July 16, 2023
Pastor Daniel Slaughter
Text: Isaiah 55:6-11
Theme: We Sure Could Use God’s Word!
How is your grass today? I don’t know about you but mine is looking a little brown. Reminds me a little of Arizona. I step out on my lawn and I hear the crunch under my feet. My lawn desperately needs water. With how expensive water is, let’s just say I am not going to give it any help. It will have to rely on rain. Rain is so important, not only our lawns, but for farmers and crops, and just life in general.
I think you begin to appreciate the blessing of rain when you go without it or when you live in a dry, desert climate. I grew up in the desert of Arizona, and I remember coming to the midwest for the first time and thinking to myself, “Everything is so green!” For midwesterners where everything is so green, I wonder if is harder to fully appreciate the beautiful langue that Isaiah uses in our lesson for today. God is speaking through the prophet Isaiah talking to people who live in a hot and dry country. To hear about the water God richly and abundantly supplies (earlier in the chapter) and to hear of the rain and snow falling down would have resonated with them. And he compares the rain falling down with God’s Word. My lawn sure could use some rain but we sure could use some of God’s Word. We could use some of God’s Word, 1) to see God’s way, and 2) bear fruit in our lives.
There is an urgency to Isaiah’s words in our lesson. We see the sun rise and set. We get up and go to bed. At times it almost feels like our time keeps going on. It’s not till we experience the death of someone, grandparents, a tragic accident of your friends, a parent, a spouse, a child that we might recognize that our time to live is limited and uncertain. God gives us time so that we come to know him; and if we come to to know him by faith, that we might have the opportunity to tell other so they can know him as well.
Isaiah says, “Seek the LORD while he may be found! Call on him while he is near! Let the wicked man abandon his way. Let an evil man abandon his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD and he will show him mercy. Let him turn to our God, because he will abundantly pardon.” (Is 55:6-7).
Right now the Lord makes himself near. He his able to be found. But to find him it is on his terms, in the way that he chooses to reveal himself. We may say we feel God’s presence in nature, we may think that going into the nature we are closer to God, but looking at God’s creation only tells us that there is a God. It can never tell us what we need to be saved. It can never tell us who God is or what he has done for us.
How is God near? Where do we seek him? Where do we find him? Simply put…His Word, the good news of who he is, and what does. Isaiah proclaims God’s Word, the thing that causes us to turn from our sinful ways. He points us to the gospel, we see God’s mercy, and what God does, how “He will abundantly pardon.”
God makes a stark comparison between sinful man’s plans and ways and his own. “Certainly my plans are not your plans, and your ways are not my ways, declares the LORD.” The contrast that God is making is between humanities sinful thoughts, actions, and desires. What God thinks is sinful and wicked, we think is good, pleasurable and fun. What God thinks is harmful, we think it’s harmless. What God commands we avoid. What God forbids, we desire.
We have to come to this realization that our sinful nature thoughts, plans, ways, are not God’s plans or ways. Why do we need to fully grasp this? Because our sinful nature will do everything to fight against God’s way. It will hold on to sin not wanting to let it go. It will try to find pleasure and happiness in sin apart from Christ. It will seek to find rightness that feeling that we are good enough by the things that we do or achieve as opposed too what Christ has freely given to us.
How does knowing this help the Christian, you, sitting here today? We hear God’s word where he reminds us, “Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my plans are higher than your plans.” He makes himself known to us through his Word. He promises to show us mercy. He gives to us forgiveness. His plan, his ways center around Jesus. Salvation, righteousness, forgiveness, is given to us. He gives to us something better, something higher, then what our sinful nature desires and wants.
How does recognizing our sinful nature’s ways and seeing God’s ways help us? We see something better in God. Our sinful nature will lead to guilt and shame from never being able to measure up to perfection. We see how God freely and abundantly gives his mercy and forgiveness. We have something better that leads us to let go of the desires of flesh, to abandon it’s ways and thoughts and turn to the LORD, we have the gospel.
God wants to be found and is found in his Word. HE give sis his Word so we can understand him. He makes a promise regarding his Word in our lives “Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky and do not return there unless they first water the earth, make it give birth, and cause it to sprout, so that it gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater, in the same way my word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty. Rather, it will accomplish whatever I please, and it will succeed in the purpose for which I sent it.”
God’s Word doesn’t return to him empty, but accomplishes the purpose for which he sent it. Every time you open and read the Bible God is sending down rain causing your faith to grow and flourish. As you take time to delve deeper into God’s Word, God is sending down rain causing your faith to grow so that we can forsake our sinful ways and follow his way. As you come and praise God, we also are fed with his Word.
As God has planted that seed of faith in our hearts and causes it to grow, he gives to believers the amazing privilege to share that Word with others. Sometimes we doubt our ability to share the word, sometimes we get frustrated that we stumbled over the choice of our words as we tell someone about Jesus. We might also think it is someone else’s responsibility to share Gad’s word, like the pastor, or teacher, or leader.
But God has given us all that responsibility from children to adults. As a parent we can speak the simple truth to our children when they sin, I forgive you but more importantly Jesus does. Couples can speak God Word to each other. As we are at side of hospital bed or a nursing home we can speak God Word to our loved one.
Say the words of God out loud! Not just shallow words but speak God’s Word to people. That is what God promises to use. Saying something so simple as Jesus loves you. You can give people the gospel and hope of heaven in your own simple way. That is the rain shower of the gospel!
My family in Christ, We sure could use God’s Word in our life just like we could use some rain. As God’s Word falls down into our lives through devotions, bible study, worship, We get to see God’s way which is higher then ours. We see his love, mercy, forgiveness. And God makes a promise that when his word is proclaimed, it will not return to him empty. It will accomplish the purpose for which he sent it. So be in that word and watch your faith grow. Share that word and watch God work! Amen.