going over but Wiley is unable to stop. He is suspended in mid-air for few seconds before plummeting to the ground. I knew it was coming in every episode, but still to see it made you sympathetic. And that is the way I feel for the people Isaiah preached to. I knew this time was coming when things were going to fall apart and thinks would fall apart. The handwriting was on the wall...or in the first 9 chapters we have looked at.
Isaiah continually says that when we cease to care about the poor there is a break down in our relationship with God. I have a tendency to make faith complex, question and diligently search for places of tension and contradictions. And I don't have to search long. But then there are also moments when the good news of the Gospel comes through with the crystal clarity of listening to a live concert at Carnegie Hall. Care for the poor. That was John the Baptizer's first sermon in Luke if you have two coats give one away. Care for the poor. So often Jesus reached out to the lowly and least desirable people in his culture.
Now, to be clear, this is about as difficult as the mental gymnastics that often become conversations about faith. And when I try to reach out and care about the poor I can again feel like Wiley E. Coyote, vulnerable, unsure about what is really helpful or useful or meaningful? Again, it can get easy to over think things. I am not sure there is a right answer. But maybe, it starts with grabbing that extra coat and taking it to someone who is cold this winter. It may not solve everything, it may not solve anything. But maybe that isn't the point. And I am not going to over think it.
May the traces of God's grace lead you to know when to ask for help and when to act.
Blessings and peace!
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