Isaiah addresses the people of Sodom and Gomorrah today, telling them to wash themselves clean of their sins, that they can put aside sins that are a brilliant scarlet red, making them as white as snow. Sodom and Gomorrah are infamous in our day as cities that have turned their backs to God and that have embraced their sins, making a mockery of God and of faith. Here in the South, we have one of the highest rates of Church attendance in the nation, of people who claim to be Christians and who claim to live out the values of the Christian faith. Yet, at the same time, the city of Jackson has a murder rate that is the highest per capita in the nation, more than double the rate of places like New Orleans, Memphis, and Chicago. I get nervous going to downtown Jackson at night to pick up something at the chancery office, afraid of the violence and crime down there. What would Isaiah say about us? We talk about repentance as individuals, but what about repentance as a community and as a nation? I know that there are no easy answers to the problems we have as a society, solutions to the crime and violence that we have, but are we to just ignore such things? I wonder if God would be proud of us, or if he would give our community a warning like he did to Sodom and Gomorrah.
“Repent, and believe in the Gospel!” We heard this in our Gospel reading on the first Sunday of Lent. That seems to be the theme that Isaiah is bringing to us today as well. We need to search our hearts to see where God is asking us to change, both as individuals and as a community.
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