Our first reading from Isaiah, has been described as being lyrical, joyful and full of assurance. It shows us that money is not everything. We may work all our lives for money, but miss the important things in life, that money can’t buy.
Even when we do have money, we may spend it on the wrong things, and not gain satisfaction.
When I was 25 years old (not all that long ago), I had a flashy sports car, a silver Vauxhall Royale Coupe with a 2.8 litre engine and a top speed of 118mph. I was still not happy though, because my girlfriend at the time worked shifts as a care worker, and was often working when I had time off, so I was unable to see her a lot of the time. To quote Meatloaf, I was going nowhere fast!
In this modern world of ours, there are lots of people who try to get us to spend our money on things that are not necessities. They encourage us to get the latest phone, or the latest computer game, or watch the latest television drama, but what we really need to do is to open our eyes, and see what we already have around us.
Isaiah shows us that if we listen to The Lord, he will make a covenant with us. In the Old Testament he gave the Jews King David, to lead and command them, and bear witness to God. In the New Testament, he gave us Jesus, not only to lead and command us, but to be our Saviour too.
In Isaiah, God invites us to his banquet, which is an extravagant invitation, at no cost, and all are welcome. This follows the tradition in the ancient world, for a new king to hold a great banquet to celebrate their coronation and welcome in the new era. Whereas there may be a catch when we accept offers that are advertised to us, with God’s invitation there is no catch, and no hidden clauses. Everyone who asks for God’s mercy will receive it. All we have to do, is accept God, and trust him.
When we have the chance to be near The Lord, we should seek him out. This means we should enter into a relationship with Jesus, and pray to him when we can. Of course, this is part of our Church services, but we may be able to find extra moments at other times in the week to say a prayer.
It could be before we go to bed at night, or when we are stuck in a traffic jam on the way to work. It could be when the rain stops falling and the sun comes out – when of course, we may see a rainbow to remind us of God’s promise to Noah that he would not flood the world again, or it may be when we reach the top of the Lickeys when we are out walking, and we find the whole of Rubery and Frankley lying there before us.
We do not know yet what God has in store for us. A couple of years ago, if someone suggested the world would be hit by a virus and go into lockdown, we would have thought it was a plot from a film or novel. Equally, if someone suggested Russia would start invading other countries in scenes reminiscent of World War Two, we would have thought that was the storyline from a film or novel too.
We can only wonder what the next two years will hold in store for us. We hope it will enable our two churches in Rubery and Frankley to work closer together, and also help us to build a close relationship with our neighbouring churches in the Rednal, Lickey, Barnt Green and Cofton Hackett parishes.
It is never too late for people to seek God. Regardless of your church history in the past, The Lord will always welcome you with open arms. We cannot fathom the depth of God’s love for us, because as Isaiah says, his ways are higher than ours, and his thoughts higher than ours.
Our Gospel from Luke today, takes part during his journey to Jerusalem, and tells us about repentance. When we do go astray, we need to repent, because otherwise we are lost. We must return to The Lord to receive his mercy. Jesus tells us we should not put off life-changing decisions, because we may not get the chance again.
Then we have the parable of the Fig Tree. I think this shows how we need to be patient and show forgiveness to other people as we give them opportunities to make good, and wait for their actions to bear fruit. I think it may also show us that we cannot save everybody, and we may occasionally have to let things go, and move on. While God can save everybody, we are only human and unlike The Lord, we do have limitations.
If we know our limitations though, then sometimes we can get around them. I know I don’t like heights, so I avoid going mountain climbing or abseiling. If we step outside our comfort zone, we may surprise ourselves as well. I’ve never had a very good relationship with animals, and quite a few dogs don’t seem to like me for some reason, although some do. When Emma and I visited the Caravan and Camping Show at the NEC last month though, I decided to join the World Wildlife Fund. We agreed to adopt an elephant, although I’m not sure where we are going to put it!
We are half-way through Lent now, and our reading from Isaiah follows the same theme, not only inviting us to hunger and thirst, but to hunger and thirst for the teaching of The Lord, who will quench us, and bring us to salvation. We are also invited to take part in God’s work, not just work that affects us directly, but work that affects the whole world.