While He May Be Found
Sermon
Deformed, Disfigured, And Despised
First Lesson Sermons For Lent/Easter Cycle C
Isaiah issues a four-part injunction to the people of Judah to return to God, to renounce their iniquities, and to reaffirm the promises of the Davidic Covenant: come (55:1), listen (55:2), seek, and call on God while he is near and can be found (55:6). This plea is pertinent to Christians during this season of Lent, a season of exile and return, renewal and restoration, affliction and comfort, and death and resurrection.
The prophet exhorts us to come unto the Lord. The prophet urges them to "come" and turn from their crooked and wicked ways. "Come all who are thirsty ... and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost" (55:1).
It does not cost the sinner to come to God, for he can receive the gift of salvation without cost. He can purchase what he does not have and eat what he cannot afford. Come, poor sinner! Come now while the opportunity is near! Come now while the Lord may be found! Time is running out. The opportunities to come may not always be here. Drop everything and come to the Lord. Do not wait and do not hesitate, for tomorrow is not promised!
See the ill-clad prophet in the town square at Jerusalem, standing on a rickety platform, sweating, exhorting, preaching, and pleading with the people to come unto the Lord. Some pause to hear him. Others are busy with their business. Still others completely dismiss him. He issues an open invitation, a warning, to come unto God and receive the gifts that God has to offer.
Money is not a qualification to come to the Lord. If you are thirsty, you can come. If you are hungry, you can come. If you are lonely, you can come. If you are sorrowful, you can come. If you are heartbroken, you can come. If you are poor and oppressed, rich and prosperous, you can come. Your social status or station should not prevent you from coming to the Lord, for God will put food on your table, will give you milk to drink, and will satisfy your soul. But how will you know if you do not come? How will you taste and see if you never come unto the Most High who calls you unto him? How will you know if you do not heed the invitation to come unto him? Your soul will delight in riches. Your soul will live if you come, my people!
Come, poor sinner. Come to church. Come into the body of Christ and the koinonia of the ecclesia. Come, all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Come, poor sinner, to the cross of Christ. Come to the grave of Christ. Come to the tomb of Christ. Come to Gethesemane and Golgotha. Come to the living waters. Come to the desert valleys. Come to the table of life. Come to the Lord of life and see what he will do with your life!
But are we too busy to come? Too preoccupied with our lifestyles, responsibilities, and other concerns to come? But it is precisely we who need to come and return unto God for salvation.
The prophet urges us to come and listen to God's word. Hear the word, oh sinner. Could it be that we are tired of hearing? The words of the prophet burn our ears and wrench our hearts. But if we come and listen, we can be changed. If we come and listen, we can be saved. If we come and hear the word of God, it can penetrate our minds and hearts, our bodies and souls, and we can receive the gift of salvation. "How shall they hear without someone preaching to them?" (Romans 10:14c). Listen and hear, oh people of God, for your soul will delight in the richest of fare and your soul may live.
We have grown tired of hearing. Our souls are saturated with the noise of the world, the cacophony of daily living. We hear the music. The constant sounds from our television and radios drown out the serenity of the soul. We hear the news which is mostly bad. Our days are filled with the clamor of the world around us. We hear the clanging of the world constantly blasting in our ears, and we become tired and sick of listening and hearing.
One friend, in an effort to escape the noise of the world, loves to go parasailing. It's the only place in the world where you can go where there is absolute silence. Suspended in midair over the ocean, there are no sounds, just silence.
The word of God brings silence, tranquility, and renewal. It also brings anxiety, affliction, and discomfort. It is fresh and cleansing, like music to the soul. Hear the word of God, and it will give comfort to the afflicted and it will afflict the comfortable. It will give sight to the blind, hope to the hopeless, and joy to the joyless. If you are down, it will pick you up. If you are lost, you will be found. If you need affirmation and restoration, it will restore your soul.
Listen and hear the word of God. Listening is something we don't do well in this culture. We hear what we want to hear. We see what we want to see. We hear others not as they are but as we are. People talk at each other. The drama and trauma of daily living anesthetizes our senses so that we cannot hear. We cannot hear because we are tired of hearing. We cannot hear because we have heard it all before. We cannot hear because we are on sensory overload. We cannot hear because it cuts us to the core, offends us, and turns us off. We cannot hear because our souls are lost in the babble and pandemonium of life. We drone and drown each other out. We tune each other out, and we no longer possess the desire to hear what the other has to say. But hearing and listening are still the two most important acts of communication. To listen and hear another is saying to them that they are important.
God speaks to his people because they are important. The people hear what God has to say because God is important. What can be more important than listening to what the prophet must say on behalf of the Lord? What can be more important than hearing the word of God which runs like fresh waters through our souls? The people have shut God out and God is not pleased with the ways they have chosen to ignore and dismiss him.
The prophet urges the people to seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near.
