Isaiah 55:1-9 and Excerpts from Followers, Not Admirers by Soren
Kierkegaard
March 23, 2025
By Rev. Nicole M. Lamarche
Welcome again, however you are connecting, in whatever shape you are in, with whatever you are holding. In this spiritual time of Lent, journeying in the wilderness together.
John read the text exactly as I gave it and as we find it in the Bible, but usually we use inclusive language, and I was moving too fast, and I noted it as he was reading it. I am so grateful that our understanding has evolved as we evolve, and God evolves with us.
I invite you now to take some deeper breaths as you are moved, lettingourselves arrive a bit more fully, tuning into whatever word God has for each of us today…
As you are moved, I invite you to join me in a spirit of prayer from Psalm 19.
As our family gathered for dinner one evening not long ago, we settled in and ensured everyone had utensils and drinks. I did my usual quick prayer that our teen has become increasingly impatient with, but I keep on, thanking Mother Earth and Father Jeremy, my husband Jeremy is our main chef, and as we all started eating and getting into the routine of, “Did
anything interesting happen today? Is there anything anyone wants to check in about? How is everyone doing? Does anyone have any homework? Who has night meetings this week?” when between bites, Jeremy said, straight faced, “I didn’t get this at Whole Foods.”
He wanted to make sure I knew that he had gone out of his way for him, that he had modified his usual routine to get our dinner from a butcher downtown instead of the usual spot as part of the nationwide boycott. We all have our ways of doing justice and this one didn’t particularly have my husband’s name on it, but he did it. The pork chops were delicious! I joyfully
assured him that our weeklong effort was worth it. It’s an experiment in fasting from corporations that only exist from exploitative practices. And it turns out that many of us are building some new muscles for collective efforts at showing what we care about and the corporate earnings reports that made me happy and that showed our efforts are working. For those
who are trying some of these things too, depending on our circumstances, it can be difficult to unhook from some of these things, because life in this country is intricately connected to corporations whose values we may or may not share, but who have figured out what we want and how to get it to us efficiently. It seems many of us accept this bargain, consuming without needing to know exactly what it is we are a part of.
As I shared a couple of weeks ago, our family, like many in this country- we have become accustomed to the enticements of the devils of post-modern life. Following Jesus into the desert wilderness where he faces the devil, I named some of the devils of this time, specifically the devils of comfort and convenience. And we named other devils that Sunday too. The devil of sexism. The devil of hate. The devil of fear. The devil of white supremacy. The devil of transphobia. And since then some of you and others in our broader community have shared other devils. The devil of unbridled capitalism. The devil of hubris. The devil of toxic patriarchy. The devil of failing to examine ourselves, of letting our egos lead. The devil of greed. The devil of colonialism. The devil of agism and ableism. Does anyone want to name one now? The devil of perfectionism. The devil of deliberate ignorance. The devil of over admiration of power and wealth… There are a lot of devils in this moment…
In our expression of the Christian tradition, Lent is a time of fasting from whatever it is that separates us from God, from what is God and what isn’t good for us. We humans can so easily become trapped by what kills us, what keeps us from thriving and Lent is a time to be honest about that, to get real about all of the devils inside us and in our lives. And when we
acknowledge them, we can start to right our relationship. To atone is to become one, to become whole.
As you heard, one of the scriptures gifted to us on this third Sunday in Lent comes from the Book of Isaiah and it is written from the perspective of speaking hope to a group in exile. As scholar Richard Puckett writes, it is “Addressed to a people who have been conquered and exiled and who are struggling, the words must first seem frivolous and facile…He goes on to say that the writer of these passages is addressing those “who have wasted their resources and their striving on things that are of no benefit to them. They are seeking in the wrong place, working for the wrong goal. Now they are called to listen.
It is clear to me that many of us have wasted our precious resources and our striving on things that are of no benefit to us, not really. And I know I feel moved to listen carefully to the voices in this moment that are all around, speaking in different forms, in a variety of mediums, calling us to restore, repair, reconnect, to right what is wrong, to use this as a season of
truth telling, of taking risks for a righteous reset for what is right and good and true. It will look different for each of us, but I want to invite all of us to listen, to listen to this wisdom from our ancestors’ that whispers through the eons to us, now, the prophet Isaiah asks, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your earnings for that which does not
satisfy? Listen carefully to me…”
Why do we waste our precious resources and our striving on things that are of no benefit to us? Whether it is the resources we waste on companies that cause harm or the internal resources we waste holding grudges, or the resources we waste on anger, reviewing old narratives, staying in rage instead of collaborating with our Greater Love to transform it into something
else, or the resources we waste on trying to numb with substances or the resources we waste on worrying about things we can’t fix or what others need to fix instead of doing our own work, or the resources we waste fearing what hasn’t happened yet, why do we strive for things that are of no benefit to us?
