Divine Invitation
Isaiah 55:1 – 9
Let me set the scene for the message lesson today. We have a country that has been besieged by a massive and powerful neighbor, there is widespread destruction of homes, businesses, churches. Commerce borders of the edge of complete, food is in short supply, agriculture has been almost completely halted. People flee the onslaught because there is no safety there for them, some are captured and taken away, others pack up what they can carry and seek refuge in other countries, some stay to resist, the rest of the country is left behind either to waste away or to be scavenged to others that have even less.
That reminds us of the recent happenings in Ukraine doesn’t it? It sounds like the humanitarian and spiritual disaster that we have been watching and witnessing over the last few weeks. But the truth in our lesson today is that this describes the people to whom the Prophet Isaiah called to prophesy to, which of course is the people of Israel. As we know, because of their repeated disobedience, God warned the people of Israel that He would send the powerful nation of Babylon to become his instrument of Judgement if they did not turn their hearts back to him.
About one hundred years before the event occurs, inspired by the Holy Spirit, Isaiah wrote words that foretold the desperate situation that would befall the people of Judah at that time. Isaiah envisions what it will be like for the people of Judah after Babylonian army comes and defeats Judah and plunders and pillages the nation and takes some people captive and many would simply flee to neighboring countries.
This would be a trying time to be the People of God. The prophet’s Israelite audience is not well fed. Her enemies and the dispersion of people have exhausted and decimated her. Desolation and death have wreaked havoc on Israel. God has punished her double for all her sins, turning God’s face away from her.
Our lesson today actually comes from the second section of the Book of Isaiah. The first is the “Words of Judgement” which foretells God judgement and retribution of Israel. The second section is the “Words of Comfort” tells Israel how God will forgive them and renew them IF they renew their faith and obedience to Him.
God loved the nation of Israel and refuses to give up on it. God does not break His covenantal promises to her. Even though Israel turns her back on God, God refuses to abandon her or to break the promises God made to David. God is determined to graciously turn his face back toward Israel.
So, God sends the people of Israel, a Divine Invitation through the prophet Isaiah, to come back into relationship with Him to Come and be restored, Come, you who are hungry and thirsty. Come, you who are poor and miserable. Come, share, and delight in the richest of fare, the best food and drink. Come back into the arms of the Father.
Invitations are curious and spurious things. When we know that a big event is going to happen, that all the people that we know will be invited and everyone will be there, we all want to receive an invitation. But when our invitation does not arrive, we placate ourselves by saying that we did not really want to go in the first place, we don’t care for the people that are throwing it or the people that were invited, it isn’t really our type of celebration anyway. But a Divine Invitation to a spiritual banquet from God himself, that is a whole different matter for believers and unbelievers alike! For seekers and believers that seems like something we would desire. So, let us look at who is on God’s list for this Divine Invitation! We find part of the answer to that question in Verse 1:
“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.
In other words, those that are thirsty for renewed life and are without the means to pay for such relief are first on the list! We know these people, we recognize these people, maybe from the morning mirror. These people have an unsated, a not satisfied thirst for validation, for acceptance, for comfort. They have struggled with the challenges of brokenness in their lives, they have a lot of old hopes that have faded away, dreams have languished and are beginning to fade away.
They have found themselves on dead-end streets again and again. Their spirits are empty, unfulfilled, and incomplete. Everything that looks good is seemingly out of reach. No money. No strength. No motivation They are thirsting for something more to life. They are thirsty and broken. These if they are listening closely receive a Divine Invitation.
Yet there is also a second kind of person whom God invites. This kind of person is described in verse 2: “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread of life, and your labor for that which does not satisfy your soul?” This is someone who has money, who has the wherewithal, who has been blessed with success and with fruits of their labor. If the first kind of person is spiritually bankrupt and know it and feels it, this second kind of person is not aware of the brokenness at first yet because they have money and are spending it to fill the spiritual and self-actualization void, challenging the notion that money will buy anything.
But none of it is fulfilling; the new car, the house, the boat, the bank account, the so-called friends. None of these things can fill-up the canyon of need and longing on the inside, no matter how self-sufficient you look on the outside. And God knows even better than you. He has you in mind when he says, why do you spend your money for bread which is no bread of life, and labor for dreams that do not satisfy your spiritual thirst?
So there we have the two types of people to whom the Divine Invitation goes out, to those that are broke and broken and thirsty for comfort and those that believe that comfort is found in the things that money and success can buy. And the truth is that most of us, maybe all of us find ourselves in one of those two groups! Now the question is what will we receive if we accept our Divine Invitation. Isaiah tells us that we receive three things that we will need for our spiritual journey, all without cost: water, milk and wine.
John Piper tells us that water corresponds to the need for refreshment. When you are most thirsty and most desperate, most dehydrated, it is water that you want, and nothing else. Scripture tells us “He leads me beside still waters. With it He restores and refreshes my soul” (Psalm 23:2–3). Friends, God invites you this morning to receive refreshment, restoration, reviving, a new beginning.
Milk corresponds to the need for building up spiritual strength and growing in Christian maturity. When someone is gasping for life, you give them water. But when you want a child to grow day after day, you give him milk again and again. (“The Great Invitation: Come! Drink! Eat! Live! | Desiring God”) God is not just for emergencies and mountain peaks; He is also for Spiritual health and growth in the long run. He invites you not only to come alive with water, but also to be stable and strong with spiritual milk that He provides.
Finally, wine represents passion, the passion that we find in the adoration and love of the Father, passion for us as He willingly gives everything for us and to us, even his only Son. Wine also represents the passion and love that Jesus shows to the Disciples in the upper room, washing their feet and giving of His body. It represents the passion that Jesus shows for whole world, past, present and future, when he willingly climbs up on the cross to die for us.
Hear the Good News my Friends………..
God has water for the thirsty and blessings that cannot be bought. The hungry can feast on and receive the life God offers us. Our hearts are made to worship the true and living God. The delights of this world cannot fill the soul. The twistedness of sin corrupts God’s good gifts. When we come to God’s Word, however, we hear his good and lifegiving voice. He summons us to listen and feast on what is good, to hear his Word and respond with submissive hearts and eager souls so that his righteousness will reshape and reorient our lives. When we come to God, we are coming for the life that is truly life.
The Bible often uses the banquet imagery as a symbol of our salvation. In this Divine Invitation God is saying, “Come and get all that you will ever need!” to all who are burdened and weary. To all who are hungry for eternal life, God says, “Come!” To all who thirst for Christ, the Living Water, God says, “Come!” Yet while it cost God in Christ virtually everything, this meal costs you and me nothing. In fact, the meal God offers through Isaiah is not available for money at any price. It is freely given to all that respond to the Divine Invitation. Come, dear Ones, Come, you are invited!! Amen.