Today marks the beginning of Lent and the beginning of clean week, which is kind of like hell week for the believer. Today is Clean Monday. This week is comprised of a continued cleansing of the soul through confession and purging of the clutter and dust of our living environments. I believe this is where we get the phrase "spring cleaning". Clean Monday is governed by the Old Testament passage found in Isaiah.

The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah
and Jerusalem in the days of Uzzi'ah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezeki'ah,
kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord
has spoken: "Sons have I reared and brought up, but they have
rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master's
crib; but Israel does not know, my people does not understand."

Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of
evildoers, sons who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have
despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.

Why will you still be smitten, that you continue to rebel? The whole
head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot
even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores
and bleeding wounds; they are not pressed out, or bound up, or
softened with oil.

Your country lies desolate, your cities are burned with fire; in your
very presence aliens devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown
by aliens. And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a
vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

If the Lord of hosts had not left us a few survivors, we should have
been like Sodom, and become like Gomor'rah.

Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the
teaching of our God, you people of Gomor'rah! "What to me is the
multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt
offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood
of bulls, or of lambs, or of he-goats.

"When you come to appear before me, who requires of you this trampling
of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an
abomination to me. New moon and sabbath and the calling of assemblies -- I
cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your
appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me, I am weary
of bearing them. When you spread forth your hands, I will hide my
eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen;
your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil,
learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the
fatherless, plead for the widow.

"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are
like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like
crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient,
you shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, you
shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."

Isaiah 1:1-20

Over and over again we find God recounting the rebelliousness of man. From Adam to Israel to me. How done I would have been day one. Isaiah shares that even the livestock know their owner and yet man continues to rebel. We see Israel commit treasonous acts of treason; betraying God in every way possible. Their iniquities set the city ablaze. It's easy for me to look at Israel and say, how could you never get it right? And then I look at all the times I've betrayed God; whether out of ignorance or pure rebellion...betrayal nonetheless.

I can identify with this passage as the people come with their "guilt offerings" trying to appease God and bribe Him to withhold His wrath. Oh, how often I commit sins of omission and commission and approach God just the same. Confession after confession. Empty promise after empty promise. Begging to have right standing once again. Looking for a non-relational way to buy the easement of my conscious. Think about it.... the Israelites didn't want to be bothered with living rightly they wanted to be pardoned for living selfishly. I love the part where God says, "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood
of bulls, or of lambs, or of he-goats". I bet they thought they were good. We brought over and abundance of an offering to appease God and atone for our sins. But not only was it not enough.... it didn't come close to the requirement of the Lord.

He goes on to tell them, "Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean". And how does He instruct us to cleanse ourselves? Through an on-going relational transaction. It's the sacrifice of one's life that cleanses the soul of iniquities never commodities. We are to do good. Seek justice. Correct oppression. Defend the fatherless. Plead for the widow. Just as justice cannot be bought, neither can we purchase a father to stand in the live of an orphan...that’s an actor. Money and possessions cannot suffice. We must trade our life so that orphan and the oppressed might be rescued and restored. We must trade our life so that we might be rescued and restored. Over and over again we see the scriptures explicitly convey the power of a dignified exchange. Exchanging my life for yours. We cannot escape the charge of entering the stories of another...for their sake and our own.

For several months now I've heard God whisper in my ear that I need to be present in the life of the fatherless. The whisper has grown in strength and weight as I've heard God say,  "Even though you fight for orphans around the world everyday I want you to play an intimate role in the life of a fatherless child". Penetrating through my ability to love and care for humanity, big H, and orphan, big O to the human and orphan in front of me. A more intimate understanding of what it means to care for vulnerable children by caring for one. 

As I'm closing in on obedience I'm beginning to feel the fear rise up inside of me. A healthy fear, but fear nonetheless. My intuition tells me this fear is derived from the weighty responsibility of being present in the life of a child. Now, being present in the life of an adult is one thing but children are different. They're smart. They can smell bullshit a mile away. They see the world clearly and simply. And you got to have your crap together. This thought plagued me when our high school director use to talk to be about being a youth leader. I thought, hell no (yeah...probably should of added cursing to my fasting list...maybe next year ;)). To be intimately invested in the life of a child to me, is a higher standard. Maybe I should have this healthy fear when it comes to leadership period but for some reason it only extends to children.

Maybe it's for this reason God commanded us to care for orphans and widows and the poor. Not only would we be required to invest our lives so as to receive right standing with God but also because when we enter into a relationship with an orphan or a widow we are incapable of acting a fool. It becomes much easier or at least moves to the forefront of your mind, body, and soul when it comes to living a fasted/disciplined life. It forces us to integrate our lives in such a way that integrity is produced. Integrity. Virtue. Righteousness. This must be the very essence of cleansing the soul. To confess the sins of omission as much as the sins of commission. To shine a light on the places that are wicked and bruised. To let the scriptures sink into our belly as we digest the truth of our Lord's commands. And then to enter into relationship with the poor, oppressed, fatherless in such a way that a dignified exchange can take place. An exchange that God orchestrates to gently and graciously graft us back into community while reconciling us back to Himself and one another.