Isaiah 55,1-5. 2. Trinity

✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠

The Word of the Lord Endures Forever 

se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ

Isaiah 55,1-5        3719

2. Sn. n. Trinitatis 047 

Commemoration of St. Paul   

30. Juni 2019 

1. O God, the Lord of the heavenly banquet; help us to receive Your invitation with joy and thanksgiving, so that we are blessed to eat bread in the reign of God.  Amen. (Luke 14,15-16) 

2. »Thus says the Lord: „Draw near, everyone who thirsts, go to the waters; and he who has no money, draw near, buy and eat! Draw near, 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 diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and draw near to Me; hear, so that your life may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, My steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you will call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you will run to you, because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you.“« 

3. The Lord invites all to His heavenly banquet. He exhorts all to drink and eat without cost or price. The Scriptures referred to this as the meal the Lord shares with us in the kingdom of God that is enjoyed on the resurrection at the last day.    

4. The Prophet Isaiah exhorts us to incline our ears and draw near to the Lord; hear, so that we may live; and He will make with us an everlasting covenant. The Lord grounded this covenant upon the House of David, the royal line of Judah. The Son of David would inaugurate this everlasting reign. The Apostle Paul proclaimed this, writing: »We bring to you the gospel that what God promised, this He has fulfilled to us by raising Jesus, for He whom God raised did not see corruption. Let it be known to you therefore that through Jesus forgiveness of sins is proclaimed, and by Him everyone who believes is free from everything from which you could not be freed up by the law of Moses« (Acts 13,32-33.38-39).   

5. Yet many who are invited to eternal fellowship with God will reject that invitation. In Jesus’ day, many Jews made excuses as to why they could not or would not receive Him as the Christ and the invitation of eternal life He brings. Jesus thus went to the destitute, the downtrodden and the Gentiles; these received Him and welcomed His unexpected invitation. Jesus sent out His apostles to continue His work.  

6. The apostles preached the Word and wrote the Gospels and the Epistles; the Holy Scriptures are the Lord’s invitation to us to join Him at His heavenly banquet. Baptism too implies an invitation (Giertz 74). It is through baptism that we have been received into the kingdom of God (Giertz 74). But how many Christians make excuses like the Jews did 2000 years earlier? Some reject their baptism and faith, others get caught up with the wealth of this world and see no need to heed the invitation and still others seek another religion for their security. For us there is always the possibility of wriggling loose from the grip of God (Giertz 75). 

7. But there is also the possibility of returning home to God (Giertz 75). The Prophet Isaiah assures us, writing: »Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near; let the wicked person forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, so that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon« (Isaiah 55,6-7). 

8. In this temporal life, it is never too late to return to the Lord. God desires to forgive and to heal (Psalm 103,3), for as far as the east is from the west, so far does the Lord remove our transgressions from us (Psalm 103,12). Thus Jesus declares: »Draw near unto Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly of heart, and you will find rest for your souls/lives. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light« (Matthew 11,x), and again: »Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!« (Luke 11,28). Beloved people, let us hold fast the Word of life and be concerned with hearing, learning, understanding and applying the Word of God in our lives (Giertz 75). And always remember that God in Christ Jesus has forgiven our sins, brings healing to our troubled hearts, restores to us the joy of His salvation and uphold us with a willing spirit (Psalm 51,12) all through Christ Jesus.  Amen. 

9. Let us pray. O Beloved Lord, our Strength and Rock; deliver us from all temptation, sin and wickedness, so that we rest secure in Your safety.  Amen. 

To God alone be the Glory 

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart. 

ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. 

VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. 

Giertz, Bo. Preaching from the Whole Bible. Copyright © 1967 Lutheran Legacy Publishing. 

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.