Restorers of Ruins

THE WORD IN LENT

Saturday after Ash Wednesday - March 5, 2022

Isaiah 58: 9-14;  Luke 5: 27-32

The Word today is calling out, calling out to us to come to the ways of the Lord - to do away with the yoke, the clenched fist and the wicked word that we may be light that rises in the darkness, to this world which so much needs it.  And we need not worry how we would do it, because the Lord himself shall be our strength, the water that revives us and the light that dispels our shadows. However, the Word makes us note another important element: that is the yoke, the wicked word, the clenched fist, and ruins. This is to say, not that we deserve, but the Lord still calls upon us.

Jesus manifests the same Divine act as he calls Levi, though he was considered sinner. I have come to call the sinners, the weak, the imperfect, the unworthy, declares the Lord. And to prove that it is not out of condescension, the Lord comes to us and idenitifies himself with us, just as he went to Levi's house and ate with the so-called sinners and the publicans. The Lord not only calls us, he identifies with us. But why?

Why does the Lord call us, the weak, the sinners, the ruins! Yes, that we may know what it means to be sinners and yet, be loved, be called, be honoured and be saved! That we can be Restorers of the Ruins! But what do we do: after all that the Lord has done for us, we go about judging others, condemning others, fighting with others and calling names at others! What a shame, as chosen people of God!

We are called to be breach menders, restorers of ruins, peace makers, gatherers of people, compassionate builders of communities. Let these be our lenten tasks, not just skipping breakfast and avoiding meat! How the Lord would wish that we become true loving people of God!