‘Free for all’

Whenever we go out for a meal with my in-laws, I wonder if you can guess who pays for the meal?!

My father-in-law is always quick as a flash to get to the counter and cover the costs, you really have to plan it out if you want to beat him to it! Living the student lifestyle it was always very welcome to have the costs covered, but now I look forward to beating him to it and getting in to pay first! It’s funny how this is a bit of a guy or a dad thing I think – I remember at a big dinner we had a couple nights before our wedding, can you guess who was fighting it out to pay at end of the meal – both dads were there, working it out, probably both trying to pay a bit more than the other! I wonder if you’ve had a similar experience, maybe you’re the one who covers the costs!

The first verse of our reading from Isaiah today made me think of my generous father-in-law, who pays the bill for everyone else at the restaurant, which means everyone else can just show up ‘without money and without cost!’ Food and drinks both covered, pretty good deal there!

Of course Isaiah is not only talking about delicious food and refreshing beverages here is he, there is a bit more going on that we’re going to dig into here.

There’s actually a lot going on in this passage, it’s rich with imagery and ‘food for thought’ we could say, so let’s break it down into 3 main sections, with a bonus section at the end just for fun.

Verses 1-2:

• Buying without money, without cost
• Listen and receive from God the “richest of fare,” ‘you [your soul] will delight in abundance’

3-6:

• Again God says to ‘listen’ (says listen three times, also ‘give ear’)
• God refers to what he did for David, saying he does this for his people
• More goodness to receive, be “endowed with splendour,” ‘glorified’

7-9:

• Words for ‘wicked,’ ‘unrighteous.’ God will not condemn them but have mercy on them/pardon them. His ways/thoughts are not like ours!

Bonus section, verses 10-13 (not in our reading today)

• The way God’s word works is described, ‘it will not return to him empty.’ 
• God says, ‘Go out in joy and be led forth in peace!’

Section 1 – ‘Buy without money, without cost’

Come, all you who are thirsty – where have we heard that before?? 

John 7:37-39a – ‘Jesus said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, a scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive’.

This ‘thirst’ is not just wanting a drink > reading into the original Hebrew and Greek this is about deep spirituallonging/desire, need & dependance on God for sustenance/fulfilment. We’ve got literal & metaphorical interpretations going on here > we know what it is to be thirsty for a drink, and we also as human beings have this deep, spiritual longing in our soul.

And God doesn’t only call thirsty people, who else does he call? Those who have no money! The thirsty can drink and those without money can buy – this is not a good business model from God is it! This is not the sort of model that’s going to earn a profit – we can see here that’s not what God is about. He’s about providing for those in need, so what does that mean for us? That’s what we’re about too! He’s about providing for those in need, so are we. What God is about, that’s what we’re about too.

Then we see this reference to the ‘richest of fare,’ also translated as ‘abundance for the soul.’ How do we get that? Not by trying to earn it, that can’t be done. We don’t need to figure out a way to obtain this abundance, because we get it by ‘listening’ to our God, by hearing what he says to us. The abundance for our soul is right here in these words, we can take God at his word – that’s what our faith depends on, the truth of God’s word.

This leads us into the next section where God says >>

Section 2 – ‘Endowed with splendour’

“Listen, that you may live.” 

To hear from God is to hear about life, about an everlasting covenant, about faithful love. What he did for David he does for his people. And the blessings God gives to Israel will extend to ‘nations they know not,’ because of the goodness of God. 

What does it mean to be ‘endowed with splendour?’ What an image that is. It means glorified, we could think of this as ‘being equipped with glory,’ not by any work of our own but by God giving it to us freely > that’s the idea behind the word ‘endowed,’ not a word we use often today but it can describe ‘naturally possessing’ something, so it’s not about achieving any status with God but freely receiving what he gives us – and what does he have for us? Splendour, glory, very good things we can’t fully comprehend! Listen that we may live, hear about the goodness of God that is for you, for me, for all people.

And the last part of this section calls us to ‘seek the Lord while he may be found’ – there’s a sense of urgency there, God is here now so let’s go to him now! 