The great Karl Barth tells us that man does not find God, but God finds man. But there must be a mutual seeking. Whatever you are looking for is looking for you. We must seek God, pursue God's presence, invoke God's spirit, and celebrate God's joy and power.
What happens to a people who no longer seek God or a people who believe God is no longer worth seeking? The people are no longer hungry, no longer poor, no longer broken. Not having something can prompt a man to seek for something with all his heart and soul. Have we in our modern culture lost our hunger and desire for seeking God? We seek pleasure. We seek enjoyment and entertainment. We seek rest and relaxation. We seek money and power. We seek sex and satisfaction. We seek recognition and fame, but do we seek God? Do we take God for granted? Have we lost touch with the real needs that compel us on bended knees into God's presence?
The prophet is aware of the arrogance and disdain that the people have for God. They have basked in their fortunes and have lived the good life and have not sought God. They have experienced poverty of the body and spirit and have not sought God. While they enjoy the amenities of the good life, their souls teeter on the brink of disaster and desolation. They prosper materially and squander spiritually. They reach the pinnacle of social success but cower in the dungeons of spiritual despair.
The answer is to seek God while he may be found and call on him while he is near. We must not take for granted God's availability and omnipresence. Time is running out. Our sin and iniquity paralyze us from truly seeking God in all things. We have become weary and complacent. We have given up our seeking. But it is precisely because of our pursuit of God and God's presence that we can be restored, renewed, and saved from the pestilence that cripples our seeking.
If we truly seek him, he can be found. If we do not seek him, we may lose our way. If we seek him, we can find joy, happiness, peace, prosperity, and a renewal of life. If we seek him and call upon him, he can answer our prayers, quicken our resolve, bolster our faith, renew our trust in him, stymie our afflictions, stifle our opposition, steady our steps, refurbish our strength, and restore our desire to be with him, dwell in him, and seek him in all things.
Seeking him means confessing our sin, admitting our faults, and finding the path that leads into God's presence. It means a staying on the path when life and circumstances try to throw us off that path. It means getting up after being knocked down to the ground, and giving him praise and glory for the trials we've overcome and the victories we have won.
The prophet has a perfect formula for spiritual renewal and restoration. If we come, listen, seek, and call on him, he will answer our prayers and grant us the desires of our hearts and restore our faith and confidence as his people. We can defeat the spiritual famine which threatens the destruction of our very souls. He will quench our thirst and remove our hunger if we seek and call on him. All this can be offered without cost.
Come, listen, seek, and call on the Lord while he may be found! Come to him, O sinner. Come to him, you who are weary. Come to him, you who are lost. Come to the Lord that he may renew your strength and give you joy for the living of these days!
The prophet exhorts us to come unto the Lord. The prophet urges them to "come" and turn from their crooked and wicked ways. "Come all who are thirsty ... and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost" (55:1).
It does not cost the sinner to come to God, for he can receive the gift of salvation without cost. He can purchase what he does not have and eat what he cannot afford. Come, poor sinner! Come now while the opportunity is near! Come now while the Lord may be found! Time is running out. The opportunities to come may not always be here. Drop everything and come to the Lord. Do not wait and do not hesitate, for tomorrow is not promised!
See the ill-clad prophet in the town square at Jerusalem, standing on a rickety platform, sweating, exhorting, preaching, and pleading with the people to come unto the Lord. Some pause to hear him. Others are busy with their business. Still others completely dismiss him. He issues an open invitation, a warning, to come unto God and receive the gifts that God has to offer.
Money is not a qualification to come to the Lord. If you are thirsty, you can come. If you are hungry, you can come. If you are lonely, you can come. If you are sorrowful, you can come. If you are heartbroken, you can come. If you are poor and oppressed, rich and prosperous, you can come. Your social status or station should not prevent you from coming to the Lord, for God will put food on your table, will give you milk to drink, and will satisfy your soul. But how will you know if you do not come? How will you taste and see if you never come unto the Most High who calls you unto him? How will you know if you do not heed the invitation to come unto him? Your soul will delight in riches. Your soul will live if you come, my people!
Come, poor sinner. Come to church. Come into the body of Christ and the koinonia of the ecclesia. Come, all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Come, poor sinner, to the cross of Christ. Come to the grave of Christ. Come to the tomb of Christ. Come to Gethesemane and Golgotha. Come to the living waters. Come to the desert valleys. Come to the table of life. Come to the Lord of life and see what he will do with your life!
But are we too busy to come? Too preoccupied with our lifestyles, responsibilities, and other concerns to come? But it is precisely we who need to come and return unto God for salvation.
