Isaiah 55:1-9 "Taste and See"

The first thing we need to understand about the ancient Biblical prophets is that they were not like Edgar Cayce, Jean Dixon – or even Sybill Trelawney in the Harry Potter series. Above all, they were not predictors of events far into the future.


As far as we can tell, though they used some divination tools like astrology, they did not spend the vast majority of their time staring into crystal balls or reading death threats on the palms of your hands in a darkened classroom like one might find at Hogwarts.

The role of prophets, both the major ones like Jeremiah and Isaiah (whom we read this morning), and the so-called minor ones like Amos and Hosea was far more nuanced and multi-faceted.

Among other responsibilities arising out of their call from God, Biblical prophets provided political and even military advice to kings and rulers. Should they go to war? Should they negotiate a treaty? Such advice was sometimes straightforward and other times was presented in wonderfully vivid imagery such as Jeremiah described in going down to the potter’s house to watch him work at his wheel.

Ancient prophets also provided warnings when Israel strayed from their God, Yahweh, (which became a familiar circumstance), and so a prophet might articulate a reversal in expectations, weaving together poetic and fiery words and vivid images of the destruction of Zion should behaviors not change.

Biblical prophets also provided tremendous comfort to the Jewish people in times of enormous upheaval and distress. They planted seeds of hope as they spoke of lions bedding down with lambs, rough places becoming smooth, and water gushing from the deserts and flowers blooming in the sand and heat.

Above all, in one way or another, Biblical prophets reminded primarily Jewish leaders time and time again of the ancient and abiding covenant God had long ago established with them. This covenant, of course, describes God’s relationship with Israel and the terms by which Israel fulfills its responsibility to be a holy people. “I will be your God, and you will be my people.”

The task of keeping up their side of the covenant was never an easy one for the Israelites. They were constantly falling short – from the first time they danced around with that golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai while Moses was in the clouds and thunder picking up the Ten Commandments to all the ways they doubted the goodness and abiding love of God and all the times they figured it would be a lot easier to go it alone and do it their way. Yet, though a mystery as to why, God never gave up on them. God always keeps God’s side of the bargain. And that surely is the foundation of a theology of grace, amazing grace.

Our passage this morning is a part of an ancient document emerging from a time nearly 600 years before Christ. Scholars date it about the time of the Edict of Cyrus, approximately 539 B.C.E.

Now here is your history lesson for the morning – and it is important for understanding the meaning of our Scripture. The ancient Middle East was a world characterized by warring tribes and nations, and often the Israelites ended up as pawns.

For example, Nebuchadnezzar conquered the Kingdom of Judah and used a common tactic to ensure submission. He deported or exiled the Israelites to backwater Babylon. However, when the Persian Empire overran Babylon some 70 years later, Cyrus, the Persian emperor, granted the Israelites the right to return to their homeland.

This Babylonian Exile was the second significant exile in Jewish history, the first one being the years spent in slavery in Egypt. This time around they were deported in two waves, first the rulers, priests, and elites followed later by the common masses.

In short, they were forced from their homeland, and, more importantly, their temple where God resided was in ruins. Consequently, their concept of worship was in shambles, and their way of life was destroyed.

In a cosmic sense, they had ended up in the Babylonian backwaters in the first place because God just got fed up with their endless shenanigans over keeping up their end of the covenant. But now, as they are about to go back home, Isaiah speaks and reminds them that this all-important covenant with God has been salvaged once again by God’s grace.

Come home, God says. All who are thirsty for me, come and drink clear and cool water even in a land that has no water. All who hunger for me, come and eat, even if you have nothing to give in return.

God is making a lasting covenant commitment to you, Isaiah says, the same one that God made with David: sure, solid, enduring love…Come back to God, who is merciful, come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness. (from “The Message).

As United Church of Christ pastor, Kate Huey, writes, “We know that a prophet speaks sternly to the people when they need it, but also knows how to speak tenderly, to convey God's great love and mercy… And this prophet knows that the people are hungry for a message of hope, a message that promises an end to their captivity and a different way of life, back home, where they can be who they are called to be, and faithful to the God who has made an everlasting covenant with them.”

When the prophet asks the community, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread?” he is really asking, “Why are you wasting your industry, your wealth and your life’s work in a place which will never be your home?”

If you are thirsty, if you are hungry, all you have to do is return to the place God has set aside for you and there…God will sustain you…Trust in God and in God’s plan for your lives, instead of pinning your hopes on your own designs.

The covenant has been restored, O people of Israel. The covenant has been restored by the grace of God alone. So, come home, now. Come home.

Such beautiful words – but the loveliest part of hearing Isaiah speak them today is that these words of welcome were not whispered once in a moment of ancient time – said and forgotten. The words are meant for us as well.

As Church of the Brethren pastor, Peter Haynes reminds us "Originally addressed to those who have been torn from their homeland and forced to live in exile in Babylon, this "word" (of Isaiah) is still alive and active for any exile who longs for home, for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness..." And I would say that includes each one of us.

Come home. The ancient covenant has been restored by the grace of God alone – and as Christians, we believe that through Jesus, God has extended that covenant – that special relationship - to us Gentiles. We have a new relationship with God – a new covenant - because of the death and resurrection of Jesus.

INVITATION TO COMMUNION
Come back to God and to the source of what will really satisfy your souls. Come all you who have settled so comfortably into a routine and worldview that keeps you so busy and distracted that you have lost touch with your deepest selves, made in the image of God. Come share in the feast because your spirits are thirsty, starving, and homesick, even if you can not name those feelings on your own. (Kate Huey)

Come all of you who may not be immediately aware of how you have wandered away from God – how life has lost its meaning in pursuit of a promotion or raise, how you have gotten buried under the demands of economic and social status. (Daniel Debevoise)

No one goes hungry at the table of life. Taste, oh taste and see. Take nourishment in the covenant and in the promises of a God whose love will not fail us.

Rev. Nancy Foran is pastor of the Raymond Village Community Church, Raymond, Maine

http://www.rvccme.org/