Today's Sermon

 

“Wisdom for Ordinary Time: Gifts, not Transactions"

           

Today is the final Sunday in our “Wisdom for Ordinary Time” worship series. I want to take some time today to reflect on some of the wisdom that is already within us. We can move through life so quickly that we may not always be aware of the wellspring of wisdom that we possess … if only we take the time to reflect, to ponder, to consider, to wonder. We are going to move through our first scripture passage from the prophet Isaiah slowly - line by line. I will offer a couple questions for reflection after each line. We will then take some time in quiet to consider the wisdom shared by Isaiah, as well as the wisdom of our own hearts. A reading from the prophet Isaiah, chapter 55.

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;

No, God is not turning into Santa Claus here with a “ho, ho, ho.” Other translations from the Hebrew, hôy, could be “hey, you!” or “listen up!” God, through the prophet Isaiah, is trying to get the people’s attention. God has something important to say, and God wants to make sure that everyone hears it.

How does God get your attention? What noise or distractions might you need to set aside in order to listen to God?

 

And you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

First, in the previous line, God invites everyone who thirsts to come to the waters. Not a select few. Not those who have somehow proven themselves. Not those who have earned it. Everyone. All are welcome to be refreshed and renewed in God’s love.

Then, God offers wine and milk for free. What kind of strange economy is this? God operates not out of scarcity, but out of abundance. God’s grace freely and abundantly offered to all people.

Have you ever felt the need to earn God’s love or God’s favor? How does it feel to know that God’s love is freely given to all?

 

I want to stay on this line for a moment, because this is good news, and it is also challenging news. When God says that all are invited to God’s table, God really means all. People who might look different, talk different, think different, behave differently than we do. There are not separate invitation lists. All are invited to God’s banquet of grace together.

With whom is it difficult for you to share a table? How might we be in beloved community with those who are radically different from us?

 

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

If we are talking about what does and does not satisfy, we have to hear from the Rolling Stones – “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction.”

Poor Mick Jagger … he tried and tried, but he could not get satisfaction. It makes me wonder where he was looking, how he was trying to find satisfaction. Too often, we seek satisfaction from the wrong things and the wrong places and the wrong people.

We just began a new study in our Wednesday morning class based on this book, “Being Presbyterian in a Dysvangelical America.” In it, the two authors, who are Presbyterian pastors, write that our society here in the United States is currently built on a consumer ethos. They say, “In a consumer society, we define our existence in terms of conspicuous consumption to communicate our social standing and success in the world. We celebrate and seek the lifestyles of the uber rich and famous. We define our lives by what we consume rather than what we create. Our worth is reflected in social displays of wealth rather than the just society we build with others.”[i]

But does that satisfy? The constant spending and acquiring and comparing our stuff to others is exhausting! “Why do you spend your money and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” asks the prophet Isaiah.

What brings satisfaction to your soul? What in your life is most valuable to you?

 

Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.

This is yet another invitation from God to the abundant life that God offers. One where God feeds us not the scraps, but the rich food. One in which we are truly alive. Come to me, says God. Receive the gift.

God is also imploring us again to listen. Sadly, God doesn’t call out with the “ho” this time, but this message of God’s gift of love and grace is so important that God wants to make absolutely sure we hear it.

When/where/with whom do you feel most alive? What gets in the way of accepting God’s gift of abundant life and of unending love and grace?

 

I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples.

David is a major figure in the Hebrew Bible/the Old Testament. He was a powerful king, chosen by God. He was also deeply flawed. He made some terrible decisions throughout his life. Yet, God continued to show David love and forgiveness. God covenanted with David to never forsake him, and now God reminds us that we are all a part of that covenant. God’s steadfast love is for all. We are forgiven, we are made new, we are set free.

If those words sound familiar, it is because we say them each and every Sunday. Those are our words of assurance, spoken after our Community Prayer. The assurance is a pretty standard part of worship in many churches, but since it happens every single week, I sometimes wonder if it gets a bit rote. I recently read the reflections of another pastor about the assurance time in worship, which resonated with me. He wrote, “As a pastor, I glance around the assembly during this time to see what reactions it elicits. Here we are, bringing people good news of a God whose mercy is from everlasting to everlasting, announcing those blessed words of forgiveness, assuring them that their sins have been wiped away. Is any of this registering with them? Do people really believe it? If they do really believe it, how do they live differently as a result? Does it make any difference in their lives?”[ii]

I ask those questions to you - Does God’s everlasting covenant of steadfast love make any difference in your life? Do you live differently as a result?

