October 8 & 11, 2026
Sermon by Pastor Rue
Isaiah 25:6-9
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
A Banquet Beyond Belief…
For You & For All

If money were no object, and you had the opportunity to prepare the perfect meal for
anyone you wanted, what would you serve, and who would you invite to join you? Maybe
you’d invite your best friend over for a cookout, where you’d grill up the perfect medium-
rare burger, topped with melted Colby-Jack cheese, crispy onion rings, thick slices of black
pepper bacon, and a juicy tomato, with a side of sour cream and chive waffle fries. Or maybe
you’d prefer a romantic dinner at home with your spouse, where you’d serve a delicious
plate of spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce, hand-rolled meatballs, freshly baked garlic
bread, and a Caesar salad on the side. Let’s get really creative. Let’s say you could invite
your favorite celebrity over. Maybe you’d want to impress them with a juicy, 16-ounce
steak, served alongside a perfectly golden-brown baked potato loaded with butter, sour
cream, sea salt, bacon bits, green onions, and shredded cheese. Who’s hungry? I hope you
didn’t come to church on an empty stomach. ��

Dear friend, in our sermon text, our God is preparing a feast, and he’s serving the very
best. Our text says that this feast will be “a banquet of rich food, a banquet of aged wines,
with the best cuts of meat, and with the finest wines.” (v. 6) God is preparing the absolute
best feast imaginable, and do you know who he wants to dine with? You! God is preparing
this feast for you. But not just you. He’s preparing this feast for all people because he wants
all people to be able to enjoy this feast of salvation. So, get ready! We’re about to get a
foretaste of a banquet beyond belief, for you and for all.
These words were written by the prophet Isaiah at around 700 B.C. The Holy Spirit
inspired Isaiah to write these words for the Old Testament Israelites because they were going
through a really hard time. Granted, it was their own fault that they were going through a
hard time, because they had turned their backs on God and they started worshiping false

gods. And so, God allowed Israel to be conquered by their enemies. Things were looking
pretty bleak. But God, in his grace, inspired Isaiah to write these words of comfort so that
Israel could have hope and relief. Dear friends, there are plenty of times when life seems
bleak, doesn’t it? There’s not enough money coming into the house, and the bills keep piling
up; your chronic pain has you wondering if life is worth living; a person that you loved
dearly left you; you were diagnosed with a life-altering disease; you lost your job and your
self-confidence is at an all-time low; you’re wrestling with anxiety and depression, and there
are somedays when you feel completely alone; your child is struggling and you’re having a
hard time getting them the help they need; someone near and dear to you passes away. Life
can seem really bleak sometimes. We sure could use relief.

Well, dear friends, I have good news, because the God who promised hope and relief
to his Old Testament people also promises hope and relief to you. But here’s the thing: the
relief that God is promising you isn’t an earthly, short-term relief. No, God is promising you
eternal relief. Let’s dive into our text and see how God describes this eternal relief. “On this
mountain the Lord of Armies will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food, a
banquet of aged wines, with the best cuts of meat, and with the finest wines.” (v. 6)
Let’s keep in mind who the original audience was when Isaiah wrote these words: it’s the
Old Testament Israelites who were suffering at the hands of their enemies. And so, when
God says that he is going to accomplish something “On this mountain,” the Israelites knew
which mountain was being talked about: Mount Zion. What’s the significance of Mount
Zion? It’s where Jerusalem and the temple was located, the place where God and his people
came together, where God’s people would come together and be blessed by God. But let’s
keep in mind that these words weren’t written just for Old Testament Israel. These words
were written for all God’s people of all time, including you. So, the reference to Mount Zion
is a spiritual reference. So, where is our “Mount Zion?” Where does God come to meet with
his people? Right here, and wherever else God’s Word is proclaimed in its truth and purity.
In other words, the “Mount Zion” in this text is wherever God is present among his people:
AKA, his Church.

And what is God going to accomplish on this mountain? “A banquet of rich food, a
banquet of aged wines, with the best cuts of meat, and with the finest wines.” Can you
imagine what such a feast would look like? Can you imagine what such a feast would smell
like? Can you imagine what such a feast would taste like? Can you imagine how you’d feel
after partaking in such a feast? You’d be full, happy, and satisfied. But since we’ve already
established that the mountain in this text is a spiritual mountain, we can, therefore, conclude
that this feast is a spiritual feast. But even then, based on how this spiritual feast is described,
you know that God is offering the very best that he can offer. And what is he offering us?
Spiritual relief, spiritual satisfaction, spiritual happiness, spiritual fullness; God is offering us
his salvation. The very last verse in our text clues us in on that, “On that day it will be said,
‘Look, here is our God! We waited for him, and he saved us! This is the Lord! We
waited for him. Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation!” (v. 9) There is nothing better
that God can offer us than to take us from this world of sin and sadness and take us to be
with him forever in perfect paradise, where we will always be happy and satisfied and safe.

And as if offering us this spiritual feast & sustenance wasn’t enough, God promises to
do even more for us. Verse 7, “On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that covers
all peoples, the burial cloth stretched over all nations.” In Bible times, people mourned
differently than we do today. Back then, people would actually wear mourning clothes; they
would cover themselves in sackcloth and ashes as they mourn whatever tragedy had befallen
them. In our text, we’re told that God will “destroy the shroud that covers all peoples, the
burial cloth stretched over all nations.” In other words, God will remove all sadness and
grief from our lives in heaven. Whatever ails you, whatever bothers you, whatever stresses
you out, whatever makes you sad, whatever makes you cry, God will remove it, and it will
be gone for good, gone forever, and that includes death. Isaiah proclaims, “He has
swallowed up death forever!” (v. 8a) Death is the one enemy that no human being can
defeat. We can try to outrun death with a healthy diet and proper medical care, but despite
all our efforts, death eventually catches up to each and every one of us. Yet Isaiah tells us
that God has destroyed death. And we know exactly how God accomplished that don’t we?
Isaiah didn’t have the benefit of hindsight here, but we do. Three days after Jesus died on the cross, he rose from the dead. And so, because Jesus conquered death, death will die; death will be completely destroyed. It will not exist anymore.

