Scripture Reading Isaiah
55:1-9
“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.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
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.
See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a ruler and commander of the peoples.
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 splendor.”
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.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Here ends this reading of the Word of God
for the People of God, Thanks be to God. Amen.
Prayer for Understanding
O
God, we turn to the Scripture to seek your wisdom and your truth.
Send
your Holy Spirit to open our minds and hearts to receive your Word for our
lives and our times. Equip us to follow Jesus Christ, your Living Word.
Amen
Message Open Invitation
In 1989, we
first watched a beautiful red-haired mermaid show off her collection of
treasured human objects and sing:
“Look at this stuff
Isn't it neat?
Wouldn't you think my collection's complete?
Wouldn't you think I'm the girl
The girl who has everything?...
But who cares?
No big deal
I want more.”
Ariel wanted
more. She wanted more stuff even though the “stuff” she had was useless for
her.
Like Ariel, we often have
collections of stuff, and often the objects we have are not very useful.
What would you take with you if you
had to walk 900 miles, carrying your most essential objects with you? Your
birth certificate? Your children’s baby photos? Your mother’s wedding ring?
What would you take on your journey? And, what would you leave behind?
In chapter 55, the Prophet Isaiah
invited the exiled people of Israel to return to Israel and to return to their
faith in God. The people had been exiled to the land of Babylon – they lived in
exile for about 80 years. And despite
being forced to move to Babylon, they had trouble leaving.
For most of the exiles, Babylon was the only home they had
known. They were used to it. They were comfortable. And, the city-state of
Babylon is almost 900 miles from Jerusalem. So, the exiles had to travel a
long, arduous journey – a four month caravan journey – to get from Babylon to
Jerusalem. I can’t imagine gathering up my things and walking 900 miles ….I
would have to leave so many things behind.
It was difficult for the Babylon exiles to commit to the
journey.
But, God calls us to follow God. And, God calls us to be
faithful. For the Jewish people exiled in Babylon, God wanted them to return to
the land of Israel to live together among people who shared their faith. God knew there is strength in numbers, there
is strength in community. And, the people of Israel were more likely to remain
true to their faith and true to their God if they lived together in a community
where they were encouraged to practice their religion.
In the Season of Lent, we are invited to remember God’s ways and
turn back to God. We may not have the option of living in a completely Christian
environment – many of us live with family members who are not explicitly Christian
– our community is not explicitly Christian – our schools are not explicitly Christian
– our work places are not explicitly Christian (except for my work place.) So
we have to live as the exiles did centuries ago as faithful people in a
religiously diverse world.
Even though we don’t have the benefit of being surrounded by
people who share our faith, we are called to practice our faith and practice
our beliefs despite the challenge. Part of our work in this season is to let go
of the things that distract us from God – like Ariel was fascinated by lovely
yet useless objects – we are often enthralled by lovely yet useless
distractions… perhaps I will spend more time in prayer if I stop watching so
much reality tv – perhaps I will spend more time in service to God if I sop partying
so much – perhaps I will spend more time reading my Bible if I stop looking at
my phone so much. You get the drift. We fill our days with things that are
often lovely yet useless, lovely yet unproductive. Instead of frivolity, we are
encouraged to spend more time with God.
As we have been observing the news from Ukraine and the plight
of refuges from the war, we see many stories of people who had to leave behind everything
– their husbands, their fathers, their jobs, their homes, and their stuff. Sadly,
these victims have been forced to bring only the bare necessities on their journeys.
Our hearts break for them.
And, although we hope to never be in their shoes, we can look at
our lives and recognize quite a contrast. Considering the example set by our Ukrainian
brothers and sisters, we can see that our lives are often overly complicated. It
is ok for us to let things go. It is ok for us to simplify our activities. It
is ok for us to put down our phones and turn off the tv. It is ok to give up
some of our stuff. Because, the most important parts of our lives, our faith,
our families, and the people we love are connected to us and here for us even
when all of those other things go away.
I pray, my friends, we will allow ourselves to let go of the
things that distract us, and will focus on our faith in God and the people who
are important to us .
May it be so. Amen.
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