Isaiah 55:1-3a (Easy-to-Read Version)
“All you people who are thirsty, come! Here is water for you to drink. Don’t worry if you have no money. Come, eat and drink until you are full! You don’t need money. The milk and wine are free. Why waste your money on something that is not real food? Why should you work for something that does not really satisfy you?
Listen closely to me and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the food that satisfies your soul. Listen closely to what I say. Listen to me so that you will live.”
This is one of my favorite readings. I love the openness of it, the expansive welcome, the invitation.
Isaiah is, I believe, the longest book in the Bible. It was written over a long period of time and it goes all the way from complacency and warning, through loss and exile, grief and despair, and then finally, it comes back around with hope — hope leading to a promise of restoration.
Isaiah was written before and during the Babylonian exile. The reading we just read comes towards the end of that long story. Imagine what these words must have sounded like to a people who had, in the past couple of generations, gone through several varieties of hell — first, invasion, then they were torn from their homes and dropped in a strange land among strange people, separated from their family and friends, and finally, cut off from the Temple in Jerusalem, which was the center not only of their faith life, but also the core of their self-identity as a people. All of that was taken from them.
And now comes this word from God — this welcome, this marvelous invitation: All of you are thirsty, all you who are hungry — come, eat and drink, and it’s all free! Don’t worry if you have no money. Eat and drink until you are full! Don’t bother wasting what little you have buying food that isn’t real food, stuff that doesn’t nourish you — stuff that doesn’t satisfy you. Eat what I have to give you and be satisfied.
And do you know what? This invitation was not just for the exiles of 3000 years ago. It is for every one of us today who is thirsting for truth. Everyone who is hungry for respect. Everyone who is dying on a diet of lies and hopelessness. Everyone who is struggling with a seemingly fragmenting social fabric as well as a collapsing economy. All those struggling just to get by. Everyone who cares about love and kindness. We’re all invited to partake of God’s abundance. Come on in! Sit down at the table!
It’s all free, and you’re invited to take whatever it is you need — love, hope, caring, dignity. Whatever you need! Don’t worry about money—there’s no price for any of these things. God gives with open hands. The doors to this feast are always open. Listen to God—hear what God offers, and live!
Isaiah is, I believe, the longest book in the Bible. It was written over a long period of time and it goes all the way from complacency and warning, through loss and exile, grief and despair, and then finally, it comes back around with hope — hope leading to a promise of restoration.
Isaiah was written before and during the Babylonian exile. The reading we just read comes towards the end of that long story. Imagine what these words must have sounded like to a people who had, in the past couple of generations, gone through several varieties of hell — first, invasion, then they were torn from their homes and dropped in a strange land among strange people, separated from their family and friends, and finally, cut off from the Temple in Jerusalem, which was the center not only of their faith life, but also the core of their self-identity as a people. All of that was taken from them.
And now comes this word from God — this welcome, this marvelous invitation: All of you are thirsty, all you who are hungry — come, eat and drink, and it’s all free! Don’t worry if you have no money. Eat and drink until you are full! Don’t bother wasting what little you have buying food that isn’t real food, stuff that doesn’t nourish you — stuff that doesn’t satisfy you. Eat what I have to give you and be satisfied.
And do you know what? This invitation was not just for the exiles of 3000 years ago. It is for every one of us today who is thirsting for truth. Everyone who is hungry for respect. Everyone who is dying on a diet of lies and hopelessness. Everyone who is struggling with a seemingly fragmenting social fabric as well as a collapsing economy. All those struggling just to get by. Everyone who cares about love and kindness. We’re all invited to partake of God’s abundance. Come on in! Sit down at the table!
It’s all free, and you’re invited to take whatever it is you need — love, hope, caring, dignity. Whatever you need! Don’t worry about money—there’s no price for any of these things. God gives with open hands. The doors to this feast are always open. Listen to God—hear what God offers, and live!
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