Enough

Click here to read Isaiah 54

Click here to read Isaiah 55

Isaiah 54 promises everlasting peace.  Isaiah 55 promises a feast set by God.  What I find so interesting and challenging is the question in 55, "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread?  And your labor for that which does not satisfy?"  That is one of those questions that echoes across the centuries right into my own life.  Why do I work so hard for those things that do not bring me peace or closer to God?

After all I can work tremendously hard for other's approval and compliments.  I can put in hour after hour doing work that takes me away from my family.  I can turn to those things that do not satisfy my spiritual thirst for a connection with God.

It is difficult to resist the lure of consuming.  There is always a shiny, new product on display at the store.  There is always something promising to bring peaceful dinners with my family if only I go to a particular restaurant.  This is the promise of peace that comes pre-packaged.  The problem is when we come to depend more on places where we can consume for peace and hope then tending our relationship with the One who is peace and hope.

Just to be clear, I don't think consumerism is always the problem.  In fact, it can become a Trojan horse of sorts, leading us to think we have eschew all areas of buying things.  Maybe move out West, grow our own food, and go off the grid.  I know that is not going to happen in my life.

However, I do think we are not aware of the ways Madison Ave. evokes emotions.  To be sure, the church can do this as well.  There is religious music marketed to evoke certain feelings.  There are things said in worship that are carefully designed to awaken a certain response.  In those moments, we are trying to sell the People of God something.  If the church is about anything, it is about being the People of God together.  Each person uniquely created in the image of God.  Each person also realizing that we make mistakes and mess up.  Each person realizing the value that comes from being in community with others.  We don't need money for that, we just need a space to gather.

So, how do we know when we have enough?  How does the church know when it has enough?  Those are tough questions.  But perhaps if a feast of free milk, honey, and wine seems lacking, it is good to step back.  Perhaps is we start worrying about who paid and who didn't, it is good to step back.  Come to the feast, Isaiah proclaims.  It is an invitation Jesus took seriously.  He loved a good feast.  And often chose to eat with those from the fringe of society, people who could not pay.  Where did he get that invitation?  Isaiah 55 might be one place.

May you come to the feast, taste the milk and honey, and may it be enough...and may there be enough for all God's children.  That would be more than a trace of God's grace.