Isaiah 55:1-9

"Time for Dinner!" I remember when I was growing up; all us kids would get together in the afternoons to play. We would play a game of baseball or football or release the peddlers. When dinner time came around one mother would lean out her front door and holler for her kids to come to dinner. And we all knew that soon our mothers would be calling us too. And one by one we would scatter to our houses to eat.

In Isaiah God is saying: "Dinner's ready." He says, "Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." (Isaiah 55:1) Of course God is not talking about physical food that feeds only the body and then leaves one hungry again. God is offering spiritual food. God is offering to fill the empty hearts and souls of the people. And this spiritual food is free!

But people often feed spiritually on things that do not fill or sustain. Their spiritual intake consists of empty calories. Have you ever been hungry and found yourself eating a box full of cookies instead of something good for you. Of course I'm not talking about Girl Scout cookies. However you should save those for desert. When you realize what you have done you say, "I could have had a V-8!" Well the people were spending their lives on spiritual junk food. And God is saying "You could have had a God Almighty." Or as Isaiah put it, "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in fatness." (Isaiah 55:2)

God is calling the people to a dinner of good food. But there is a flaw in this little analogy of God calling His children to dinner. When I was little each mother would call her own children to dinner. She would say "Scott, dinner's ready," or "Susan, come to dinner." God is making a general call.

Just incase we missed it Isaiah spells if out for us. He writes, "Behold, you shall call nations that you know not, and nations that knew you not shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you." (Isaiah 55:5) God was calling not just the Israelites to the dinner table. God was calling the whole world to the table!

We Christians realize that this was God's plan from the beginning. When God called Abraham he said that he would be a blessing to the nations. This part of Isaiah was written after Israel had been scattered among the nations. As a result, by the time of Jesus there were Jews, people of God, in every city of the known world. God was preparing the table for his Son; Jesus.

This was something new and amazing. It didn't fit with the way that they thought. God had chosen them to be the people of God. So they thought that they were the only people of God.

But God's people needed to update their thinking. You see God doesn't think the way we think. God's understanding is far above ours. You know how people used to think the world was flat. And it is understandable; I mean look at the world around you. It has some hills and valleys. But for the most part it is level. I mean if it really is round and revolving why don't we all fall off into space? That is the way people thought and then the understanding that earth as a ball floating in space came along and people had to rethink things.

God's understanding of the way things are is so far above ours that sometimes we need to rethink things. God's ways are so far above ours that at times they don't make sense to us. That God would use the unrighteousness of his people, the destruction of Israel and of the Holy Temple to spread righteousness, just makes no sense to us. And that God would use the cruel death of his own Son to save us all from our sins doesn't make sense to our human logic either. But God's ways are far above our ways!

God is calling "Dinner's ready!" He is calling us all to the table; a table that is prepared for all who would come. A table full of good things. God has been working hard to prepare for us spiritual foods that will fill the empty places in our heart and souls. The table is spread and the whole neighborhood is called to feast.

But there is one thing. I don't know about you but my mother always told me to wash my hands before I came to the table. I had been out playing in the dirt and such and my hands were usually filthy. Isaiah put it this way: "let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." (Isaiah 55:7)

Maybe a better analogy is that my mother would not let me eat snacks right before the meal. God is saying if you are coming to the table you have to forsake your spiritual junk food ways. You can't bring your junk food to the table; you have to put it down. In the same way we are called to repent of our sin; to turn from it so that we can truly feast on the spiritual food God provides.

God calls all who are hungry. God is calling the whole neighborhood. Any who are hungry are called to dinner. Too often Christians think that God's call to dinner is just for church folk. I heard a church member say once that we should invite new residents to church because some of them might be Methodists. Sure they might be and some of them might not be Christian so we should invite them. Some may need to know that they have a Heavenly Father who loves them. They may believe but not be a part of a church family. They may need to experience the love of God in a community of faith.

We live in a world where all God's children get hungry. They thirst for clean water and hunger for spiritual food that sustains. Unfortunately many are feasting on the junk food that world offers.

You know when I was a child sometimes a mother would call her children to dinner and they would not hear her. Inevitably another child in the neighborhood would hear the call and come running, "Johnny, your mama's calling you to dinner." God is calling the whole neighborhood to dinner and it's good food so no one would want to miss it! But some of the children have not heard the call. We have heard the call. Maybe we need to run and tell the other children that their Heavenly Father is calling them to dinner!

Luke 13:1-9

"There were some present at that very time who told Jesus of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices." No one is sure of the details, but most Bible Commentators agree on the incident that these people referred to. The story goes that Pilate suspected a group of Galileans of planning a revolt. So while they were in the temple making their sacrifices to God, Pilate ordered them killed; on the spot. That is why the people said that their blood was mixed with the blood of the sacrifices, because their blood was spilled where the sacrifices were made. It was bad enough that Pilate killed them, but to have it done in God's holy temple was an affront to Almighty God.

Why did these people bring this awful incident up at this time? We know that at this point in his ministry Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. These people may very well have been part of the crowd that was following Jesus; some of his followers. Many of these followers believed that Jesus was God's chosen King, the Messiah, and that he would lead a rebellion when he got to Jerusalem. Maybe they were trying to incite Jesus to anger against Pilateand the Romans by citing this sacrilegious act. Perhaps they wanted Jesus to tell them that the same fate would not befall this rebellion, because Jesus and his followers were right.

