Isaiah 55:1-9.              Come and be satisfied!!                                  3/3/13

55 “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 labour on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare. ³ Give ear and come to me; listen, that you 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 ruler and commander of the peoples. ⁵ Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendour.”

⁶ Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. ⁷ Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
⁸ “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord. ⁹ “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 Our reading again here this morning throws the cat among the pigeons, so to speak, for us and for our country. It challenges the very philosophy which rules our nation at this time. And sadly even us who are Christians have come under its influence. We too have been taken in by the same subtle – but destructive, idea that has permeated our whole society: money and what it gains is the be all and end all of life.

Today money is all important for our survival, security and happiness. It dictates what we do and what we must not do:       what our ethics and morals are; as well as what and who is or is not important. And I could go on. But the almighty dollar is what has become basis and centre of life.

 However, for all of that – are we satisfied, happy and at peace with life and those around us? Has it given us what we really need in life? No – sadly far from it. Sadly it seems the more that we have focused our attention in this area the more we are finding ourselves under pressure and struggling; and the more we find emptiness and dissatisfaction within.

Let me relate to you the story of a farmer that I knew of some years ago – $1 Million – not happy

 Sadly it would seem that our whole country and the western world seems to be going down that same track; and the results are becoming more and more evident: Morality is declining; peace of mind, harmony, sense of community and all the rest are fast disappearing. To make matters even worse, as all these things disappear we continue all the harder to seek to have more and more money and are becoming more selfish and self-centred. So the process continues and gets even worse. And the things that we so desperately need like love, friendship, happiness, peace of mind, security, hope and meaning to life disappears even more.

 Now that should not surprise us. Here again in our text today we are reminded that the truly necessary things of life cannot be bought. The things that are  important in life and which truly satisfy cannot be bought with money or selfishness. As much as that is a bitter pill for our modern human race that is the fact of the matter.

We cannot obtain those things that are truly worthwhile through our own means alone; our knowledge, technology and all of that. That is the reality of the situation – whether we like it or not - whether we want to submit to God or not.

 We can keep on going down the track we have taken in recent years – struggle, sweat, cheat and ignore God most of the time. But if we do we need to remember that we will keep going further and further down the track of emptiness, futility and bitterness.

 On the other hand, we can heed what our Lord is saying here again this morning and so find answers that are truly remarkable. This message here puts a whole different slant on all of this; and it is a real encouragement to us who are seeking satisfaction from life. Because here there is no having a certain amount money,     enough knowledge, or being good enough, or anything else – in order to be able to have that which we really need. Here there are no strings attached:         no catches: no just a bit more. All our Lord says is to come and receive: to come and have all you need and a bit more. Come and have all the security in life that we could ever hope for: security that ensures peace of mind throughout this life and into eternity as well. Come and have all the love, friendship and happiness that will fill your every day – in every way.

 The Lord has it all for us. Everything that is important and fulfilling for us. He promises to satisfy those ever so important needs that we have and that is the great thing in all of this for us – if only we would wake up. Our God has come to us and not only made promises of all this, but has bound himself in a contract to do just that: he made a covenant that he will never break. Through Jesus and his life, death and resurrection that contract was permanently etched into history – signed with his blood so that no-one can honestly dispute it.

 This has all been made available to every single human being here on earth. Through Jesus Christ we now have available to us the very best that God has to offer as an absolute guarantee. He will never leave us or forsake us.

 Remember at our baptism he signed that contact with us, and gives that assurance to us every time we come to the Lord’s Table. There he gives us his very body and blood which he shed on the cross so that we can be sure that he loves us, forgives us, and has eternal life for us. So we can go from here and know that in and with our Lord there is true life, prosperity, love, peace and ever so much more: Enough in fact to satisfy us to the full and to share with those around us.

 So then we can go forward every day knowing that he goes with us; that he cares and that he has the very best in mind for us and or others. Even when things are at their very worst from an earthly point of view, we know that he is there with us, that he cares and that he is using this situation for good. But most of all we still can be absolutely sure that he has won eternal life for us with himself in heaven.

 As we daily listen to his guidance and direction we find that he leads us down paths that may be very interesting – even difficult - but always paths that end in true satisfaction and joy. As we live each moment of our life knowing that our God is there with us and for us – bringing blessing to us and through us to others – we will not be left feeling empty – searching for more.

Take it from me, with God in control, life is anything but boring, empty and meaningless. In fact he gives more than enough to fill each day. Sure some of the situations we will face and the world we live in will not always be easy, never-the-less we have that assurance that he is there with us. And it never ceases to amaze me how in the thick of it all he gives that peace, security and hope that we will never find anywhere else. Yes even in the midst of my failures and weaknesses he brings forward results and blessings that are way beyond what we could do on own or that we would think are possible. Our Lord does make a difference – a big difference.

So let us not listen to the lies of our modern society, that are sending us down a road that we don’t really want to go and which finally leads to futility, unhappiness, dis-satisfaction, emptiness and much more. Our Lord has what is needed to bring our own lives and country back to what it should be and needs to be. With God there with us and we listening to and following him, every moment of every day, things will change. They will change dramatically. That is his promise to us here today.

 So as we take him seriously all the time; and not just now and again, we will begin to once again see the greatness of what he is all promising to us here. He will satisfy our many real needs.

 So to conclude, listen again to what our Lord says here in our text.

Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, ………  Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations you do not know will come running to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendour.” Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.  Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

To him then be all glory and honour, now and always. Amen.

 Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish