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.

In our Old Testament reading from Isaiah chapter 44 we hear an in depth and majestic description of God’s standing as creator and by comparison the folly of all false gods that are created by man. 

“I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”  This message was given to Isaiah to share to the people of Israel who were away from their homes in exile for their past sins.  Should someone claim to have another god who can save and deliver them, they are asked to come forward. “Who is like me? Let him proclaim it”

God asks followers of false idols to come forward and provide evidence to the court to prove their worth.  Can they predict the future? Can they hold together a people from ancient times to follow them, delivering the people in time of need and prospering their way?  The LORD asks what results false idols have ever brought to the world. 

In the verses that begin chapter 44, which is not included in our lectionary reading for this morning, we hear the most important reason there is no God like YHWH, because God alone formed Israel.  

Isaiah 44:1-2

But now hear, O Jacob my servant,  Israel whom I have chosen!  ² Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you:  Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen.

God Formed us from the beginning.   Our society may have lost sight of this truth long ago, but no matter the changes in science and technology the fact remains that God formed us and shaped us to be His people.  He formed each of us from the womb, just as God first formed Adam of the clay of the earth.  We were made exactly how God intended, with God’s life breath.

Genesis 2:7 “Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living creature.”

”For you formed my inward parts: you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” Psalm 139:13

As our gradual celebrates, how unsearchable are his ways in creating us and forming us with the breath of life. For from him and through him and to him are all things.

We see in the first two verses of Isaiah chapter 44 that  Israel has been chosen from the beginning for the purpose of serving God. Israel was formed for the task of doing God’s purposes and Israel can count on God’s protection for this task.   “Behold my servant whom I have chosen.”

Christ formed us as His body, the church. Through his betrayal and flogging, through His prayers for those who persecuted him on the cross, Jesus began to build his church. Jesus reconciled all people to himself on the cross and through his resurrection he became the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep , through the persecution of the apostles and the blood of the martyrs, Christ chose his church and formed her to be His servant. We did not build the church ourselves: Through the foundation of Holy Baptism Jesus formed us into His church.    

God created us and the church to give glory to Him through our faith and obedience to Him.  When people live their lives apart from His design and only for their own sinful pursuits- then they are pursuing things in life that are apart for what we were designed for. 

This is like using a tennis racket for playing baseball, or using a baseball bat to play tennis. We would be missing most of the enjoyment of the sport in not sticking with the original design.

Just after the selection of Isaiah 44 that served as our Old Testament reading there begins in verse 9 a description of those who fashion idols. God formed us, and we form idols. Listen to the reading as it describes the irony and pathetic nature of how people create their own gods and worship them.  The reading gives a picture of the folly of pretending that we can create gods that can save us. 

Isaiah 44:9-20

⁹ All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame. ¹⁰ Who fashions a god or casts an idol that is profitable for nothing? ¹¹ Behold, all his companions shall be put to shame, and the craftsmen are only human. Let them all assemble, let them stand forth. They shall be terrified; they shall be put to shame together.

¹² The ironsmith takes a cutting tool and works it over the coals. He fashions it with hammers and works it with his strong arm. He becomes hungry, and his strength fails; he drinks no water and is faint. ¹³ The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house.

¹⁴ He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. ¹⁵ Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it. ¹⁶ Half of it he burns in the fire. Over the half he eats meat; he roasts it and is satisfied. Also he warms himself and says, “Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire!” ¹⁷ And the rest of it he makes into a god, his idol, and falls down to it and worships it. He prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god!”

¹⁸ They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand. ¹⁹ No one considers, nor is there knowledge or discernment to say, “Half of it I burned in the fire; I also baked bread on its coals; I roasted meat and have eaten. And shall I make the rest of it an abomination? Shall I fall down before a block of wood?” ²⁰ He feeds on ashes; a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

It is sad to hear this description.  There is a sense of the man’s pride in what he accomplishes with using wood and fire- but this pride is tragically misplaced.  It has led to a false idol worship. And what is more we heard the LORD has shut their eyes so they cannot see and their ears so they cannot understand- so that the unbeliever does not stop to think “Is there a lie in my right hand?”  God formed us and we form gods.

In our current time there are a lot of things we design and create in terms of food crop varieties, animal breeding, and technology innovations, When it comes to technology most of what we create is simply an innovation or variation of what has already been invented in the past.  When it comes to genetic modifications, we are only taking the life God has already created and focusing on certain traits to express them more.

If we recognize innovations and cultivations as a gift from the LORD we are thankful for his gifts of creation. When we take the credit ourselves we begin to form idols out of what we make.    

Of course we can’t create a person from clay- or anything that is actually living.  Did you ever hear about the famous Miller experiment from 1952 where he and a partner claimed to have simulated early conditions of the earth and built amino acids- the building blocks of proteins? This was an energizing concept for evolutionists, that they could simulate past conditions and build molecules.       

Of course it did not prove anything, the amino acids were not such that could build life, the gases used would not survive in an oxygen rich environment which current research identifies was present in the atmosphere in all geology and fossil records. And most importantly the experiment proposes no explanation for the design and order necessary for cells to function. This experiment was simply a foundation in the false idol of scientific pursuits.  When it comes to making the conditions of life, man is helpless.

Despite the folly of our sinful human nature, despite the false idols we make of money and wealth and savings, or popularity and social standing, or nutrition and health, appearance or politics or family reputation and success- God still loves us and cares for us and actively works to form us away from false idols and into His image.   

Isaiah 44:21-28: Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant;  I formed you; you are my servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.  ²² I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud  and your sins like mist;  return to me, for I have redeemed you.²³ Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it;  shout, O depths of the earth; break forth into singing, O mountains,  O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and will be glorified in Israel.

²⁴ Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,  who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens,  who spread out the earth by myself, ²⁵ who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish, ²⁶ who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,  who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’  and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,  and I will raise up their ruins’; ²⁷ who says to the deep, ‘Be dry;  I will dry up your rivers’; ²⁸ who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,  and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’  and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’”

God is forming us:  Listen how the God who is there promised to Israel in the time of exile a future through the promise that Jerusalem would be inhabited, the cities of Judah built.  God even references forming and shaping the landscape to save Israel as in the case of the deliverance from Pharaoh when, deep rivers became dry.

God formed Israel through the oath he led King Cyrus to make:  Saying of Jerusalem she shall be built and of the temple, Your foundation shall be laid.

God did not create us and leave us be.  He forms us with His Word. And he redeems us.  In this chapter God provides rescue and redemption from bondage through use of a king of another nation- Cyrus.  Cyrus was used to fulfill God’s purposes.  Now in these last days he has spoken to us through His Son Jesus Christ.  Like Cyrus was for the people in exile longing for return, Jesus is our Shepherd who unites us with the Father’s will.

Jesus forms us to call those who are captive by false idols to know his joy.  Jesus forms us to be light to the world.  Jesus forms us to be his own and live under Him in his kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. Amen.