We know God is always near, but the way this reads reminds us to take the opportunity to do life with God, don’t put it off, don’t let other things get in the way! We might even say life’s too short not to do it with God, every step of the way. 

And when is God near? Right now, here in worship, also at home on a Tuesday night, driving in the car, in good times, bad times, in-between times. ALL THE TIME. Not just when we call on him, he is the one who is ever-present even if we drift or get distracted or busy ourselves with life’s demands. So we can always go to him, we can always call out to the Lord our God, the one who has amazing things like splendour and glory just for us. 

Section 3 – ‘God’s ways are not our ways’

Now we come to a different group of people, or so it might seem! We hear about the ‘wicked,’ the ‘unrighteous,’ these people who need to change their ways and their thoughts! 

God’s ways and God’s thoughts are not like ours > this hints at who this group of people really are, not some terrible group of the worst people ever – this is you and me. 

All people who sin against God – none of us are excluded from that list! We have all been ‘wicked’ and ‘unrighteous,’ we have all been guilty and we have all made idols of things that are not God! 

The original Hebrew wording sheds some light on terms like ‘wicked’ and ‘unrighteous,’ terms that can be a bit hard to get our heads around. The same words in the original Hebrew can refer to those who are guilty, those who make idols of things that are not God. That helps us see we are in this very same boat, this is not some terrible boat over there away from us, this is where we are as sinful people. 

But we have great hope in these words, where God tells us his ways are not like ours, his thoughts are not like ours. Thank God for that! He has good plans for the boat we find ourselves in – we’ve already heard this today > he wants this boat to be his boat, these people to be his people, where there is food and drink for the hungry and thirsty, where those who have nothing can receive abundance and splendour. An incredible vision from Isaiah.

Bonus Section – ‘God’s word will not return to him empty’

And now we come to the bonus section, the verses of this chapter not in our reading today but that round out this incredible word from Isaiah.

In these verses we hear God’s word has work to do, and he will make sure it’s work is accomplished! What is this hinting at? That he will send ‘his word’ into the world in bodily form to save the world, to make good on his promises. He will send his son Jesus into the world to achieve what we cannot achieve, to give us hope, peace and a future with him. His word will not return to him empty, God’s will is going to be done – and don’t we pray for this every time we say the Lord’s Prayer! 

Isaiah uses lovely natural and supernatural imagery here, the earth flourishing, the mountains and hills bursting into song, the trees of the field clapping their hands. The sort of stuff we can’t comprehend, we can only try to imagine this side of heaven.

There is a great little blessing in here, God says, ‘go out in joy and be led forth in peace.’ I like that, go out with joy, led by peace > we don’t have to create peace, only be led by God’s peace. A comforting thought there.

So we’ve covered a lot there, Isaiah always has so many great images and profound turns of phrase to help us understand who God is, who we are and what he’s done for us. We can summarise the framework we have today for understanding how God works like this:

• We can come before our God, we can come and we can receive what he has to give us ‘without money and without cost.’ This is free for all, not in the sense of doing whatever you want but in the sense of God providing for our needs, more than that – he gives us a new life to live with him.
• How do we access God, how does his goodness reach us? By listening to him, by the power of his word in our hearts and minds through the work of the Holy Spirit. Listen, that you may live. Not work hard for it, freely receive it.
• We are guilty, we make idols of things that are not God, but God has mercy, he has forgiveness for us. He wants to change our direction from guilty to innocent, from slave to free. 
• God promises to complete the work he set out do, and we get to live in the hope and joy of the resurrection > even as we move through Lent, even as we come near to the cross, even as we grieve, as we struggle, as we continue to stuff it up ourselves. Even then there is hope and joy in the resurrection of Jesus.

Let’s give thanks to God as we pray, that we can come to him with nothing and he will give us abundance, splendour, a place alongside his son Jesus, in a kingdom that endures forever.

Lord we thank you that you call us, hungry and thirsty people, to come to you and there we can receive good food, good drink, more than that we can receive new life through what your son has done for us. Help us in our guilt and when we put other things ahead of you. Remind us of the peace, hope and joy to be found in living as your children. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.