Repairers of the Breach

Scripture Lessons: 2nd Corinthians 5: 20b – 6: 10 and Isaiah 58: 1-12 Sermon Title: Repairers of the Breach Preached on Ash Wednesday, March 2, 2022 Repairers of the breach. Repairers of the breach. That’s the image that sticks out to me on this Ash Wednesday because while the Prophet Isaiah says that we will be called repairers of the breach, that’s not often how we call ourselves or how we think of ourselves. As Christians, we call ourselves church members, disciples, saints, Christ followers, or if we’re Presbyterian, the frozen chosen, but here, the Prophet Isaiah speaks of the day when we will be called “repairers of the breach.” That title invokes a beautiful image, doesn’t it? It’s so much more beautiful than how we humans live, for there is division in our world, and it often seems as though there are more people pushing us apart than pulling us together. In our world today, how many more creators of the breach are there than repairers of it? Do you know anyone practiced in creating the breach? I saw a Saturday Night Live skit this week. The skit was a simple dinner party. Everyone was having a good time. Four couples were all eating together at the common table. Conversation flowed freely until somebody said, “I can understand why someone wouldn’t get vaccinated.” Have you been in that kind of conversation? A dinner party these days is a minefield, and if there is much that friends can disagree over, it should come as no surprise that the breach between strangers simply grows wider and wider, for our world is full of division, and some people keep making it worse. Maybe you’ve heard that Howard University’s women’s lacrosse team showed up at Presbyterian College for their first game at Bailey Memorial Stadium in Clinton, South Carolina two weeks ago. There, on taking the field, they faced a group of students who yelled threats and slurs at them. Now, this is Presbyterian College. It has our name right on it. This is a school where I and so many others who worship here found welcome and affirmation, yet Presbyterian College students tried to bring this Howard team low with their words. This behavior is the embodiment of hypocrisy, for all students at this school are pushed to study Scripture. All students at this school are taught that the way of Jesus is one of love and not hatred. Every one of them has been told that: God shows no partiality. All are His children. And the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mansion with many rooms, which Christ invites us into. Who, then, would dare say, “You are not welcome”? The Prophet Isaiah calls us to be repairers of the breach. There are Christians among us who use their words to further divide our society. That’s true of people who say racist things and also true of people who only watch only one cable news network. On the subject of Ukraine, when it comes to sympathizing with the people who are under attack, we are all on the same page. When it comes to rage at Prime Minister Putin who would so abuse his power, we are unified. However, when it comes to whom you blame for how we got to this point, that depends on which cable news outlet you watch. Now, this kind of thinking is dangerous, for if you believe that the people on the other side of the aisle are all idiots or traitors, you’re growing the breach that divides our country. So what can we do about it? What should I do about it? What should you do about it? A good place to start is trying to rise to this high office that the Prophet Isaiah calls us to: repairers of the breach. To do that, some of us here need to give up cable news for Lent. I’m not kidding. Some of us need to give up Facebook. I’ve been asking people what they’ll be giving up. Today, one said, “nothing.” Another said, “soup.” One person I asked said he’s giving up church. I don’t like that idea. What I like this year is the idea that we can give up something that stands in the way of good relationships, so I’m giving up social media. Why? Because like every other human creation, it can be used for good, or it can be used for evil. It can be used to build bridges or create division. It can be used to heal the breach by wishing someone happy birthday or reuniting with an old friend. On the other hand, a comedian said, “I have an app on my phone that can tell me which of my family members are racist. It’s called Facebook.” My resentment towards a couple of my neighbors keeps growing because I’m so jealous of the vacations they go on, so I need to limit my access to their vacation pictures. I find myself upset at people because of what they post. I think differently about them, and it makes friendship harder. What makes friendships harder for you? On this Ash Wednesday, we are invited to think about that. We are called to hear ourselves speak and consider the weight of the words that we use. We are called to look at our actions. For tonight, the Apostle Paul calls out to us from 2nd Corinthians, saying, “Be reconciled to God.” Likewise, the Prophet Isaiah calls from our 2nd Scripture Lesson: Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And bring the homeless poor into your house; When you see the naked, to cover them, And not to hide yourself from your own kin? The Prophet shouts out these instructions to the people because they had been fasting and wearing sackcloth and ashes. They had been walking around with their heads down like a bullrush. Yet, that wasn’t what God wanted from them. What God wanted from them was for them to change their behavior so that they were healing their communities rather than tearing their neighborhoods apart. That’s the call: To let love shine. To become repairers of the breach. To make more friends and fewer enemies. To be more hospitable and less isolated. To be a part of healing this world rather than adding fuel to the fire of division. Just think about all the divisions in our world today. There are racial divisions and political divisions. Families are divided. Friendships are put under stress. The question we must ask ourselves tonight is: What are we doing about it? Are we pushing people away with our words? Are we on our way to being absolutely right and entirely alone? We must examine the information that we’re letting into our minds. Is the truth filling our ears or is the news causing unnecessary stress on our marriages? On this Ash Wednesday, I want you to think about that and to consider giving up something for 40 days that might help heal the breach. I can’t tell you how much I wish that for 40 days, my grandfather would have given up the news he constantly watched. He would have been so much easier for us all to be around had he just taken a break. I can’t tell you how much more I would like some of my friends if I didn’t know what they had for dinner last night or what they really think about public school, so I am going to give up social media for these 40 days. What might make you easier to be around? What could you give up that might help you build a relationship rather than highlight a difference? I hope you’ll think about it, and I hope you’ll be inspired by this: While the behavior of Presbyterian College students towards those Howard University students has been roundly condemned by the Presbyterian College President, and while alumni, staff, faculty, and students have all unified in condemning the actions of that one small group, the Rev. David Kennedy, President of the Lauren’s County National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, called for accountability, but not expulsion, saying that a lack of education is at the root of such racism, and that the way forward is for all people to have access to ideas that will free their minds. Now think about that. It’s this attitude that repairs the breach. That brokenness out in the world is there in all our souls. We’re all making mistakes, and we are making them all the time. If we can’t forgive our enemies then how will we ever be deserving of forgiveness? Lent is about fasting and repentance, but it is about the kind of fasting and going without that leads to reconciliation. Rehabilitation. Mending broken fences. Being made new. Repairing the breach. Tonight, ashes will mark all our foreheads, for every one of us is broken. Not a one of us possesses the truth. Not a one of us can see the whole world clearly. “For we know only in part, but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.” Do you know these words from the Apostle Paul? Next, he says, “I put an end to childish ways.” For 40 days, let’s give up some of our childish ways that faith, hope, and love might abide in us a little more fully. Amen.