Next, Isaiah says, “The LORD God will wipe away the tears from every face.” (v.
8b) As a parent of four young children, I have wiped many tears from their faces. That’s one
way of showing my children that I love them and that I care for them. When we reach
heaven, God will personally wipe the tears from all faces because he loves us and he wants
to be there for us. But those tears we shed won’t be tears of sadness. In heaven, those will be
tears of overwhelming joy and happiness. And the reason we know those tears will be tears
of joy is because, “He will take away the shame of his people throughout the earth.” (v.
8c) I’m sure we can all think back to the sins of our past and remember the shame that’s
connected to those sins. When we reach heaven, when we arrive at God’s salvation feast, he
will remove our shame entirely. There will be no more reason to feel ashamed or
embarrassed or guilty. Isn’t that amazing?!

Why can we be so sure of all this? “For the LORD has spoken.” (v. 8d) God speaks,
and it is done. That’s how the universe was created. God spoke, and it came to be. Here, God
is telling us, “I will satisfy your every spiritual need. I will remove death and the curse of sin
from your life forever.” “The LORD has spoken,” and so it is done.
What a feast! What a celebration! And what’s even more amazing is that God is
preparing this feast of salvation for you, and for me. Why is that so amazing? It’s because
we don’t deserve it. Not one of us deserves a place at God’s salvation feast. That’s a difficult
truth for our sinful hearts to accept because we naturally want to believe that we’re good
people who deserve good things. But that’s not how salvation works. God’s law reminds us
that we’re not good people. God’s law reminds us that we’ve sinned against him in our
thoughts, words, and actions. We’ve failed to love him above all things, and we’ve failed to
love our neighbor as ourselves. We’ve been selfish when we should have been generous,
we’ve been impatient when we should have been loving, and we’ve been unfaithful when we
should have been faithful. If access to God’s salvation feast depended on our goodness, we
wouldn’t deserve even a crumb that fell from the banquet table.

But dear friends, the most beautiful thing about God’s salvation banquet is that he
doesn’t invite us because we deserve to be there. He invites us because he loves us. Think
about that. God knows every sin you’ve ever committed. He knows every selfish thought,
every unkind word, and every missed opportunity to serve him. And yet, he still wants you
at his table. And even then, God isn’t just going to give you the leftovers and say, “Here are
my leftovers. Just be thankful you were able to be here in the first place.” No, he’s going to
give you the very best he has to offer. He wants to offer you his full and free salvation.
That’s the incredible generosity of our God. All of this is possible for us not because God
overlooked our sins or pretended that they didn’t matter. Instead, he sent his own son into
this world to save us from our sins. Jesus lived the perfect life that you and I have failed to
live. He loved his heavenly Father with complete devotion, and he loved his neighbors with
perfect compassion. Then he willingly went to the cross, where he suffered the punishment
that our sins deserved. On that cross, Jesus took upon himself the shame and disgrace that
belonged to us. He endured the judgment we deserved so that we could partake of
salvation’s feast. And when Jesus rose from the dead on Easter morning, he accomplished
exactly what Isaiah wrote about: he swallowed up death in victory. Because of Jesus, your
sins are forgiven. Because of Jesus, death has lost its power. And because of Jesus, you have
the certain promise of everlasting life.

The banquet is prepared. The invitation has been extended. But the invitation isn’t just
extended to us; it’s extended to all people. Verse 6 says, “On this mountain the LORD of
Armies will prepare for all peoples a banquet…” Verse 7 says, “On this mountain he
will destroy the shroud that covers all peoples, the burial cloth stretched over all
nations.” Verse 8 says, “The LORD God will wipe away the tears from every face. He
will take away the shame of his people throughout the earth.” God wants to extend this
invitation to salvation’s banquet to all people. And how will he do that? Through us! Think
about how excited we become when we're planning a special celebration. When we find a
wonderful restaurant or prepare an extraordinary meal, we naturally want to invite people to
enjoy it with us. Shouldn’t we be even more eager to invite others to God’s salvation feast?
There are people in our families, neighborhoods, workplaces, and communities who don’t

know the wonderful salvation that Jesus has won for them. Others have drifted away from
God’s Word and need to hear his gracious invitation once again. And God gives us the
privilege of sharing that invitation. We don't have to be extraordinary speakers or have all
the answers. We simply need to point people to Jesus and tell them about the forgiveness
and eternal life he freely offers. But we don’t have all the time in the world to extend this
invitation. Before we know it, the end will come, and then there will be no more time to
invite people to God’s salvation feast. So we need to hear God’s invitation to salvation now,
and we need to extend God’s invitation to salvation to others now because it really is the
beginning of the end.

Dear friends, we’ve all enjoyed wonderful meals throughout our lives, and perhaps
there are some great feasts that still lie ahead. But no earthly banquet will ever compare with
the feast God has prepared for his people. It's a feast where every need will be satisfied,
every sorrow will be forgotten, and every tear will be wiped away. It's a feast where sin will
no longer trouble us, where death will no longer threaten us, and where nothing will ever
separate us from the love of our Savior. It’s a banquet beyond belief, and because of Jesus,
it’s for you, and it’s for all. Amen.