Repair and Restoration

Readings: IS 58:9B-14; LK 5:27-32

I really love the readings from Isaiah 58 that we hear these past two days of Lent.  And part of what I appreciate (and am challenged by) are the sequences of things.

God (speaking through the prophet) offers some “If…then” statements. If we seek to be in right relationship with people, develop right speech, and stop unnecessary judgments and criticisms, then our light will shine.  In fact our strength will be renewed.  In fact we will be known as repairers of the breach.

That might be one of my favorite phrases right there: a repairer of the breach.

The words from Isaiah are related to the Hebrew mandate to engage in tikkun olam (meaning the repair of the world).  And when we engage in tikkun olam, our collective strength gets renewed and what was ruined by the past has a chance of being healed.

We see Levi do that in the gospel.  Jesus calls him and Levi follows and uses his dinner table to become a table of relational repair.

Our lives can be similar.

I also know that the world can feel overwhelming and the enormity of the repairs that are required seem quite daunting (and we have all collectively inherited so much brokenness).  Sometimes when I look around, I think, “What doesn’t need repair?!”

Just the other day I saw a wonderful quote from a friends’ FB page.  It read, “It can be overwhelming to witness/experience/take in all of the injustices of the moment; the good news is that *they’re all connected.* So if your little corner of the work involves pulling at one of the threads, you’re helping to unravel the whole damn cloth.” (Ursula Wolfe-Rocca)

The call to repair starts close to home – in our little corner of the work.  We can start by paying attention to what needs repair and restoration inside of us.  And then as we move through our days, we will notice opportunities to repair and heal what has been broken. We’re invited to lean into it and pull at the threads that are close to us.

I have always loved the Japanese art of kintsugi whereby the artist uses gold to repair and mend the broken spaces in the pottery and often think about that as a metaphor for what today’s readings ask us to do. Go to the broken places and put something precious there that will shine and make things stronger.

The work of repair will require imagination, courage, patience and risk.  And if we’re to believe Isaiah, we will be given the strength to do the work as we engage it (and not always before we start it).  So for today, be on the lookout for opportunities to be a repairer of the breach, and, like Levi, say, “Yes.”