ARE YOU THIRSTY?

A Sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent
March 11, 2007
by Pastor Laura Gentry

Isaiah 55:1-9
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. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. See, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. See, you shall call nations that you do not know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
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. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (New Revised Standard Version)

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Are you thirsty?

As a nation, it seems that we are. Americans drank more than 23 gallons of bottled water per person in 2004 — about 10 times as much as in 1980. And we drank more than twice as much high fructose corn syrup per person as in 1980.

But that’s not the end of our thirst. We’re thirsty for all kinds of things. We are thirsty for more things and bigger houses. The Census Bureau found that the average floor space in new single-family homes has expanded to 2,227 square feet in 2005 from 1,905 square feet in 1990.

And we’re really thirsty for entertainment. Last year, Americans spent more of their lives than ever—about eight-and-a-half hours a day—watching television, using computers, listening to the radio, going to the movies or reading. For this year, 2007, the average adult is projected to spend 65 days in front of the TV; 41 days listening to the radio; a little over a week on the Internet; a week reading a daily newspaper; and another week listening to recorded music.

A recent survey found 65 percent of respondents spend more time with their computer than they do with their spouses or significant others. That’s not surprising given the infinite amount of things to do on-line: shopping, researching, playing games, selling stuff, meeting people and even caring for virtual pets! That’s right, one of the top twenty most visited websites is called neopet.com. There, you can “adopt” a virtual “neopet” and then feed it, groom it, play with it, take it to the vet, have it send e-mail to other pets, and even have it adopt a virtual pet of it’s own—a pet’s pet (isn’t that what everyone needs?) Right now, there are 199 million neopets out there using up people’s time and energy!

While buying things and being entertained aren’t in themselves bad, they do reveal the desperate thirst that we have to fill our lives with something—anything. “The demand for information and entertainment seems almost insatiable,” says James P. Rutherfurd, executive vice president of a media investment firm that did research for the Census Bureau.

“Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters,” says the prophet Isaiah in today’s first lesson. “Ho!” he begins, and not in a Santa sort of way. It is an interjection to grab our attention. Ho! Sit up and take note, this is urgent—extremely urgent! He’s speaking to a thirsty ancient audience who needs to hear from God because they’ve been living in exile. And at the same time, he speaks to us today—to our terribly thirsty, postmodern, almost insatiable, media-dominated, digital world. He cries out to us: “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” You can drink all the bottled water you want, and it won’t quench your spiritual thirst. You can have a 25% bigger house but it won’t satisfy. You can adopt all kinds neopets with pets of their own but it won’t fill you up. You can watch every Oscar award-winning film ever produced and while it may entertain, it can’t give you peace. Ho! Ho, Americans in 2007—yeah you—listen up! You’re in harm’s way!

“Listen carefully to me,” Isaiah goes on to say, “and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.” Don’t we want to live? Don’t we want to eat what is good and be delighted? Don’t we want to find what it is we’re looking for? It seems obvious that we do, but so often we are seeking this fulfillment apart from God and wondering why we always end up feeling so empty.

Stop doing that, Isaiah urges us. Instead, he offers this word of advice: “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.” There it is. There’s the Lenten theme of repentance.

Repentance seems like an outdated concept. It’s just not hip or trendy in today’s world. It requires that we stop thinking about ourselves only. It requires we recognize the futility of our culture that tells us we just have to keep buying things and entertaining ourselves endlessly. We have to open our eyes and see that such a philosophy just doesn’t work—at least not if we want to really live. In a bold, counter-cultural move, Isaiah invites us to turn away from all of that and to turn back to the God who made us. We are told to seek the Lord before it’s too late.

In the verses that follow this Isaiah passage, it says that you will go out with joy and be led forth with peace. That’s what God in Jesus Christ offers us. Joy—lasting joy. Peace—true peace. These are things you just can’t buy on e-Bay.

Lent is an invitation to take a long, hard look at our lives. It is the time for spiritual spring cleaning. What are we spending our time and money and passion on? Does it satisfy? Likely, what we will find if we’re honest with ourselves is that much of what we’re striving for is self-serving, futile and empty. We’re desperately thirsty. But it’s not too late! There is grace waiting for us. We can seek the Lord. Ho! We can turn ourselves around again and start heading for the light. We can drink of water that quenches our deep down soul thirst. We can eat and be satisfied without money. We can have what is good and discover delight. We can go out in joy and be led forth peace. Ho, my friends, that is worth striving for!

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

© Laura E. Gentry 2007