The reading
Isaiah 55:1-13
1 Ho, 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. 2 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. 3 Incline your ear, and come
to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting
covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. 4 See, I made him a witness to the
peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. 5 See, you shall call nations
that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; 7 let
the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them
return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will
abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways
my ways, says the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are
my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 For as the
rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they
have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the
sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my
mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I
purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it. 12 For you shall go out
in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall
burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come
up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting
sign that shall not be cut off.
The message
About
2 years ago, I made a big decision to change our Sunday readings from the
familiar and shared Revised Common Lectionary to a relatively new and less known
list called the Narrative Lectionary. I
felt like something had to change. This
move has greatly affected my preparation, sermons and understanding of the
church year. The purpose of this new
list is to tell the story of God’s revelation to us in a time or chronological
order, to help communities see the whole picture, to place the events, miracles
and hopes of the bible in their context to better see how God speak to ours. We have one reading a week to allow a more
focused and connected worship. We have old testament readings from September to
Christmas. This allows us to see the hope, need and expectation for the
Messiah. We read one of the Gospels from Christmas to Easter (John this year).
This allows us to experience and even participate in Jesus ministry as it
happened, to feel the tensions, drama, fear and joy. From Easter to Pentecost, we read the Acts of
the Apostles and Paul’s letters, as we live in the time after Jesus death and
resurrection, we find inspiration and knowledge in what Jesus first followers
did in that time.
It
is now the last Sunday before Christmas and we are at the end of our Old
Testament series for this church year. Next Sunday, we will sing familiar
carols of great history, comfort and joy, we will announce Christ our savior is
born, we will remember the grace of God appeared bringing salvation to
all. However, we will hear the story of
Christmas from John’s Gospel, where all we get is a single sentence, the word
made flesh and dwelled amongst us. There
is no nativity, no census, no angels or shepherds, no cast of characters or
drama. Instead, all of those events are summarized by their deepest meaning and
importance, God’s active, living, powerful word made flesh, seen, heard and
experienced in ways people, who themselves had seen great things, could not even imagine,
This
morning is going to be a sort of year in review from our Old Testament
readings. The reason we spent 3 plus
months on Sunday readings without Jesus should be explained. It is something
thoroughly and completely Lutheran, something that helps us make sense of why
Christmas matters. We did this to see that God’s word works on us and on the
world. We were shown the power of God’s
word in history and human life.
We
have really spent the past few months getting glimpses of what God’s word can
do, hearing Old Testament readings that
look forward to the birth of the Messiah, that explain and explore God’s
promises, people’s hope and the power of God to change things. In the beginning of September, we heard one
of the creation stories in Genesis.
Today, we hear one of the later works of a prophet (Isiash 55 is the end of a collection known as second Isaiah, prophesy
shared at the time of the return from exile around 520 bc). A lot happened in between those two events
and times, a lot that we looked at but even more that we did not stop for.
We
started with a story of creation from Genesis. This reading teaches us that God
is in the world, that everything and
everyone has a place, a purpose and a relationship with God. God’s word “let there be light”, Let there be
air, let there be sky let there be stars, Let there be land, let there be
animals, let there be humans in our image”, all of these tell us God’s word is
the creative and sustaining foundation of our world.
God’s
word is not always cosmic, sometimes God’s word is very personal, spoken to
just one or two people. There was the sacrifice of Isaac, one of the most
challenging experiences in the bible, when Abraham is told to kill Isaac, the
son that God had promised and given him and Sarah. God intervenes at the last second, sending an
angel to stop Abraham. God’s word has the power to kill and make alive.
Sometimes
God’s word is for a specific community and time. In calling Moses from the
burning bush, God starts the process of setting the people free from slavery in
Egypt with a word, The Lord God says let my people go. There is the appointment
of leaders, Samuel anointing a new king even though he likes the old one, There are the prophets and great leaders of
Israel, The ones who survived, always knew where their power and strength came
from.
Sometimes,
God’s word is immediate. After freedom from slavery in Egypt, there is
confusion, anxiety and fear of hunger and thirst. God’s word provides Water
from a rock and bread on the desert floor. There is God providing our day and
daily bread, God’s word giving the things to sustain life.
Sometimes
God’s word is speaking to things a long time into the future. The promise of
restoration to Israel, spoken at times of defeat and loss of faith. The promise of a savior for all nations
spoken at a time of deep and violent division.
Sometimes
God’s word is not what you want to hear.
Sure the prophets spoke great promises, God has not forgotten you, God’s
word, God’s promises are still good,
things will be restored but they also spoke corrective truth, confronting
faithlessness, greed, abuse of power and corruption.
We
heard revelation to us of God present in the world, we were inspired by the
faithful work and choices of God’s people, we learned from their example as
they struggled with the violent, complex social and political events of their
time and wondering what it meant for us today, We were challenged by ancient
words of correction, restoration and hope still incredibly relevant for us
today.
Our reading today from Isaiah 55 is one of
those times when God’s ancient word still matters. It is described as an appeal
to participate in the restoration of Jerusalem, a call to the people of God to
come back home, come back to church, come together and live in the joy and
peace God has promised. God’s word to the people through the prophet Isaiah is
“the restoration is real, it is good, try it”. That meant leaving whatever
lives, resources, comforts and homes they carved out in the land of exile. It was a bold leap of faith. It confronted
some very practical concerns, how will we eat, what happens to our money and
property. I was a successful banker here, what will I be there.
Last
week, God reanimates a valley of dry bones, a symbolic vision of God restoring
Israel and all those who feel like they are in that place of hopelessness and
neglect. This week things get a lot more personal, we go from the world of
ecstatic visions that demand explanation to a world where everyone eats and
drinks, where food, water, shelter are
basic human rights. The truth is
you who have no money, come buy and eat is as strange as a valley of dry bones
coming back to life.
This
Christmas we have to remember If God’s word spoken into nothing can create
life, If God’s word spoken by Ezekiel can restore life to a pile of very dry
bones, if God’s word spoken by Jeremiah can change the course of life for a
whole people , if God’s word spoken by Moses and Aaron can set the people free
from the Egyptian Empire, can make water flow from a rock and bread on the
desert floor, imagine what that word made flesh, living amongst us can do,
maybe it can even let you who have no money come buy and eat.
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