Isaiah 55:1-2, John 6: 32-35
December 9, 2018
First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL
Christina Berry
Again this Sunday, our first reading comes from the prophet Isaiah, in the section of the book that is often called “Second Isaiah,” since scholars have divided the 66 chapters into two or three volumes. Prior chapters, from First Isaiah, describe the suffering servant, and the troubles of Israel in exile in Babylon. Things seem hopeless. In this text, now, we hear a word of hope— God is accomplishing the unexpected. The briers and thorns have been turned to myrtle and cypress (55:13) and there is plenty to eat and drink – at no cost! Unlike the food and drink that leave people feeling hungry and thirsty, this food and drink truly satisfy the people. Let’s listen for God’s word of hope to us in Isaiah 55:1-2,
Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters;
and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
God’s word for God’s people.
Thanks be to God.
In our gospel reading, Jesus describes a different sort of reversal. Jesus starts with an explicit link with the story of the Exodus. In that historic event, the Israelites escaped slavery in Egypt, and were in the wilderness on their way to the promised land. They cried out to God because they had no bread to eat, and God provided manna for them, enough for every day’s needs. There was always enough, and it always satisfied. Jesus has just fed the 5,000, with plenty of food leftover, and now they are following him around, asking for more. What they don’t realize is that the bread he gives them is more than simply physical sustenance. So Jesus reminds them of the bread they’ve been given in the past, and he tells the crowd that they themselves, not just their ancestors, are the recipients of God's gift of the true bread from heaven. Let’s listen for God’s word to us in John 6:32-35
Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you,
it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven,
but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”
They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Tis the season, isn’t it?
Tis the season of eating and drinking.
Tis the season of eating and drinking too much,
and much of the too much is too sugary,
too fatty,
too empty of calories.
From Thanksgiving to Christmas to Super Bowl Sunday, we engage in our three biggest days of food consumption of the year. For Christmas, we eat 22 million turkeys, munch down one and three quarter billion candy canes, and we drink 6.7 million liters of eggnog.[1] The Distilled Spirits Council of the US notes that a one fourth of the industry’s profits come in between Thanksgiving and the New Year.[2] That’s twelve and a quarter billion dollars worth of booze. Billion with a B.
We eat more. A lot more.
And we drink more. A lot more.
But when it is all over, are we satisfied?
We eat more, we drink more, and accidents, suicides and violent crime increase, too. It would seem that in this season of desire and want and hunger, in this season of getting and giving and cooking and baking and eating, there lingers in many of our hearts a hunger that cannot be met by this world. And many of us seek to feed that hunger with things that cost too much and do not satisfy.
Interestingly, while more Americans go to church more at Christmas than at any other time of the year, and more than the people of any other country on earth, the numbers of those who attend church at Christmas are declining. even though we seem to be hungry for something – famished, thirsty, even STARVING, whatever we are consuming does not satisfy us.
In Chapter 7 of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when all the children have gone to Narnia, they meet Mr. Beaver. They are suspicious at first of Mr. Beaver’s invitation to the Beaver home. They feel cautious in this strange place, but they go to the Beaver’s house and stay for dinner. At the table that Mr. and Mrs. Beaver describe Aslan, and tell them of the prophecy:
“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
Whoever comes to me will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Tis the season, isn’t it?
Tis the season of eating and drinking.
Tis the season of eating and drinking too much,
and much of the too much is too sugary,
too fatty,
too empty of calories.
From Thanksgiving to Christmas to Super Bowl Sunday, we engage in our three biggest days of food consumption of the year. For Christmas, we eat 22 million turkeys, munch down one and three quarter billion candy canes, and we drink 6.7 million liters of eggnog.[1] The Distilled Spirits Council of the US notes that a one fourth of the industry’s profits come in between Thanksgiving and the New Year.[2] That’s twelve and a quarter billion dollars worth of booze. Billion with a B.
We eat more. A lot more.
And we drink more. A lot more.
But when it is all over, are we satisfied?
We eat more, we drink more, and accidents, suicides and violent crime increase, too. It would seem that in this season of desire and want and hunger, in this season of getting and giving and cooking and baking and eating, there lingers in many of our hearts a hunger that cannot be met by this world. And many of us seek to feed that hunger with things that cost too much and do not satisfy.
Interestingly, while more Americans go to church more at Christmas than at any other time of the year, and more than the people of any other country on earth, the numbers of those who attend church at Christmas are declining. even though we seem to be hungry for something – famished, thirsty, even STARVING, whatever we are consuming does not satisfy us.
