Sermon Isaiah 55:1–5 Come All Who are Hungry

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Beaver Dam and Pitts Creek Churches

Sermon Isaiah 55:1–5 Come All Who are Hungry

August 3, 2014

Isaiah 55:1-5 ^NIV Isaiah 55:1 "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. ² Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. ³ Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. ⁴ See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples. ⁵ Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor."

This summer we have been looking at the Old Testament and thinking about our relationship with God. God told the prophet Isaiah that we should not value things of stone, metal and wood more than we value God. God told King Solomon that we should not set priorities that place wealth and power above our relationship with God. Today, we return to Isaiah and take a look at what really satisfies our hunger. We will get to this, but first, let's pray.

Holy One, as I walk through this new day, help me to see each experience as an opportunity to reflect on what it means to be your servant and a chance to help Jesus feed those in need, guided by your steadfast love for me. Amen.¹

In the sixth century BC the Hebrew people were taken into exile in Babylon. The Babylonians had taken all the people that could help them, the government officials, the artisans, the professionals, the farmers, and anyone else they thought could help to support the empire. To keep them happy the Babylonian king did what all governments do. They gave away free stuff hoping that the Hebrews would be satisfied in their new home. Listen to their sales pitch in the Babylonian marketplace.

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. (Isaiah 55:1)

The Babylonian king was offering free wine and milk. What a great deal! This was very seductive as is free stuff today. Our government tries to keep us satisfied with subsidies on homes and education and farms and food and even light bulbs for churches. Our government provides free food, phones, health care and subsidizes housing for the poor. The government's hope is that we will be satisfied with all the free stuff. But are we? I think we now know that free stuff from the government always comes with strings attached. It seduces us into accepting taxes and regulations that advance government power. The free stuff is causing us lose our freedom.

Let me give you an example. Grace and I have our health care through the Presbyterian Board of Pensions. Recently I received a notice from them about some free stuff. A provision in the Affordable Care Act says that we will receive free preventative care. This sounds like a great deal: a free physical with no copay or deductible. But there is a string attached. The cost of insurance is going up and next year many pastor's wives and families will lose their coverage because churches cannot afford the insurance. My “free” preventative care is paid for by the loss of insurance for my wife. Am I satisfied with a “free” thing that is not really free? Not really.

So if free things don't satisfy us, what does? Maybe it is what we pay for. Certainly what we spend our money on will satisfy? Won't it? Well, let's see.

I remember a time around thirty years ago when Ford came out with a new design for the Thunderbird. It's aerodynamic shape was perfect for times requiring fuel economy. And it looked so good compared to the boxy cars of the 70s. I wanted one more that anything else, but I couldn't afford it. Then a few years later I saw one the original models for sale on a used car lot. It was black with a red stripe and had the Ford 5-liter V8 engine. It was a power car. I really wanted it and was sure that that it would satisfy me. But after I bought it I soon began to have problems. The air conditioning stopped working, $500. It needed new brakes, $300. Every month brought a new problem that cost hundreds of dollars. The dealership told me that 1983 was an experimental year for the Thunderbird and all parts had to be custom ordered. The cost escalated until I couldn't wait to get rid of the thing. I found that buying things, even things I really wanted, did not satisfy me . God put it this way.

Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? (Isaiah 55:2a)

Good question! Getting free stuff doesn't satisfy us. And spending our money on things doesn't satisfy us either. So what does satisfy us? Let's hear what God has to say.

Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. (Isaiah 55:2b-3a)

Are you interested? Do you want to hear what God wants to give you that will satisfy you more than anything else? Well, here it is.

I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David. (Isaiah 55:3b)

So God wants us to be in a covenant relationship with us that will satisfy all of our hungers. In ancient times God had entered into a covenant with the kings of Israel. God promised to love Israel, King David and his family forever. And when David's dynasty ended 600 years before Christ, that covenant was extended to include all the people of God. God would bless them forever and they were to obey his laws. That promise continues to be offered to us today. God loves us and wants our obedience. Are we ready to enter this covenant with God today? If we are, the promise is that our hungers will be satisfied because we will be filled with God's love.

God is offering us a contract. He will love and bless us. He wants us to obey his laws and to love one another. Our entrance into the covenant begins when we pass through the baptismal waters and is renewed when we come around this table. You are God's people, loved by God.

So, what we are to do as members of this covenant? We know that God loves us. How are we to respond? Let's go back to Isaiah and listen to our God.

Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor." (Isaiah 55:4b-5)

Our responsibility, according to our covenant with God, is to witness to others about the good news that God loves us. God has equipped us for this work by giving us everything we need. All we have to do is to share God's love with others. We do this by loving our neighbors as much as God loves us. And this means sharing with our neighbors the good news that our God wants to love them too.

So, this week come to our evangelism camp. It begins tomorrow at 2pm at the Dickinson Memorial Manse. You will receive all you need to share God's love here in Pocomoke. We will learn to share the good news that God loves us. Sharing this is our responsibility as part of covenant we have with God. Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, your church is preparing to proclaim your gospel to the world. Before we go into the streets of Pocomoke we pray that the forces of darkness in our community be bound. We pray that you help us to find the workers you have prepared for town. And we pray that this will help the churches of Pocomoke to unite and continue the gospel movement in this region. This we pray in your name. Amen.

1Feasting on the Word Worship Companion: Liturgies for Year A, Volume 2 © 2014 Westminster John Knox Press p105