Table Fellowship

Isaiah 55:1-9

Three Chopt Presbyterian Church is hosting caritas this week and I had the wonderful opportunity to serve the homeless men dinner just last night with the youth group. Although I didn’t get to interact with the men as much as I would have wanted, the insights I gained from this event and the thoughtfulness of the youth that I witnessed far surpassed my expectations. The amount of preparation that was involved was minimal, yet the joy was great. The expense was nothing compared to the amount of mouths that were fed with food and drink. The amount of clean up after dinner was nothing compared the smiles and handshakes that crossed socio-economic boundaries. I have never been at a loss for words to express to people how proud I am of the youth I work with and last night was no different. Not only did the youth interact with the men, prepare and serve them dinner, but one youth admittedly proclaimed, “If the men want seconds, I will not eat here. They need it more than me.”

This event brought to mind several different interactions with the prophet Isaiah’s words to the Israelite’s who were still in exile. The chapter begins with words of invitation to food and drink. The prophet proclaims: “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.”
This is exactly what took place last night. All those who were thirsty came and drank. All those who were without money came and ate. Scholar Paul Hanson states that “this invitation from Isaiah is not to be limited to people of social standing, not even to people of sufficient means to come properly attired. The only requirement is hunger and thirst.” I believe this refers to physical thirst and hunger as much as it refers to spiritual thirst and hunger.

This invitation is open to all and is tied to the open invitation to the Davidic Covenant. The prophet Isaiah proclaims that God’s promises are now given to all humanity. The promises of satisfaction, joy, peace, and prosperity are to be had by all regardless of race, gender, culture, religion, or socio-economic status. This is God’s free gift to all nations.

Yet, there is a second invitation to which we are called as well. It is a call of repentance from our wayward paths that lead us away from God. A call of repentance in which we can focus on our relationship with God to strengthen our spirits, be nourished, and turn back to God. Isaiah tells the Israelite’s to “seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God for he will abundantly pardon.”

This season of lent is indeed the time in which we follow the Prophet Isaiah’s call to the Israelite community and God’s call to us, to repent and follow God. Many of us have made pledges to drink only water, to read our bibles, to avoid sweets, or to fast from certain meals. These are all good attempts by which we discipline ourselves in order to focus less on the things of the world and focus more of our attention on the things that come from God. And it is a hard task. Many people long for coffee, to read a good novel, to eat sweets and other foods. Do we truly discipline ourselves to follow our Lenten promises or are they just wishful thankful? Wishful thinking about other beverages, Easter sweets that plague the store front windows, or thoughts along the lines of “I don’t have time to read the Bible, I have to write this sermon instead?” How much of our attempt at making ourselves aware of God’s will, God’s promises for our life, and our need to reorient our lives around God, is being diminish by our intense focus on the exact things of this world that we were hoping, if we gave them up, would help us focus more on God?

Sometimes our attempts, as well intentioned as they are, become the stumbling blocks during lent that actually keep us from hearing God’s word and receiving God’s life giving nourishment. Sometimes the things we “give up” for lent become those things that prophet Isaiah warned the Israelites about. “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?”

As I witnessed last night, the youth who “gave up” her food for the men who wanted seconds was certainly a way of embracing the endeavors people of faith set out to accomplish for themselves during Lent, but it was coupled with an act of evangelism and mission in serving food to the homeless. This particular youth showed me that it is great to give up the material necessities of life and fast in order that others might eat, as long as we do not dwell on missing what we have given up and instead focus that energy on opening our hearts and the doors of our church so that all people will be able to freely come and eat and drink the nourishment that God has provided for us all. As one theologian put it, “loving and serving God is the source of nourishing food and thirst-quenching drink.”

Psalm 63, in many ways, highlights what the prophet Isaiah is saying. The psalmist reminds us that it truly God’s steadfast love that is better than life and it is truly God’s words that feed the soul as with a rich feast. When we incline our ears to God and listen to God we live in far greater abundance and come into closer relationship with God. When we join our individual actions of spiritual disciplines with service to others and for God, we come to a greater understanding of what it means to be in relationship with God. For when we are in relationship with one another we are also in relationship with God and we are able to abundantly live in all the promises of the Covenant.

Amen!