The Open Invitation
Psalm 63:1–8 Isaiah 55:1–9
Preached by the Reverend Kathy Peters
March 7, 2010
Isaiah 55:1–9
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.
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.
I will make with you an everlasting covenant,
my steadfast, sure love for David.
See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
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.
Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
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.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
These words from Isaiah were written to a people who were in need of words of hope. They had lost their home and their homeland to a powerful army and were living in exile in Babylon. Their faith had been devastated and Isaiah, who can often proclaim harsh words of judgment and rebuke, offers here tender words that speak the heart and soul of the biblical message: God loves us, no matter what, and reaches out to us even in the worst of times and especially in the times when we have lost our way. Come to me says our God. I will care for you always. Listen carefully and you will discover what life really is about. See my goodness all around you and declare that goodness to the world. Seek my presence in the very life that you are living. Call on your God for I am always near. Forsake, let go of the ways of the world and return home to me and my ways. I will forgive and receive you with open arms….again and again and again!
Come, listen, see, seek, call, forsake, and return.
It is an open invitation to a more meaningful life, a life that satisfies , an existence that’s truly alive, a life that knows forgiveness (“God … will abundantly pardon” (v. 7), a life that is beyond even our imagining ( “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord (v 8). (adapted from Homiletics March 2010 p. 13)
Theologians and now even scientists have said that deep within each human being is a longing to know and be in relationship with the mystery that we call God even as we long to discover the meaning and purpose of our particular life.
Theologians might name it the heart’s deepest yearning. Scientists have named it the God gene. No matter what we call it …we all search for that sacred other beyond ourselves, we all search to answer the “why am I here” question whether we are fully conscious of it or not. And we have all had our times of a faith devastated and in need of words of hope and the invitation to “come home.”
Isaiah’s words have been characterized as wisdom literature: that is a tradition that focuses on ways to live that open a person to the goodness of God. God’s grace provides the foundation for that wisdom. Thus, Isaiah 55 depicts such wisdom in the imagery of a feast that is free to all who seek its goodness.
Isaiah tells us that God is generous and gracious, that we are all invited to the feast……free of charge, that God is near and does not hide from us and that while God remains a mystery…that is we cannot always know or comprehend God’s ways, God’s grace far exceeds our ability to manipulate or control.
So we have this invitation. How are we going to RSVP?
I found a wonderful story from the Sufi mystics that might get us started on our response. Sufism is a part of the Islamic tradition which Wikipedia defines as “a science whose objective is the reparation (the repairing) of the heart and turning it away from all else but God”
The Sufi mystics tell this legend: “It seems that there once were some fish who spent their days swimming around in search of the water. Anxiously looking for their destination, they shared their worries and confusion with each other as they swam. One day they met a wise fish and asked him the question that had pre-occupied them for so long: “Where is the sea?” The wise fish answered: “If you would stop swimming so busily and struggling so anxiously, you would discover that you are already in the sea. You need look no further than where you already are.” (as told in The Art of Spiritual Direction by Carolyn Gatton Crossroad Press 1992 p. 5)
We are invited to look where we already are….God is here. Always waiting for us to
Come and listen and see God’s goodness and grace which is all around.
Seek God and you shall find God.
Call on God and you shall be heard.
Forsake all that does not bring you life
And return to the God of your heart.
Make no mistake though the words are tender this is not God lite. Forsaking all that does not give you life and returning to God is a call to repent or perish… the difficult words the Jesus utters in the gospel lesson for today…. change your ways, change your way of being in the world so that you might have life abundant is a challenging call.
But it also not a pie in the sky promise……..trust and accept the invitation to walk with God on this journey of life and you will be richly fed and blessed even and especially in you darkest days. Amen