Reflection- Pie

By Steve Hall

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022021.cfm
Isaiah 58:9-14
Luke 5:27-32

There are those who marvel at the many quotable sound bites which Jesus regularly came up with. For myself, I’m more astonished at Jesus’ diplomacy and his ability to avoid sarcasm. Consider the concluding statement of our present reading, the one where Jesus responds to the Pharisee’s question: “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus simply replies: “Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.”

There may be some subtle sarcasm in his response, but if there is it is well hidden. Now with just a little thought he could have offered any number of sarcastic replies. For example —

‘I was tired of eating at home all the time, just me and mom.’ OR

‘Well, it’s not like there were a lot of choices.’ OR, how about a simple

‘Duh!’

Now, before we continue reflecting on what Jesus said — or might have said — let’s take a step back for a closer look at the reading from Isaiah.

As was the case with most of the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah was preaching during troublesome times. Though the details may differ, his day was not unlike our day. It just had a different menu for the then current chaos. In the midst of the people’s suffering and anxiety and turmoil Isaiah would remind them of their relationship to God. Further, he sought to strengthen their faith and commitment by recalling God’s promises.

Light shall rise for you in the darkness,
Gloom shall become for you like midday;
The LORD will guide you always and give you plenty even on the parched land.
He will renew your strength,
You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails.
The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake,
The foundations from ages past you shall raise up;
You shall delight in the LORD . . . . I will make you ride on the heights of the earth.

Now, when Isaiah made note of The Lord’s expectations, he didn’t find it necessary to go through the whole list of Laws and regulations which Israel had inherited from Moses and subsequent Jewish leadership. Rather, in this same passage he highlighted the failures of his time; and, if we’re honest, we see failures very similar to those of our day.

Remove from your midst oppression, false accusation and malicious speech;
Bestow your bread on the hungry and satisfy the afflicted;
Hold back your foot on the sabbath from following your own pursuits on my holy day;
Call the sabbath a delight, and the LORD’s holy day honorable;
Honor it by not following your ways, seeking your own interests, or speaking with malice.

(The latter, of course, gets special, lengthy attention because it addresses the fundamental matter of worship. If we do not worship God on that one specified day each week, then we must canvass our thoughts and be honest when asked: Do we worship him at all?) Looking at the declining numbers in Church attendance, I wonder who was the intended recipient of the message — people then or now.

I read this text and asked myself how the people of Isaiah’s time might have heard Isaiah’s teaching. There are always the lazy and indifferent who will brush aside any religious teaching. Then too, there are the few at the other extreme who will attempt to take the teaching to heart. But the vast majority . . . . ? Where were they? I’m not sure if society was duplicitous enough to have generated some form of our contemporary maxim: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.” But either way you have but to read the prophet’s list to recognize the possibility of it creating doubt. There is a short phrase that comes to mind: ‘Pie in the Sky’. What are the Lord’s promises but ‘Pie in the Sky.’

The list of what the Lord would do for his faithful people was clarified and expanded throughout the centuries in accounts that were ultimately written down and accepted as the word of God. The list had begun with the promise to Eve that one from her descendants would crush the servants head. It continued with the promise to make of Abraham a great nation whose descendants numbered as the stars in the sky. It achieved special status in Egypt with the slaughter of a lamb and the promise of divine protection. The promises were sealed in blood with a Covenant established at Sinai. Still, the list would go on, sometimes being augmented with new pledges and new assurances, but most often being proclaimed again and again to a stone-deaf people. If their indifference to His promises was due to anything more than the conviction that it was Pie in the Sky, I’d like to know what it was.

As the promises were explicated through the centuries, the blessings of protection, provisions and presence were more fully brought to light. Yet, through these same centuries the response of men was the same. Unlike Abraham, people — even a Chosen People — found it difficult to accept and commit their lives to these promises. Such promises appeared to be nothing more than ‘pie in the sky.’

All of history reveals the persistent pattern of God’s steadfast determination and mankind’s unfaltering skepticism. Pie In The Sky! The standoff is as old as Adam. So, when we arrive at Jesus’ time, it should not be surprising that dining with the righteous would have seen few at the table. Nor should it be surprising that he ate with sinners and tax collectors. They were the ones who possibly could have been convinced that the divine promises were not ethereal pie.

Throughout the writing of this reflection I have unsuccessfully tried to convince myself that I am steadfast in believing in divine protection, provision and presence. Have you been more successful?