I think because many of the patterns we have, many of the choices we humans make in modern life, much of what we do that causes harm in the long run, seems okay in the short term. Either because it is “fixed” temporarily or because the ego is soothed for a bit, things are kept pleasant for now…but in the long run they are of no benefit.
When it comes our individual spiritual journeys, we can maintain anger, hold a grudge, fuel an old narrative that doesn’t serve us, because it is familiar, but in my experience when we are attached to those things, it is hard to be open to God’s way, to what is good, to the beauty that abounds all around us. I believe that whatever name we have for God, it does have
ways, it does lure us toward wholeness, goodness and to what is of benefit to us in the long run. As we heard in Isaiah, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways…”
And when it comes to our collective journeys, things are kept pleasant for now in the short term…but in the long run they are of no benefit. The precious resources of time or the finite resources of Mother Earth in our economic system, incentives the fast fix or the cheap thing that falls apart and goes into a landfill, but we don’t see it. The flight spews carbon into the atmosphere, but we don’t see it. The underpaid employee with an unpredictable schedule that needs public assistance to survive, which means the corporation is the one receiving subsidies, but we don’t really see that part of it. Why do we waste our precious resources and our striving on things that are of no benefit to us? Because the system is designed to benefit some, not all, at least not most. And the other reason we do these things is because we are mostly detached from the harm, we don’t see it, we don’t have to feel it.
A lot of harm can be caused in our world and is being actively caused right now in our communities, in our workplaces, in our schools, in our congregations, in our civic life because those making decisions are insulated from the consequences of their actions, it makes it easier. They are entirely disconnected and detached from the harm being done, disconnected from the hurt and the pain. They don’t see it; they don’t have to feel it. They don’t have to. But I believe that whatever name we have for God, It does want goodness for us, and the way to heal in this time, the way to be made whole is to get closer, proximity is the way we prevent ourselves from becoming detached from the harm we cause with our lives. God’s way pulls closer, pulls us to connection, pulls us to wholeness.
We can still choose something else and a lot of people do. We can opt for what kills us slowly, what keeps us from thriving, what keeps us mad and lonely; we can choose not to be honest about all the devils inside us and in our lives, we can continue to participate in what is only working for some and we can extend the blame outward. We can decide we don’t want to see things clearly and we can determine that righting things, that atoning isn’t worthwhile, that it’s too hard. Even those who use the label of Christian, even in this season of Lent. Many are choosing to avoid the discomfort.
But I have clarity in my own life, that I want to be honest. I would rather have the messy truth than a polished lie. And I don’t want to be an admirer of Jesus of Nazareth; I want to be a follower. As we heard from Soren Kierkegaard, the difference between an admirer and a follower is quite significant. I want my life to express what I admire with my actions. Last
week some of us pulled our wagons downtown feeding those who are hungry and sharing hygiene supplies, we got a funny a little lecture about how not to proselytize. As we went on, a gentleman started to tell me about a family member of his who does outreach and basically you have to wait to hear the “testimony” before getting a sandwich. Jean leaned over and
whispered to me, “Well we do the thing, we don’t talk about the thing.” And that’s who I want to be with. I want to be with followers, hot admirers.
I don’t want to be detached from harm. I don’t want there to be a gap where goodness falls through. I want to live more fully into this claim upon my life, to live fully from a wild love beyond my understanding. This moment summons to us. God’s ways call to us.
I feel moved to listen carefully to the voices in this moment that are all around us, speaking in different forms, in a variety of mediums, calling us to restore, repair, reconnect, to right what is wrong. What about you?
Communal Reflection
How does your life express what you admire with your actions? Where do you sense the need to shift closer to “God way”?
We have a way, it’s God’s way. We can choose it. Thanks be to God. May it be so. Amen.