Sermon: ”Repairer of the Breach” by Rev. Will Burhans on 4/13/25

Last week I went down to DC to join with other clergy and Rev. William Barber’s group which is called Repairers of the Breach to hold a vigil at the Supreme Court to lift up concerns about the proposed federal budget that threatens the social safety net in our country for millions of Americans who are in need and promises to benefit those who already have a lot more than they need. The organization, Repairers of the Breach, is at work to keep the budget front and center in the consciousness of the American people highlighting the hurt it can cause for the most vulnerable among us. The reference “repairers of the breach” comes from Isaiah 59 where the prophet calls on Israel to repair the breach between the way the world is and how God intends the world to be. 

It does not take much to imagine that our God of love would take issue with some people making multi-million and billions of dollars while so many scrape by without basic necessities. I mean, we need not make it more complicated than that. And our sacred scriptures are clear about it - this Creator God to whom we direct our worship had a particular heart for the enslaved and when God liberated them from captivity God made it clear that they themselves had to operate with particular care for justice and mercy, tending to the marginalized and poor. And as we look around at 10 million children in poverty and 39 million people without health insurance in our very very wealthy country, decreases to food assistance programs and increases to military spending and the making of enemies where there weren’t any before, we must see clearly that there is a chasm, a breach, between the way things are and the way God means them to be.