A
All you
there who are thirsty, come to the water! Come even if you have no money; buy
food and eat; come, buy wine and milk without money, at no cost. Why spend your
money for what is not food? Why spend your earnings for what does not satisfy?
Listen closely to me if you want to eat well; you will be delighted with the
richest fare. Come to me and incline your ear; listen, and your spirit will
revive. I shall make with you a perpetual covenant, the tokens of faithful love
shown to David. As I made him a witness to peoples, a prince who ruled over
nations, so you will summon nations you do not know; nations that do not know
you will come running to you for the sake of the Lord your God, the Holy One of
Israel who made you glorious.
Seek the
Lord while he may be found, invoke him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake
their ways, the sinful their devices. Let them turn back to the Lord that he
may take pity on them, to our God, ever ready to pardon. For my thoughts are
not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways. For as high as is the sky above
the earth, so are my ways above your ways, my thoughts above your thoughts. For
as the rain and the snow fall from the sky, nor return there without watering
the ground, causing it to bring forth vegetation, giving seed for the sower and
bread for food, so is it with my word that issues from my mouth; it does not
return to me empty but accomplishes what I purpose and achieves what I send it
to do.
The Word of the Lord
Homily by The Rev Timothy A Leitzke
It is still
en vogue in parts of the Church to talk about ‘seekers’. It’s a technical term
for those who are looking for spiritual nourishment. It’s a great term; it
carries certain connotations with it of Church Growth and special ‘seeker
services’ designed for the ‘unchurched’ as an easy introduction to the ‘real’
or ‘member services’. You probably can tell that I’m not entirely sold on this
method, though there are some things that I like about it, and one of them has
to do with that term, ‘seeker’. It acknowledges that people are seeking
something. The world—or, rather, Sin disguised as the world—has a lot to offer,
and all of it is hollow. A lot of us, even those involved in worship life, feel
like there’s a god-shaped hole in us. We’re empty, and we’re seeking something
to fill us.
Sin,
disguised as the world, has plenty of ideas for us. It tries to sell us sex,
credit cards, home security systems, beer, SUVs, cell phones, computers, more
SUVs, more beer, frivolous drugs, diamonds…you name it, and Sin will tell you
that it is the piece that will fill
the god-shaped hole in your life. Deep down we know that it doesn’t fit, any
more than a square peg fits into a round hole. God fits and we’re seeking God.
We need a clue. We need a hint. We need some idea of where to look.
The Book of
Isaiah tells us, “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he
is near,” and invites us, “All you who are thirsty, come to the water! Come,
even if you have no money; buy food and eat; come, buy wine and milk without
money, at no cost.” How much nearer could God be than in the free meal that we
share: the body and blood of Christ? God is so near to us in this meal that God
is inside of us, becoming a part of us. GOD IS IN THIS MEAL!
While that
is not necessarily the end of the search, one needs look no further than Holy
Communion to see God. One needs only to ponder what we do in Holy Communion to
see God revealed. God is here in our Confession from our knees, a Confession
that we’ve tried things besides God to fill that god-shaped hole. God is here
in the Forgiveness we proclaim, Forgiveness of our sin of seeking God
elsewhere. God is here in the Community gathered in this room right now. God is
here, given freely as bread and wine, simple food, nourishing us early this
morning so that we can go out and do God’s work. That’s how God functions: God
gives of God. God gives God’s self freely to us so that we can live. That
knowledge might not be the end of everyone’s search, but it will begin to fill
that god-shaped hole. Seek the Lord here, where he’s promised to be. Amen