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14 March - Lent 3

Very Rev Lawrie Hampton

The Readings

Isaiah 55: 1-9  Chapters 40 – 55 of our Book of Isaiah are by a different author, writing at a later time, than chapters 1-39. This writer, known as the second Isaiah (deutero-Isaiah), probably wrote at the time when the exile in Babylon was coming to an end. Deutero-Isaiah writes “a poem about God’s relationship to his ‘Servant’ Israel, in whom he has determined to glorify himself.” (George A F Knight, 'Servant Theology').
NRSV entitles this chapter 'An Invitation to Abundant Life'. It is an assurance the God will provide for the needs of the people on their return from exile – as in Is 41: 18: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. On another level it speaks of the Lord as the one who supplies their every need.

Psalm 63: 1-8  This Psalm uses similar imagery to that we have met in Is 55. Its writer seems to be remote from the sanctuary where he has worshipped in the past, and yearns for a sense of God’s presence. He looks for his satisfaction to God. The final three verses, properly omitted by the lectionary, seem to have been added by another hand at a later date, and do not sit well with the rich devotion and gratitude of verses 1-8. A Psalm to have the congregation at worship say together.

1 Corinthians 10: 1-13 Headed in the NRSV Warnings from Israel’s History this passage continues the topic of discipline in the face of temptation that Paul was dealing with at the end of chapter 9. Now he reminds his readers of the story of Israel (our ancestors) who, although they were brought through the sea (at the Exodus) and baptised into Moses, all eating the same spiritual food and drinking the same spiritual drink, yet many turned to idolatry and sexual immorality. Let this be a warning to you, he tells his readers; and adds a tart word to the self righteous (vs 12) and an assurance that God is faithful, not allowing his people to be tempted beyond their strength.

Luke 13: 1-9. Although some writers have tried to identify the particular atrocity by Pilate that Jesus’ questioners were alluding to, they have come to no unanimous conclusion. But the implied question put to Jesus is a loaded one: This event gave some of them an opportunity to tempt our Lord. They sent the report to him to see what he would answer. For if he said “This killing is a clear case of injustice and oppression,” they would then defame him before the Roman governor, claiming that he was overstepping the law and that his teaching violated that same Roman Law. (Ibn al-Salibi, quoted by Kenneth Bailey. 'Through Peasant Eyes', p 76). On the other hand, to appear to condone Pilate’s action would have enraged patriotic Israelites. He instead directs their attention to their own position: Unless you repent, you will all perish as they did. The parable about the unproductive fruit tree may be more than a moral exhortation to a fruitful personal life on the part of his hearers. The tree may represent the scribes and chief priests, and it is their inability to bear fruit for God that is the point of the parable (compare Isaiah 5: 1-7).

Preaching

(Based on Isaiah 55: 1-9)

I read some time ago part of a letter written by a young woman working in Afghanistan for an international aid organisation. She wrote:
Afghani people are quite wonderful. Ridiculously polite, respectful, and hospitable….
The plight of these people, who asked for none of this (the civil war going on around them) seems almost hopeless…. I cannot imagine how dire the suffering is for most people. I have never seen people who are so desperately hungry. The shells echo in the mountains to remind everyone that there is a war going on. Their stomachs rumble to remind them that there is a famine.
In villages where there is no food people offer me (a visitor) bread, tea, and a makeshift meal.
Everyone else looks on. We talk about the problems they face, but their eyes are focused on the food I eat. I can promise them nothing, but they believe that my visit has given them hope. What can I say?

The problem of hunger in a world of plenty has been with us for many decades. We are used to it, perhaps inured to it. It’s an economic and political problem of long standing. But it’s also a problem about people – people who never have enough to eat, are chronically undernourished, catch diseases, and die. So we have the awful paradox of this young woman eating the bread that had been hospitably offered to her, so that she could not possibly have declined it, and at the same time aware that the eyes of all around her were watching not her, but those crumbs of bread – watching longingly, hungrily.

The offer of wine and milk without money and without price in Isaiah 55: is the reference to physical food for the body? The people would need that on their long journey home from exile. Or is it about spiritual food? We can be sure that when the people heard these words of the second Isaiah, they would think of the journey their ancestors had made, centuries before, and how God had provided for their needs. The people on neither journey would have asked whether the promise of nourishment referred to refreshment booths along the way, or the provision of their deep spiritual needs. One without the other would be unthinkable. No one could be completely human without both. When Jesus gave food to five thousand it was because their bellies were empty. But in John’s Gospel the story of feeding the crowd leads straight into Jesus saying, “I am the bread of life…”

Our bodies are not simply a necessary (and perhaps regrettable) container for the spirit within. We are people, with bodies that are a walking wonder, minds with breathtaking capacity, and a spiritual dimension without which we are less than human.

A sermon would need to go on to 'earth' this with references to ways in which the church in general and your church in particular says to men and women, Come to the waters, and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money, without price….

Prayers

Intercessions

God eternal, Maker of all things, we thank you for this world of plenty,
with food sufficient for all who live in it.
May we be caring and compassionate people, people of Jesus Christ,
who do what we can to bring food to the hungry
and help to the needy.
Stir us by your Spirit to work for that day
when the earth’s bounty is justly and equitably shared,
and the people of the world live in lasting peace together.

We remember the words of our Lord, that we do not live by bread alone.
We pray that your church around the world will be faithful,
proclaiming in its teaching and its preaching your love in Jesus Christ,
and also reflecting that love in its life and work.

Quietly, we think of people who are especially dear to us, near or far away,
grateful for the love that binds us to one another, eager to nurture that love,
and anxious that they will live each day in peace and safety,
led by your Spirit in ways of honour and of Christian grace
with Jesus Christ our Lord.

Dedication

Holy God,
you have fed us with bread for body and spirit.
Let the grace of Jesus Christ be in us,
enabling us to share cheerfully with others
what you have given to us.
Renew our vision, and strengthen our trust in you
as we dedicate ourselves again to our calling
as the people of Jesus Christ.