In Chapter 7 of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when all the children have gone to Narnia, they meet Mr. Beaver. They are suspicious at first of Mr. Beaver’s invitation to the Beaver home. They feel cautious in this strange place, but they go to the Beaver’s house and stay for dinner. At the table that Mr. and Mrs. Beaver describe Aslan, and tell them of the prophecy:
“Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”
Mr. and Mrs. Beaver describe the prophecy of the two queens and two kings, daughters of Eve and sons of Adam, sitting on the four thrones of Cair Paravel. There is the sense that this might be Susan and Lucy, Peter and Edmund. At this moment all of them realize that Edmund has disappeared.
We the readers know that Edmund has gone to the White Witch.
He has left the bountiful table set by Mr. and Mrs. Beaver
to run to the White Witch, for more of her magical Turkish Delight candy.
He has left a place of warmth and welcome and light
and fled to the cold, dark and snowy night.
He has fled from a table of safety and satisfaction to run to the witch,
who is even more fearful and greedy than he is.
Mr. Beaver, not being part of Edmund’s family, recognizes his betrayal immediately:
“the moment I set eyes on that brother of yours I said to myself 'Treacherous.'
He had the look of one who has been with the Witch and eaten her food.
You can always tell them if you've lived long in Narnia, something about their eyes."
Edmund had been with the witch and eaten her food.
It was delicious, at first, the best thing he’d ever tasted.
But there was something about it that left him wanting more,
and even when he ate and ate and ate, he was never satisfied.
The others do not know this yet. They only know that Edmund is their brother, and that they must rescue him. Their only hope in doing that, it would seem, is Aslan, the lion.
When Mr. Beaver mentions Aslan, Lewis writes,
“None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do;
but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different. Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream
that someone says something which you don't understand
but in the dream it feels as if it had some enormous meaning—
either a terrifying one which turns the whole dream into a nightmare
or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words,
which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life
and are always wishing you could get into that dream again.
It was like that now. …
Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror.
Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous.
Susan felt as if some delicious smell
or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her.
And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of Summer.”
I believe that C. S. Lewis, in that brief passage, describes the sensory experience of awe mixed with hope. That feeling often comes during special moments and special occasions; out in nature at dawn, or a crisis moment, a wedding, or at a funeral,
and sometimes in worship –
singing a moving song,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.”
Mr. and Mrs. Beaver describe the prophecy of the two queens and two kings, daughters of Eve and sons of Adam, sitting on the four thrones of Cair Paravel. There is the sense that this might be Susan and Lucy, Peter and Edmund. At this moment all of them realize that Edmund has disappeared.
We the readers know that Edmund has gone to the White Witch.
He has left the bountiful table set by Mr. and Mrs. Beaver
to run to the White Witch, for more of her magical Turkish Delight candy.
He has left a place of warmth and welcome and light
and fled to the cold, dark and snowy night.
He has fled from a table of safety and satisfaction to run to the witch,
who is even more fearful and greedy than he is.
Mr. Beaver, not being part of Edmund’s family, recognizes his betrayal immediately:
“the moment I set eyes on that brother of yours I said to myself 'Treacherous.'
He had the look of one who has been with the Witch and eaten her food.
You can always tell them if you've lived long in Narnia, something about their eyes."
Edmund had been with the witch and eaten her food.
It was delicious, at first, the best thing he’d ever tasted.
But there was something about it that left him wanting more,
and even when he ate and ate and ate, he was never satisfied.
The others do not know this yet. They only know that Edmund is their brother, and that they must rescue him. Their only hope in doing that, it would seem, is Aslan, the lion.
When Mr. Beaver mentions Aslan, Lewis writes,
“None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do;
but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different. Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream
that someone says something which you don't understand
but in the dream it feels as if it had some enormous meaning—
either a terrifying one which turns the whole dream into a nightmare
or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words,
which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life
and are always wishing you could get into that dream again.
It was like that now. …
Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror.
Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous.
Susan felt as if some delicious smell
or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her.
And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of Summer.”
I believe that C. S. Lewis, in that brief passage, describes the sensory experience of awe mixed with hope. That feeling often comes during special moments and special occasions; out in nature at dawn, or a crisis moment, a wedding, or at a funeral,
and sometimes in worship –
singing a moving song,
immersed deep in prayer,
at a baptism,
at a baptism,
or at the communion table.
It’s a sense that God is near, and something new is happening.
Like a dream, like a smell, like a feeling, like a beginning…
In Narnia, it’s the hope that Aslan brings.
For us, it’s the hope that Jesus brings.
The prophecy in the book of Isaiah is that God will provide for the people – God will give them food and drink without cost, so why are they working so hard and spending their resources on something inferior? God fulfills that promise by providing for the people, even though they are not always faithful and rarely worthy.
Jesus does the same – fulfills our deepest yearning,
answers our deepest hunger.