All we really know about these people's motivation comes from Jesus reply. Jesus knew what was going on in those people's minds. From Jesus' reply we can conclude that the people believed that these Galileans deserved to die. That somehow God was punishing them for some sin by killing them. The natural flip side of that belief is that if you are good, you do not suffer.

Many people believe that all suffering is the result of some evil that the suffering person has done. Psychologists call it the "Just World Theory." It is a psychological defense mechanism that people use to make them feel secure. It is basically the belief that everything that happens is just and right, as it should be. This "Just World Theory" states that if someone is suffering it is because they deserve it.

The results of this way of thinking are as follows. This "Just World Theory" creates the illusion of moral superiority. The person says to him to herself, "I am better than them because I am not suffering." The "Just World Theory" also creates a false sense of security. So one would conclude, "I will not suffer because I am better than others."

To see this at work makes it much more clear. Let's say Joe Smith believes in the "Just World Theory." One day he is walking down the street. And he sees someone on the side of the road, half naked, unconscious and bleeding. There are many reasons that someone could be in that condition. But Joe Smith says to himself, "He must have done something to deserve this." He must have brought it on himself. He was probably drunk or high on drugs, or maybe he was associating with a gang or something." So Joe Smith convinces himself that he is morally superior to that man in the ditch. Many of us, whether we helped of not, would think, "If I were in that state I would want someone to help me." And that thought might make us help, or make us feel bad about not helping. But that thought never occurs to Joe Smith. Because he has convinced himself that he is too good to end up like that.

Jesus saw through all of this much quicker than we could. So he got straight to the point. He said "Do you think that because these Galileans suffered in this way that they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?" Jesus could have condemned Pilate or the Galileans. Instead Jesus made people look at themselves. "Do you think you are better than these? Is that why they died and you didn't." "And what about the 18 people who died when that tower fell on them? Had they committed some awful sin? Or were they just regular people, like you, who were in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

To make his point clearer Jesus told a parable. A man had a fig tree in his garden that produced no fruit. The man gave the tree three years to produce fruit but it produced none. Finally he said to the gardener, "Cut it down, it is using up good soil." But the gardener pleaded with him. "Don't cut it down. Give it another year and I will take special care of it. Then it is produces fruit good, but if it doesn't, then we will cut it down."

The people understood Jesus well. The man in the parable is God the Father and the gardener is Jesus. But the tree was each of those who were listening. Jesus was saying, "You are supposed to produce fruits of love and mercy and forgiveness, but I see none. God has good reason to cut you down now. God could let you die just like those 18 the tower fell on, or like the Galileans killed in the temple. But I pleaded with him and you have another year to produce fruit. Hurry up, show some mercy and love. Instead of blaming people for suffering, seek to ease it.

Politics and issues change, but people don't. "And at that very time there were people present who said, 'Preacher, I heard that thousands of people die from AIDS every year.'" How should I respond? I can condemn homosexuals, fornicators and IV drug abusers; all those who practice lifestyles that put them at risk for AIDS. On the other hand I could condemn the sinful prejudices that labeled AIDS a "Gay Disease" and failed to address if before it was an epidemic.

But there is a problem deeper than all this. It is the belief that all suffering is the result of sin. We in the church too often point our fingers at the suffering and condemn them. When we see the sick, the poor, the oppressed, we say to ourselves: "They probably deserve that." or "If they would only live right they wouldn't have those problems."

What would Jesus say? I can make a suggestion. "Do you think that these people are suffering because they are worse sinners than every one else?" Before you answer, think. Consider all the evil that people do in this world. Are these people worse than all of them? "What about the millions who died from cancer and heart disease?" Are you any better than them? Do you think you won't suffer from these diseases because you are so good? "No, but unless you repent, you will all perish just as they did."

The belief that all who suffer deserve to suffer is wrong and sinful. There is Divine justice; God will do away with the wicked and reward the righteous. But most of the time we don't see that in our lifetime. Reality itself shows us how false this way of thinking is. Sometimes righteous people suffer, and suffer incredibly. After all, Jesus was sinless, yet he suffered.

Jesus' message to his followers 2000 years ago is his message to us today. We shouldn't be wasting our time trying to determine whether someone else's suffering is a punishment from God. Instead we should be trying to determine if we are being faithful to God. God calls us to love the lowly and the outcast, to follow him in his ministry of grace and justice, to feed the hungry and bring some good news to the poor. Perhaps the people pointing fingers at others should take some time to point them at themselves. Perhaps we should do the same.

But how do you love the Pilate's of the world? How do we love people whose lifestyles we find disgusting? How did Jesus do it? How did he love the Woman at the well? How did he reach out to Matthew? How did he show grace to Zaccheus. He did it by looking past their sin. He didn't overlook their sin. Matthew had sold himself to the Romans. Zaccheus' love of money was destroying him. The Woman at the well was being used and abused. But Jesus looked past their sin and suffering and loved them. He spoke tender words of forgiveness, he sat down and ate, he said, "Walk with me." Jesus hated sin, but foremost he loved sinners; he loved them enough to die for them - for us. And we are called to do the same - that even includes I.V. drug abusers, fornicators, and homosexuals. Yes, we should hate sin, all sin, but if we fail to love even one sinner, we have sinned just as much as they. Jesus gave us a reprieve so you had better produce some fruit.