God’s Word Does Not Return Void
Notes
Transcript
I love this prophetic passage from Isaiah, so I’m going to read it in its entirety, from Isaiah 55.
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.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
First. Context.
This passage comes from the third section of Isaiah, as the people of God anticipate their return to their land after the time of exile in Babylon. Isaiah is a prophetic book that proclaims God’s promises to a people who are “walking in darkness” or, more plainly, people who are refugees and prisoners, taken from their land, longing for a home. These are words of hope and promise for a people who had very little hope and a lot of promises that seem to have been forgotten.
Of course, it’s important to note our modern context too. When we talk about returning to the land, we know that we’re talking about returning to a piece of land that was and continues to be rife with conflict about ownership and rights. It’s complicated to think about God’s promises in this light. Generally, it’s helpful for step back from the modern frame and consider what it would be like to be a person in exile, regardless of what their contemporary descendents are dealing with. It’s not too much a stretch to think that there were probably Palestinians among the exiled Jews. When people are forcibly removed from land or when they return to land, there are always other people there. That’s the truth we must learn from indigenous peoples. Land is complicated.
And it’s important we don’t just gloss over our current geopolitical situation, either. Israel and Iran are at war again. The conflict over land and rights and people — it is still right in front of us.
So…this is a message to a people returning to the place they call home, hoping that things are ok and that they could perhaps start a life there again.
The promise of God’s word to God’s people does not return void, but will come back with fulfillment.
It’s helpful, I believe, to find the universal idea here. We are Christians in the United States. We have inherited this story from another culture and people. And as the stories and words are passed down, we have to consider how they connect with our lives, while also keeping a good sense of clarity about how we may not every truly fit the particular station in life that these words were meant for.
The universal good news here, as I see it, is that God makes promises to God’s people and God’s promises do not go unfulfilled.
Asher saw my sermon title and we got to talking about what “void” means. When we say that God’s promises do not return void, it means that they come back with something, not nothing. It means that those words of God, however long ago or muddled by our culture and time they are, that they are words of goodness that have a purpose in our lives. As our passages today remind us, God’s promises lead to flourishing creation, crops growing, land restored.
What I told my kid is this: Since the time you were born, we’ve prayed that God would bless your life. We’ve prayed for your future and hold hope for all you will become. This passage tells us, reminds us, that God’s promises are good and will be there for you.
Today is Trinity Sunday in the liturgical calendar. While this passage is not directly related to Trinitarian theology or how we understand the biblical statements about the three-persons of the Godhead, I want to draw out a possible connection.
When Christians talk about the Trinity, Creator, Christ, and Spirit, we talk about how in the Trinity of God, there is infinite abundance. What this means is that there is always enough love within the trinity, always the three giving and receiving love from one another, overflowing with love to all creation. This is how we talk about it “theologically.” Perichoretic union, for the nerds out there.
For the rest of us, what this means is that in God there is so much love, generated and shared between God’s parts, that it overflows and pours out in the beauty of creation and, specifically, to us. God’s love pours out upon creation, cleansing us and fulfilling us to be the people God has made us to be.
We see this in practice in the beauty of our diverse humanity. People of all ethnicities, skin color, socio-economic standing, gender identity — all people making this beautiful quilt of humanity, with color and uniqueness and light. The word of God pours out the blessings of diversity and particularity, these words of promise going forth from God’s mouth to bless all creation.
Think. If you were a person who had been dispossessed of your land and all you’d know, what would these words sound like to you?
Let’s return to the end of Isaiah 55:10-11, the heart of our passage today:
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Of course, these are universal concepts of weather and growth and nourishment, right?
As surely as the snow and the rain fall…
As surely as the new sprout will yield a seed…
So it is with the promises of God — they do not return empty, but accomplish what God designs.
Ok then, so what does God design?
To a people seeking a return home…it’s a clear path.
God designs for the entirety of Creation to flourish. That is made plain here and many other places through the Scriptures.
What does that mean for us?
Well, I chose the text in particular for this Sunday because it is a day we are celebrating so many of our young people and welcoming new people into our community. This passage, I hope, reminds us all that God’s promises are for each of us AND, they are being fulfilled! We celebrate the growth and new life in our midst. We celebrate that God’s promises, God’s word, are for these children we’ve had up here and they’re for each of us. God’s love, in it’s profound abundance, pours out and yields good fruit in our lives.
Yes, there will be briars and thorns. But the promise of God is that even those will be made into flowers and vines that bloom and bring beauty!
You, are you a briar or thorn? Do you have briars and thorns in your life?
God’s promise is to restore these things and make new life boom from dead or hurting places.
So, God’s word does not return void, but goes forth into all creation, blessing us and calling us to life in its fullest.
There are so many other empty promises, void statements, thin excuses for hope in our world. And promises made by our leaders or politicians are often promises that will benefit them and their supports alone. They are void for so many, sparing only the elite or the rich or the powerful.
God’s word, God’s promises, come back true to us.
I’ll close with yet another example from the Scriptures of God’s abundance returning. I’m sure you’re familiar with the Flood narrative from the book of Genesis.
As the story tells, the waters begin to recede, Noah and his family begin sending our birds from the arc to see if there’s any dry land. You know, carrier pigeons and doves and the like. After a number of unsuccessful recon missions, we find that the dove comes back with an olive branch. Fresh, new life has sprouted somewhere! God’s promise returns with life!
We may feel flooded, exiled, poor in spirit and run down. The word of hope for us today is this: God’s good promises are still for us and God is still speaking, working, moving in us, unfolding this work of flourishing in us. Look to the horizon, look to the faces of the people you love — the promise is coming, the promise is here, the promise of God will restore the fortunes of God’s people.
Come, come to the table of God, no currency needed, no privilege, just the promise that God’s love is for you.