The prophet urges us to come and listen to God's word. Hear the word, oh sinner. Could it be that we are tired of hearing? The words of the prophet burn our ears and wrench our hearts. But if we come and listen, we can be changed. If we come and listen, we can be saved. If we come and hear the word of God, it can penetrate our minds and hearts, our bodies and souls, and we can receive the gift of salvation. "How shall they hear without someone preaching to them?" (Romans 10:14c). Listen and hear, oh people of God, for your soul will delight in the richest of fare and your soul may live.
We have grown tired of hearing. Our souls are saturated with the noise of the world, the cacophony of daily living. We hear the music. The constant sounds from our television and radios drown out the serenity of the soul. We hear the news which is mostly bad. Our days are filled with the clamor of the world around us. We hear the clanging of the world constantly blasting in our ears, and we become tired and sick of listening and hearing.
One friend, in an effort to escape the noise of the world, loves to go parasailing. It's the only place in the world where you can go where there is absolute silence. Suspended in midair over the ocean, there are no sounds, just silence.
The word of God brings silence, tranquility, and renewal. It also brings anxiety, affliction, and discomfort. It is fresh and cleansing, like music to the soul. Hear the word of God, and it will give comfort to the afflicted and it will afflict the comfortable. It will give sight to the blind, hope to the hopeless, and joy to the joyless. If you are down, it will pick you up. If you are lost, you will be found. If you need affirmation and restoration, it will restore your soul.
Listen and hear the word of God. Listening is something we don't do well in this culture. We hear what we want to hear. We see what we want to see. We hear others not as they are but as we are. People talk at each other. The drama and trauma of daily living anesthetizes our senses so that we cannot hear. We cannot hear because we are tired of hearing. We cannot hear because we have heard it all before. We cannot hear because we are on sensory overload. We cannot hear because it cuts us to the core, offends us, and turns us off. We cannot hear because our souls are lost in the babble and pandemonium of life. We drone and drown each other out. We tune each other out, and we no longer possess the desire to hear what the other has to say. But hearing and listening are still the two most important acts of communication. To listen and hear another is saying to them that they are important.
God speaks to his people because they are important. The people hear what God has to say because God is important. What can be more important than listening to what the prophet must say on behalf of the Lord? What can be more important than hearing the word of God which runs like fresh waters through our souls? The people have shut God out and God is not pleased with the ways they have chosen to ignore and dismiss him.
The prophet urges the people to seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near.
The great Karl Barth tells us that man does not find God, but God finds man. But there must be a mutual seeking. Whatever you are looking for is looking for you. We must seek God, pursue God's presence, invoke God's spirit, and celebrate God's joy and power.
What happens to a people who no longer seek God or a people who believe God is no longer worth seeking? The people are no longer hungry, no longer poor, no longer broken. Not having something can prompt a man to seek for something with all his heart and soul. Have we in our modern culture lost our hunger and desire for seeking God? We seek pleasure. We seek enjoyment and entertainment. We seek rest and relaxation. We seek money and power. We seek sex and satisfaction. We seek recognition and fame, but do we seek God? Do we take God for granted? Have we lost touch with the real needs that compel us on bended knees into God's presence?
The prophet is aware of the arrogance and disdain that the people have for God. They have basked in their fortunes and have lived the good life and have not sought God. They have experienced poverty of the body and spirit and have not sought God. While they enjoy the amenities of the good life, their souls teeter on the brink of disaster and desolation. They prosper materially and squander spiritually. They reach the pinnacle of social success but cower in the dungeons of spiritual despair.
The answer is to seek God while he may be found and call on him while he is near. We must not take for granted God's availability and omnipresence. Time is running out. Our sin and iniquity paralyze us from truly seeking God in all things. We have become weary and complacent. We have given up our seeking. But it is precisely because of our pursuit of God and God's presence that we can be restored, renewed, and saved from the pestilence that cripples our seeking.
If we truly seek him, he can be found. If we do not seek him, we may lose our way. If we seek him, we can find joy, happiness, peace, prosperity, and a renewal of life. If we seek him and call upon him, he can answer our prayers, quicken our resolve, bolster our faith, renew our trust in him, stymie our afflictions, stifle our opposition, steady our steps, refurbish our strength, and restore our desire to be with him, dwell in him, and seek him in all things.
Seeking him means confessing our sin, admitting our faults, and finding the path that leads into God's presence. It means a staying on the path when life and circumstances try to throw us off that path. It means getting up after being knocked down to the ground, and giving him praise and glory for the trials we've overcome and the victories we have won.
The prophet has a perfect formula for spiritual renewal and restoration. If we come, listen, seek, and call on him, he will answer our prayers and grant us the desires of our hearts and restore our faith and confidence as his people. We can defeat the spiritual famine which threatens the destruction of our very souls. He will quench our thirst and remove our hunger if we seek and call on him. All this can be offered without cost.
Come, listen, seek, and call on the Lord while he may be found! Come to him, O sinner. Come to him, you who are weary. Come to him, you who are lost. Come to the Lord that he may renew your strength and give you joy for the living of these days!
