Isaiah and Me

Miraculously, I'm back the next day, and I've got more I've been thinking about. It starts with a passage in Isaiah, which was brought to my attention recently (by an infomercial, of all things!). It's Isaiah 58:6-7, which is talking about fasting. (By the way, if you like this passage, please go look up more about it, because what I'm talking about isn't even the coolest part of the verse.) God says:

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-
when you see the naked, to clothe him,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

And I don't know what this meant specifically for the Israelites, but I read that, and the first thing I think of is what a fantastic vision that is for the world, and how much I want to live in that world. And the second thing I think of is that I'm supposed to be making that world a reality. And I've got some issues with that.

Because that sounds like a huge mission to a girl who can't manage to study for her only summer class on time. Loose the ties of injustice?!? Not happening this century. Except that I know that there are other people who are supposed to help me in all of this, that I haven't been left with the mission all by myself, that I'm only required to do a small piece. But even if I'm only supposed to deal with my small part, I'm still not sure I can handle it, because most days, I don't think I can handle being a part of my family, let alone loosing the ties of injustice in it. I love my family (and I try to mean that in the biblical sense as well as the mushy-feeling sense), but I don't feel anywhere near strong enough to make it a functioning, pleasing-to-God family. Thankfully, I'm not alone there, either. There are a people who are called to help empower me, and to help make my family less broken, and whom I am called to be a part of, and they're called the Church. As someone really smart recently said, "God loves the church," and trying to live up to Isaiah 58, trying to feed the hungry and break every yoke, trying to be like Jesus, starts with loving and becoming part of the church.

Of course, it's not as simple as all that, because the church is made up of people that we may or may not like, or agree with, or even think are sane. But God loves her anyways, and the only way to follow his plan for the world is to feed her and be nourished by her. And the most wonderful thing about the church being so diverse that it makes you want to scream is that there is always someone in it who can help you with your problem. Because God made us each unique and each for a purpose. And for me, that means that my biggest job is to love the church, and let God take care of the rest.