 

This theme of God’s grace and love and forgiveness freely given to all is also shared in Psalm 103. Listen now to the words of the Psalmist.

The Lord works vindication and justice for all who are oppressed. God made known God’s ways to Moses, God’s acts to the people of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. God will not always accuse, nor will God keep God’s anger forever. God does not deal with us according to our sins nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is God’s steadfast love toward those who fear God; as far as the east is from the west, so far God removes our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear God.

 

A note about the language of “fearing” God. The Hebrew root is “yara,” which encompasses a larger meaning of awe, reverent respect, or honor. We aren’t scared of God, instead we have a reverential awe of God. Which makes sense! God will not keep God’s anger. God does not repay us for our sins. God removes our transgressions. God works vindication and justice for the oppressed. God has compassion for us. That is very awe inspiring!

I think one of the reasons that this way of being in relationship with God captures our attention is because it is so counter-cultural. We don’t live in a society where gifts as precious as these are given away so freely!

I took the sermon title today from the second chapter of the book I mentioned earlier, “Being Presbyterian in a Dysvangelical America.” The authors note how much of our lives are consumed by transactions. They say, “It has become difficult for us to imagine even our relationships as something more than transactions, a tit for tat. Transaction has become the primary and pervasive means by which we define and understand our social and communal lives.”[iii] To think of God’s grace and love and mercy as a gift, rather than a transaction blows our minds just a bit because that is not how our society works. Surely I must do something to earn it. Surely, God, you must want something from me first before you offer me your steadfast love. But time and time again, God assures us – my love is a gift, not a transaction.

So do we really not need to do anything in return for this precious gift? The short answer is no … God gifts us God’s love no matter what. The longer answer is, hopefully we will feel called to respond - not out of a sense of obligation, or guilt, or tit for tat, but because we are so moved by God’s love and grace, we cannot help but be changed. We cannot help but be moved with gratitude for God’s amazing gift. And then we cannot help but respond to love with love.

Retired pastor Michael Ruffin shares this story. He says, “Many years ago, my family moved and needed to find a bank where we could deposit our less-than-considerable funds. One bank had billboards advertising ‘really free checking.’ I called the nearest branch and asked the lady who answered, ‘Would you please tell me about this really free checking?’” It makes sense that he was confused. Nothing is really free, right?

She replied, to Ruffin, “‘It’s really free!’ And it really was,” he recalls. “The account carried no fees.”

But, he continues, “We needed to be responsible. For example, we didn’t write checks that we didn’t have sufficient funds to cover.”[iv]

That analogy falls apart a little because God does still love us during our metaphorical bad check writing times. Hopefully, though, because of God’s love we make the choice to not write bad checks. Instead, we choose to live with the same love and kindness and mercy that God shows us.

If you’re wondering what that might look like, we just so happen to have an opportunity for you this week. For the last several years, right before school starts, we have made a commitment to pray for as many teens in Marin by name as possible. Using school yearbooks, we have spent a week praying for each individual student. The yearbooks will once again be in the sanctuary this week, and I invite you to find a time to come and pray. You can stay for 5 minutes or a couple of hours. That is up to you. The yearbooks will be marked so you’ll know where the previous person left off, and you will move through the pages, offering a prayer for each of the students listed. You might make it through just one page, or you might make it through many.

Will the students know we have prayed for them? No. Will they repay us for the time we spend praying for them? No. But our prayers are gifts, not transactions. We pray because we care about the young people in our community. We pray because we want to share the love of God that we have received. We pray because God’s gift of grace fills us with reverential awe and we can’t help but respond.

This week of prayer is one example of the many, many ways we might choose to share the gift of love that has been so generously given to us. Hopefully you will join us this week, and hopefully that will be but one of the ways that you share the gift of God’s love with the world. Amen.  

[i] Being Presbyterian in a Dysvangelical America, by Foote and Thornburg, pg. 31.

[ii] Feasting on the Word, Year A, Volume 4, pg. 56.

[iii] Foote and Thornburg, pp. 31-32.

[iv] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-18/commentary-on-isaiah-551-5-4