come, buy grain and eat; come,
buy wine and milk,
but not for money, not for a price.
Isaiah – sounds like a feast –
Celebration, sounding incongruous with Lent.
BUT:
Some context.
The people have just gone through exile – still feeling it.
Now are being told they’re on receiving end of God’s promises.
Sounds good!
So what would this look like today?
Go back to the reflection I offered at Ash Wednesday:
Isaiah –
Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of injustice,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover them
and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
I invited folks to reflect on their Lenten fast.
Today we return to that concept as we hear again the words of Isaiah.
Come: drink – satiate your thirst.
Waters, of course; literal
Also Living Waters;
What else do you thirst for?
Resources? Companionship? Comfort?
Come: says God; Drink deeply; and without cost.
Buy grain and eat!
Fill yourself; be nourished
With food for body
With food for spirit
What else do you hunger for?
Justice? Joy? Safety?
Come, says God. Eat your fill; and share it with the community.
Buy wine and milk – Even without money
In economy of Grace, money doesn’t matter
In God’s economy, worth isn’t measured in dollars and cents.
How do we measure worth and worthiness?
Not for a price, says God – because these things are priceless and immeasureable.
generosity – and opportunity – faithfulness.
So what do our fasts look like today?
What have we chosen – earthly constraints – to give up?
How do we apply this to our community, our neighbours, our friends, our families?
We know we have struggles:
Homelessness and housing crisis
Opioid crisis
Inequality
Racism
Broken relationships
How do we shift our contexts away from the system that we live in –
To a place where we don’t keep score
We don’t count IOUs
We don’t pit ourselves against each other.
A place where we are equal
Confident in love
Assured of grace
A place where we are satisfied – not by earthly things, but by divine providence
A place where we exchange our own sense of poverty, greed, fear
For God’s abundance of grace, love, blessing.
How do we get there?
Well: we turn to God: the meaning of Lent.
We reconsider what it means to fast: and to trust.
We trust the promised covenant.
We hear prophet’s call: Seek the Lord while God is present, call to God while he is close at hand.
We never forget that God is near: never without God’s presence
We give up the need to control, to dominate, even to understand:
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways; says the Lord.
Relinquishing control isn’t easy.
Engaging the world’s challenges isn’t easy.
But it’s in our path:
Consider how God’s abundance has shown in our lives,
And how we might share /extend that abundance.
It may take us beyond our comfort zones:
Learning more, engaging more, reflecting more…
That’s a good thing.
Doesn’t happen all at once – we keep going back, seeking out the fruit –
Okay to fumble or fail: like the fig tree that “still” hasn’t produced fruit, but is still being tended
But we grow.
We connect.
We address one thing – one small thing, one day at a time: and change the world.
To show the world that we have heard the word of God;
listened to the word of God,
responded to the word of God.
Let’s heed the comforting words of God, coming to us through the confusing words of the world:
Hunger and thirst for what is right;
Be filled by God’s grace and providence.
And go in humble service to the world that God loves.
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