SERMON

+ 3 Lent C

TEXT: Isaiah 55:1-9

DATE: March 7, 2010

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Dallas

 

                                          Some of you know that

                                          when I was in college,

                                          I worked during my summer breaks

                                          for a building contractor.

 

We did a little of everything,

but the thing we were known best for

was concrete and masonry work.

So over those four years,

I poured a lot of concrete footers, foundations, and retaining walls.

 

                                          Sometimes, the concrete truck operator

                                          couldn’t see well enough

                                          how much concrete had been poured into the form

                                          or down into the footer,

                                          so one of our guys stood at the end of the chute

                                          and signaled the operator

                                          when to pour and when to stop.

 

One of our guys

was particularly good at being clear about

when he wanted the concrete to stop flowing.

He shouted, “Ho!”

With that hard, breathy “H”

and that full, round “o” sound

that cut through the whining engine of the truck,

it was easy to hear him:

“Ho!”

 

                                          For him, of course, that meant, “Stop!” “Enough!”  “Whoa!”

                                          But there was no getting around the fact

                                          that he got the operator’s attention

                                          and he expected the operator to listen.

 

I want you to hear

the beginning of Isaiah’s prophecy

in that same way: Ho!

Pay attention!

Stop what you’re doing and listen up!

The prophet has some incredible news to tell

and he wants to be sure that all Israel hears it.

 

                                          Ho!

                                          Listen up!

                                          You who thirst!

                                          You who have no money!

                                          You. Listen carefully.

                                          You.  Incline your ear. 

                                          You.  Come to me.

                                          Because this is about life

                                          and the abundance of the real stuff of life

                                          that God has for you.

                                          For free.

 

We, of course, operate

under a system that is very oriented

to the cost of things,

the price of commodities,

including the basic goods we eat and drink.

We go to the grocery store and buy our food.

 

                                          And as we have evolved,

                                          both as human beings and as a civilized society,

                                          we are increasingly aware that our diets

                                          have become centered more and more

                                          in the…, shall we say peripherally nutritious foods,

                                          like carbohydrates and trans fats –

                                          stuff that does not satisfy –

                                          rather than fiber, proteins, and water

                                          or a balance of all categories of nutrition –

                                          what is good, rich food.

 

But in any case,

those things have a cost –

sometimes completely unrelated to the value of the things –

and we pay it.

We go to the store and pay the price,

because that’s how we operate.

 

                                          But here’s Isaiah,

                                          getting everybody’s attention: Ho!

                                          You thirsty,

                                          you who have no money,

                                          here’s the richest food and drink you can get –

                                          the most valuable food there is –

                                          and it doesn’t cost you a cent.

                                          That’s quite a different kind of grocery store.

 

God provides for his people in abundance

with the milk and honey of the promised land,

and bumper crops of grapes and figs, oil and grain.

God has indeed provided for his people in abundance.

 

                                          None of us worry about going hungry.

                                          We may give a thought to what we’ll have for dinner,

                                          or maybe a short fast for a medical procedure

                                          gets us feeling hungry for a time,

                                          but we never have to worry about whether we will eat.

                                          God’s abundance in creation is simply too great for us

                                          to ever contemplate that possibility.

 

But Isaiah isn’t talking just about food.

The abundance of God’s provision in food

is also a symbol of a greater abundance

of a gift of ultimate value

which nobody can buy.

 

                                          God pours out on us his own Spirit of life,

                                          calls us chosen and children,

                                          brings us into a community of love,

                                          delivers us from fear and death,

                                          forgives us,

                                          and brings us to a new birth into a living hope.

 

The covenant God makes with us in Holy Baptism

is how the abundance of God’s grace and mercy

are given to us.

The sacrament of the table is the meal for us

of the food and drink of ultimate value.

 

                                          This community of believers

                                          together with all the saints of God

                                          around the world and throughout time

                                          is the community of love God joins us to.

 

The cross of Jesus

and his death and resurrection

are the means for us

of the abundant life God gives us

and the new birth and living hope God fills us with.

 

                                          God’s abundance for us

                                          is both real and practical –

                                          like the food we eat –

                                          and spiritual and eternal.

                                          And it’s God’s gift to us – for free!

 

And that’s why Isaiah calls for Israel’s attention: Ho!

Listen up!

You’ve got to hear this.

 

                                          Because he calls everyone

                                          into the grocery store

                                          where their money isn’t any good

                                          but the service and merchandise are second to none.

                                          Where the value is highest

                                          and the cost is nothing.

 

This abundance of God,

these life-giving gifts of God

with a value beyond measure

are not for sale at any price,

but gifts of God to us.

 

                                          When you’ve got such good news,

                                          and an abundance of such value,

                                          how can you not want to get everybody’s attention?

                                          Ho!

                                          Everyone.

                                          Listen up!

 

So imagine this place

to be the place where the food and drink,

the abundance and the Word,

the life and the love

are of ultimate value.

 

                                          Imagine this community of people –

                                          you and me and your neighbor there next to you –

                                          is the source

                                          of the greatest abundance,

                                          forgiveness and new life,

                                          the Promise of God and the guidance of the Spirit.

 

Imagine this to be the store

of God’s great abundance for the world.

We’re the ones who should be out there

shouting, Ho!

Everyone.

Listen up.

Come!

 

                                          Come to the waters.

                                          Come and eat.

                                          Come to the place of God’s abundance and life,

                                          and everlasting covenant.