It seems the Bible has a paid advertisement in it. The kind of appeal that reflects the wisdom of advertising marketing 101. Already with our Old Testament reading we heard the pitch: “Come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”
“Listen diligently to me and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” The gift of salvation God gives us is portrayed as a rich meal. This is an invitation to dine at the table of the eternal God. Come to the table, the feast is spread!
Buy food without money and without price. This is one of those appeals that sounds too good to be true. Where does all the free abundant food come from? How good could this feast be that we do not put any money into? What is the catch?
Sometimes when a paid advertisement makes you second guess things, it is helpful to ask what story does the money trail tell? If you know who or what group spent money on the ad, then you have an idea of where things started. In the case of this ad in Isaiah chapter 55, the money trail does tell a great deal.
Just a few chapters earlier, Isaiah chapter 53- the chapter that is quoted in our Lord’s Passion accounts. In that chapter there is record of the most significant cost paid in the history of the world.
“He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one who men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities.”
Sound familiar, of course. Jesus’ final few days on this earth. He is rejected and beaten. He is whipped and bloodied. You can picture how the Roman soldiers despised him. You have seen pictures of His wounds and that he was so crushed he could not even carry his own cross to his execution. Stricken, smitten, afflicted.
Jesus does all this to set the table with the richest of foods. He bore our griefs. He carried our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions. He has all of our sin and iniquity on His shoulders. And by His stripes we are healed.
On that cross he prepares forgiveness for that iniquity. By that suffering the table is covered with salvation. His death puts eternal life on our plates. And though undeserving of this gift, he calls us all to come.
How can this be, as undeserving as we are that Jesus does all this just for us, so that we may be guests at the feast? What manner of love is this?
The people of Israel complained about free food provided to them. They wanted more variety, more richness than the manna that came down from heaven. They were too focused on the food itself instead of the miraculous activity happening before them, The Lord providing for them all they needed on their journey to the promised land. Somehow they lost sight of the amazing gift of love.
Sometimes if you build up your expectations with food too much you might find disappointment. After all, contrary to what billboards on the highway may want us to believe, there is more to life than eating food.
God provides us with all that we need, and if we only focus on the food, we might think of how money and other geographical barriers keep us from having the freshest choicest foods the world has to offer. Instead of saying thanks, we could say, I want more. We could miss the big picture that what is truly important is the gift of God’s love present in the food available to us.
My wife and I have been watching a tv series called “Can Somebody feed Phil” its not an original concept, just comedy writer Phil Rosenthal traveling to different regions of the world and sampling food. The food all looks so good because it is always made with care by the people Phil visits.
When other people make food for you, that is half the enjoyment of the food, it is a gift that it is prepared by people who care about us, and before that, the food’s availability and vitality is a gift from God who care for us more than we can see. The rich feast set before us is a gift of Jesus. Jesus prepares the feast.
A significant component of what makes this advertising appeal in Isaiah chapter 55 work so well is that the feast prepared for us is described in stark contrast to the alternative options out there on the market.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? The things we spend our own money on, the fulfillment we seek on our own is not bread. Sort of like when you get something from a vending machine and see the long list of ingredients with words you can hardly pronounce, where it should just say wheat flour and peanuts- and you think, this is not even real food.
When we seek the fulfilment offered by the billboards and pop up ads of this world, they always let us down. They are attempting to teach something false, that we can be filled and nourished apart from God’s Word. When we seek after things that take us away from God’s Word, we spend our money on what is not bread.
Why do you eat food that is not bread and why do you labor for that which does not satisfy? Apart from the gifts Jesus brings us our labor is always in vain because in this fallen world all our labors always amount to destruction and eventually death.
The punishment of the fall is that Adam would labor and toil in sweat and hardship until death. “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken, for you are dust and to dust you shall return.” The realization that nothing will last is part of what makes the advertisements even more enticing, to make the little bit of life we have satisfying, don’t miss out fulfilling those things on your bucket list.
Our gospel reading helps us to see that Jesus offers so much more than satisfaction while we are fortunate enough to enjoy- before the sands of the hourglass all slip through to the bottom. Jesus offers us bread that satisfies to eternal life. He offers this to everyone, Jesus fed not just the disciples, but the whole crowd in the group called five thousand.
A recent survey about political censorship in America today found that 62% of people today are uncomfortable revealing anything in public about their political beliefs. People in our world today are scared. We are afraid to let others know what we think for fear of the reaction. In fact one of the questions found that 44% of those under the age of 30 think it is acceptable for a company to terminate employment of an executive based on evidence of the person making a donation to a political party that you disagree with.
In other words, a significant percentage of our younger population think that some people should be treated with respect, and those who have different political beliefs than you, should have things important to them like their jobs taken away as punishment for their beliefs. And for those over the age of 30, this belief is not exactly rare either.
This is an illustration of the effects of the fall in our world today. This is part of the toil and futility of the fall, that we should seek to cut down one another because we see things differently. Jesus invites us to an identity that does not bring division, but unity, he brings salvation to all. Jesus invites all who are thirsty to come to him and be satisfied, not just those who vote a certain way.
And Jesus leads His church to proclaim this free gift. From the missionary journeys of St. Paul, to the exile of John on Patmos, the New Testament continues to celebrate the invitation to come.
“The Spirit and the bride say “Come.” And let the one who hears say “Come” and let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” Revelation 22:17
Listen to the beginning on the Collect prayer: Heavenly Father, though we do not deserve Your goodness, still you provide for all our needs of body and soul. The prayer says it so well. We receive what we have not earned. God shows love to us in all of the things that provide for us body and soul.
God’s Word provides refreshment to our view of our lives. Like windshield wipers clearing away the rain moment by moment, God’s Word helps us to push aside all our own preoccupations with how slowly and painstakingly our daily work comes together and how inefficient we are in our toils. Jesus helps us to see how easy it is for us when we readily receive. He gives us what truly satisfies. Amen.