Sermon - 3-21-22
Di
الوصف
<p>“Hey there, all who are thirsty, come to the waters! Are you penniless? Come anyway – buy and eat! Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk. Buy without money – everything’s free!” In our first reading today, the prophet Isaiah speaks these words to the people of Israel as they experience <strong>chasmic</strong> dislocation, sorrow, desolation, grief, emptiness, and <strong>enormous loss</strong>, as they ask the often-unanswerable question, “Why?” The people are in exile, in Babylon. In 587 BCE, Jerusalem had been burned and the temple destroyed. The king was exiled, the leading citizens were deported, and the life they had known all had come to an end. It is into this context that Isaiah speaks words of consolation and hope saying, “Hey there, all who are thirsty, come to the waters!’ Imagine hearing these words, “come, buy and eat, even though <strong>you have no money, it is free</strong>.” The prophet addresses the void, the emptiness, the nothingness compared to what once was. He addresses the <strong>dislocation</strong> and the <strong>sorrow</strong> in the lives of the people. As he does this, he uses the metaphor of food to remind them of the covenant that God had established and renewed. Isaiah likens God’s faithful, everlasting covenant to food freely given, as he says, “Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good…. come to me, listen, so that you may live.” Isaiah is proclaiming a promise of <strong>hope</strong> to those in exile, a promise the God of Israel made to the descendants of David, a promise that applies to <strong>all</strong> nations and <strong>all</strong> people. God, whose mercy is beyond understanding, welcomes <strong><u>everyone</u></strong> who turns around and turns back to God, everyone who comes to enjoy the feast of forgiveness, grace, tenacious mercy, and love.</p> <p>As I hear these words, I must say they touch the deepest places of my being when I think about the people of Ukraine. I realize this very God is right now faithfully present to the people in Ukr
المبدعون
OscarStar
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