Charity Heals Greed

The other day I spoke of greed. Today we hear the medicine from God. When our heart is consumed with greed, which is actually self-love, we cannot see beyond ourselves. When we love others more than we love ourselves, then our charity takes over, and we are blessed by God.

Thus says the LORD: “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments, they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and thou seest it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and thou takest no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a man to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the LORD? “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, 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 him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, “Here I am.” “If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. – Isaiah 58.1-11

In today’s reading from Isaiah, we finally see why we do not witness the blessings of God. “Declare to my people their transgression,” says God. Our transgression is basic, but ancient. When we do not live according to God’s righteousness, we can ask for His blessings ‘until we are blue in the face’ and He will withhold them from us. “Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house?” These simple challenges from God cut deep into our heart.

Most of us want to think we’re ‘not that bad’ but when we read such scathing words from God, we are forced to evaluate ourselves. Open your hearts to those around you. See the suffering of your neighbor and find a way to help. These are strong words for the last week of Great Lent, but they are life-giving words and they will heal any greed that is remaining in your heart.

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