Isaiah 55:1-3a
Everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money
for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which
does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
Incline your ear, and come to me;
listen, so that you may live.
When we gather here as church we tend to talk a lot about “doing the work of Christ,” feeding the hungry, seeking justice for the powerless, holding the world in prayer. Some days, like today, we actually DO some of that work, right here, as with the bag lunches we just prepared. And this is good work, don’t get me wrong. But, once in awhile, I wonder if we are sometimes so focused on reaching out, on “doing for others” that we forget that we ourselves are included in Jesus’ injunction to “feed my sheep.”
How often do we remember that we, too, are hungry, and sometimes even lost and lonely? How often do we include ourselves when we read of God’s open-hearted forgiveness of sin and brokenness? When we read that we are to look at our brothers and sisters with the love of Jesus, do we ever remember to look at ourselves in the same way?
Most of us live in some level of comfort -- the world provides us with all we need. It may not be luxury by the standards of the culture we live in, but we are clean, we have roofs over our heads, we have plenty to eat, no one is dropping bombs on us. The world is – mostly – kind to us – so kind, that it is easy to accept this good life as good enough not only for our bodies but for our spirits, too. As if this comfort is the life that God, through Isaiah and later, through Jesus, promises us.
But are our souls truly satisfied? Do we focus on the things the world offers and manage to push back those occasions when our spirits reach for more? How many times have we settled for clean, well-fed bodies and just shoved to the rear the nagging feeling that our souls are starving for something the world doesn’t offer? How often do we accept what the world offers us because we don’t really believe we can have the spiritual food we truly long for?
Listen to Isaiah’s words again:
How often do we remember that we, too, are hungry, and sometimes even lost and lonely? How often do we include ourselves when we read of God’s open-hearted forgiveness of sin and brokenness? When we read that we are to look at our brothers and sisters with the love of Jesus, do we ever remember to look at ourselves in the same way?
Most of us live in some level of comfort -- the world provides us with all we need. It may not be luxury by the standards of the culture we live in, but we are clean, we have roofs over our heads, we have plenty to eat, no one is dropping bombs on us. The world is – mostly – kind to us – so kind, that it is easy to accept this good life as good enough not only for our bodies but for our spirits, too. As if this comfort is the life that God, through Isaiah and later, through Jesus, promises us.
But are our souls truly satisfied? Do we focus on the things the world offers and manage to push back those occasions when our spirits reach for more? How many times have we settled for clean, well-fed bodies and just shoved to the rear the nagging feeling that our souls are starving for something the world doesn’t offer? How often do we accept what the world offers us because we don’t really believe we can have the spiritual food we truly long for?
Listen to Isaiah’s words again:
Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy? .....
Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.
I’ve spoken here before about the three (at least) different Isaiahs, Pre-, During-, and Post-Exile. Today’s reading comes from the middle period – a promise of hope written to a people in exile. It’s a message that they will one day again be the people of God, secure in their own homes, worshiping as they please – living freely as God’s people.
It was written for those far away from home, but also for those who remained in an occupied Jerusalem that no longer bore any resemblance to the homeland they loved. It is surely possible to feel exiles while never leaving home. All of them, both near and far, longed for the day they could once again live as God created them to live. The day they would no longer have to settle for making do with what the world allowed them.
“Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters,” Isaiah tells us. Did you hear that “every one”? The every that includes even you? “Come to the water” – the living water – the water of Life, with a capital ‘L’.” And “come without price” because your ticket is already paid, the door is standing open wide and no gate-keeper bars the way. God’s promise continues to exist, even in our day, when the voice of the world seems so often to be drowning out the voice of God.
While we read these words, we live in a world where Christianity has been bent and twisted to meet and match the world rather than expecting the world to raise itself up to meet God’s plan. A world where God’s formerly limitless forgiveness is boxed up and then carefully parsed out and only given if we meet certain narrow criteria. Where the “prosperity gospel” preaches that we can all be rich because God wants us to be rich and drip with diamonds and buy huge houses - because we’re Christians and we deserve it. Where so-called “Christian” pastors actually stand in their pulpits and thunder that gays and Muslims should be killed – that God wants us to do that. Those who follow this false worship surely spend their money for that which is not bread, and their labor for that which does not satisfy.
This form of “Christianity” worships the world, and in this world it can seem that the creating, loving, forgiving God we meet through Jesus has been lost and defeated. And yet, God is not defeated. God IS. God is loving us and forgiving us and creating new joy and new wonder for us every day. God does not fail us, even when we occasionally fail God.
So, if you are weary, come to the life-giving water of God’s grace. It is for everyone - not just for those who 'deserve' it by the world’s standards. And it cannot be purchased, because there is no price. It can only be gratefully received. It has been awhile since I last ended my message with a Frederick Buechner quote (and you know how I love them) but this one seems appropriate for today:
It was written for those far away from home, but also for those who remained in an occupied Jerusalem that no longer bore any resemblance to the homeland they loved. It is surely possible to feel exiles while never leaving home. All of them, both near and far, longed for the day they could once again live as God created them to live. The day they would no longer have to settle for making do with what the world allowed them.
“Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters,” Isaiah tells us. Did you hear that “every one”? The every that includes even you? “Come to the water” – the living water – the water of Life, with a capital ‘L’.” And “come without price” because your ticket is already paid, the door is standing open wide and no gate-keeper bars the way. God’s promise continues to exist, even in our day, when the voice of the world seems so often to be drowning out the voice of God.
While we read these words, we live in a world where Christianity has been bent and twisted to meet and match the world rather than expecting the world to raise itself up to meet God’s plan. A world where God’s formerly limitless forgiveness is boxed up and then carefully parsed out and only given if we meet certain narrow criteria. Where the “prosperity gospel” preaches that we can all be rich because God wants us to be rich and drip with diamonds and buy huge houses - because we’re Christians and we deserve it. Where so-called “Christian” pastors actually stand in their pulpits and thunder that gays and Muslims should be killed – that God wants us to do that. Those who follow this false worship surely spend their money for that which is not bread, and their labor for that which does not satisfy.
This form of “Christianity” worships the world, and in this world it can seem that the creating, loving, forgiving God we meet through Jesus has been lost and defeated. And yet, God is not defeated. God IS. God is loving us and forgiving us and creating new joy and new wonder for us every day. God does not fail us, even when we occasionally fail God.
So, if you are weary, come to the life-giving water of God’s grace. It is for everyone - not just for those who 'deserve' it by the world’s standards. And it cannot be purchased, because there is no price. It can only be gratefully received. It has been awhile since I last ended my message with a Frederick Buechner quote (and you know how I love them) but this one seems appropriate for today:
“One life on this earth is all that we get, whether it is enough or not enough, and the obvious conclusion would seem to be that at the very least we are fools if we do not live it as fully and bravely and beautifully as we can.”
Come. Come all who are hungry or weary -- even you.
RSS Feed