He comes as an infant – vulnerable, not powerful,
and he comes to us as a healer – powerful but not violent.
He comes to us to conquer suffering and death,
but he is also simple, humble, satisfying bread.
This is the bread from heaven that gives life to the world.
This is not to say that Jesus is tame or containable.
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild was not the one
who threw the money changers from the temple.
This son of a carpenter from an obscure village
will confront the powers of evil in the world,
and vanquish them.
Corruption withers under his gaze.
Ego is shattered at the sound of his voice.
The boy from Nazareth stands in the face of selfishness and cruelty
and speaks a word of truth, truth that in the end will destroy them.
The man who rose from the dead has shattered death.
He is not a fragile weakling, our Jesus.
When he is on the move, greed and malice cower in fear.
In Narnia, when they are first told that Aslan is on the move,
he children are puzzled, trying to grasp just exactly who this Aslan is.
“Is he a man?” asked Lucy.
“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly.
“Certainly not. I tell you he is King of the wood
and the son of the great emperor-beyond-the-sea.
Don’t you know who is the King of the Beasts?
Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great lion.”
"Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man.
Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"...
"Safe?" said Mr Beaver ...
"Who said anything about safe?
'Course he isn't safe.
But he's good.
He's the King, I tell you.”
In this season of desire and want and hunger,
in this season of getting and giving and cooking and baking and eating,
there lingers in many of our hearts a hunger
that cannot be met by this world.
It is the hunger for hope, a hunger that can only be satisfied
in the bread that comes down from heaven.
It is a hunger than can only be satisfied in Jesus.
He is the Lion of Judah.
When you sneak away to betray yourself
for something sweet that ultimately does not satisfy you,
he will come and find you, and lift you to his shoulder.
He will carry you to his table, and gently feed you.
Whoever comes to him will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in him will never be thirsty.
In him, there is hope.
He is not safe, but he is good.
And he is the King, I tell you.
Amen.
[1] https://www.edhat.com/news/christmas-by-the-numbers
[2] https://www.alcohol.org/statistics-information/holiday-binge-drinking/
It’s a sense that God is near, and something new is happening.
Like a dream, like a smell, like a feeling, like a beginning…
In Narnia, it’s the hope that Aslan brings.
For us, it’s the hope that Jesus brings.
The prophecy in the book of Isaiah is that God will provide for the people – God will give them food and drink without cost, so why are they working so hard and spending their resources on something inferior? God fulfills that promise by providing for the people, even though they are not always faithful and rarely worthy.
Jesus does the same – fulfills our deepest yearning,
answers our deepest hunger.
He comes as an infant – vulnerable, not powerful,
and he comes to us as a healer – powerful but not violent.
He comes to us to conquer suffering and death,
but he is also simple, humble, satisfying bread.
This is the bread from heaven that gives life to the world.
This is not to say that Jesus is tame or containable.
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild was not the one
who threw the money changers from the temple.
This son of a carpenter from an obscure village
will confront the powers of evil in the world,
and vanquish them.
Corruption withers under his gaze.
Ego is shattered at the sound of his voice.
The boy from Nazareth stands in the face of selfishness and cruelty
and speaks a word of truth, truth that in the end will destroy them.
The man who rose from the dead has shattered death.
He is not a fragile weakling, our Jesus.
When he is on the move, greed and malice cower in fear.
In Narnia, when they are first told that Aslan is on the move,
he children are puzzled, trying to grasp just exactly who this Aslan is.
“Is he a man?” asked Lucy.
“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly.
“Certainly not. I tell you he is King of the wood
and the son of the great emperor-beyond-the-sea.
Don’t you know who is the King of the Beasts?
Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great lion.”
"Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man.
Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"...
"Safe?" said Mr Beaver ...
"Who said anything about safe?
'Course he isn't safe.
But he's good.
He's the King, I tell you.”
In this season of desire and want and hunger,
in this season of getting and giving and cooking and baking and eating,
there lingers in many of our hearts a hunger
that cannot be met by this world.
It is the hunger for hope, a hunger that can only be satisfied
in the bread that comes down from heaven.
It is a hunger than can only be satisfied in Jesus.
He is the Lion of Judah.
When you sneak away to betray yourself
for something sweet that ultimately does not satisfy you,
he will come and find you, and lift you to his shoulder.
He will carry you to his table, and gently feed you.
Whoever comes to him will never be hungry,
and whoever believes in him will never be thirsty.
In him, there is hope.
He is not safe, but he is good.
And he is the King, I tell you.
Amen.
[1] https://www.edhat.com/news/christmas-by-the-numbers
[2] https://www.alcohol.org/statistics-information/holiday-binge-drinking/
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