Rev. Dr. Joel D. Biermann
Isaiah 55:1-2
August 6, 2017 9th Sunday after Pentecost
You gotta eat. And the people who do the marketing for Rally’s want you to do your eating at one of their establishments. They’ve been using the “you gotta eat” tag line for a lot of years now. But, to be honest, I had to Google it to remember which fast food place says it—perhaps the marketing is not quite as successful as it might be. It’s true, of course: you’ve got to eat. Food is required. And, it’s required with a fair amount of regularity. Miss a meal and your stomach lets you know it. Miss two in a row and your whole body starts to let you know it. Food is obviously important. Everyone has to have it and the need to eat is consistent and recurring. No one survives without food. It’s not at all surprising, then, that it is an old and rather common move to turn the reality of hunger and eating into a metaphor for all sorts of other desires and needs—including spiritual ones. A person’s ongoing need for something to fill his stomach is paralleled by that same person’s need for something to fill the spiritual hollow at the center of his life, or what we might call his soul. Stomachs and souls both need to be fed.
People do suffer spiritual hunger pains—all people do. Certainly, they may not be as obvious, urgent, or easily identified as the pangs of physical hunger, but they are every bit as real and every bit as common. The pangs of spiritual hunger may be called, conscience, or a deep yearning, or just a sense of wonder and awe about the world around. But, for those who stop and consider the “big question” issues of life, the spiritual hunger seems most like a void, a gaping empty vacuum, that needs to be filled. Everyone has this. Though some people have gotten very good at ignoring their spiritual hunger and need, still, they can’t ever entirely escape that empty spot. Every person recognizes that her very existence needs some sort of justification, some explanation, some purpose or meaning. Every person needs a reason for the things he does. Every person wants a sign or a voice to point her in the right direction. Everyone longs to feel a certain, satisfied, fulfilled way. It is a driving, crying force that is quite as real as the gnawing force of physical hunger.
People need some way to fill the internal hollow at the core of their lives, and the world is happy to oblige that need with an array of choices. We are all surrounded by an enormous number of possible solutions to the problem of spiritual hunger. You have more options available to feed your soul than you have ways available to feed your stomach. There are, of course, the old, traditional soul solutions, and they remain popular. People still turn to religion or plow through books on philosophy or even psychology with the hope of filling the hollow place in their lives and supplying the meaning, the hope, and the answers they crave. But, organized religion, and the world’s great philosophers or psychologists don’t account for all the possible ways to address the problem of spiritual hunger, not even close. There are also all the quick-fix solutions available, things that bring an immediate and potent rush of pleasure that for a while can dull the internal ache of the spiritual void. Frankly these options take less thought and less work, so they tend to be rather popular. Sports, music, art, sex, alcohol, cars, vacations, children, computers, clothing, movies, buying, bullying, befriending—all of these have a place on the menu of soul-food options. People try these and countless other ways to fill the holes at the center of their souls.
The world is the ultimate soul or internal-hunger-food-court. Some of what is offered is fast and common, some of it is slow and exclusive. Some options are quite tasty, some are tasteless. But while there may be an enormous number of ways people have available to satisfy their spiritual hunger, there are a few factors common to them all. The most important being that nothing that any place or person in the world can offer will ever completely satisfy anyone. No doubt, what is offered may be quite pleasurable at the moment when it is consumed; but sooner or later, usually very soon indeed, the satisfaction fades and the irrepressible hunger takes over again. Nothing offered in the world’s soul-food-court can ever give a person’s soul what it needs. Nothing. Not ever. It’s also quite true that every single thing that the world suggests as a means to satisfy spiritual hunger is frightfully expensive. Every offering comes with a price. Some things, of course take money. Others require the payment of time or effort or personal investment. Some demand sacrifices of emotional and relational resources. Whatever the price, there is always a price. Finding fulfillment and internal peace in the world soul-food court always demands much.
In spite of the many problems with eating from the menu of the world, it seems to most people that they have no choice—it’s the only menu available. So, they continue to browse the offerings, sample the items, and pay the exorbitant prices for spiritual food that will never, ever satisfy the hunger in their soul. So it goes. People work hard for things that will not feed their souls. They throw away their money for experiences that will never satisfy their need. They invest their time in pursuits that cannot fill the void. They give up resources and relationships for what has no answer for life’s big questions. They pay for what is worthless. They buy death. But, then, into the bleak, hopelessness and futility of the bankrupt and rotting human condition a clear voice rings out: “Come, come every one of you of who is thirsty. Come, every one of you who is hungry. Come, every one of you who is longing to be fed in the depths of your soul. Come, here and eat and drink and be fully satisfied once and for all.” The voice calls out. God calls out. He sends his invitation—it is extended to everyone. He invites you to his banquet of grace. The world’s soul-food court is not the only place for a soul to eat.
What God offers is utterly unlike the world’s miserable offerings. When you sit down at your place at God’s banquet, the hollow spot in your soul is filled fully. The aching hunger of your heart is quelled. The big questions are answered. The abiding internal peace and contentment that nothing in the world can ever supply is delivered by God. He gives the human soul everything for which it yearns. He erases the past, transforms the present, and guarantees the future. And the price for what God gives? What does it cost to take a seat at God’s table? Nothing. Those who answer the call and come to the banquet pay nothing. How could they? What could anyone ever give for such an incredible feast? God simply gives what man most needs. It costs no money. It demands none of your time, and none of your resources, or energy, or relationships. It is given. Free.
So, the banquet is spread. The price has been paid entirely by the host—Christ took care of that completely at Calvary. All fees are waived. Now, God issues the earnest invitation: “Come, come to the banquet. Come and feed your soul with the only food it needs. Come, eat, and live forever.” You have heard the invitation. Led by the Spirit, you have responded to the invitation and taken your spot at God’s table reserved just for you; your name is on it. You have tasted God’s food for your soul. You’ve heard his answers to your greatest questions; he has filled the void at the center of your life. He’s given you his forgiveness, his grace, his meaning, his purpose, his future, his eternity. You’ve eaten what he gives, and you’re here this morning to enjoy again the great fare that God spreads before you, here to enjoy the delicacies of his table. You’re here to share the food that brings eternal peace, and fulfillment to the center of your being. Everything is as it should be. Let’s eat.
But, what if you’re not hungry? What if before you got here this morning, you already ate a big meal and stuffed yourself on something from the world’s food court? This is perhaps one of the greatest mysteries about Christian people. Believers don’t have to order off of the world’s menu anymore. Christians have tasted God’s truth, and don’t need to keep searching in the world for something that will satisfy their greatest need. They know where they can eat and no longer be hungry, where they can drink and never thirst again. You have eaten this food, you have enjoyed this drink. So, why continue to belly-up to the bar of the world? Why leave God’s table to go find a table in the world’s food court? How can you come to the banquet of God after you have already indulged in what the world offers in its place? In truth, the sorts of problems people have with physical food are the same problems they have with spiritual food. They know what is good for them and what they should eat, but all those other things are so tempting and so interesting—and frankly so tasty. It’s hard to resist.
God is offering his very best food for your soul this morning. From the first word of forgiveness declared, to the Word read, and now proclaimed, and soon culminating, here, at the altar’s feast, you receive God’s very best. So why keep on ordering from the world’s menu? Why continue to pay outrageous, painful prices for what can never satisfy? Why fill your soul with what only leaves you more empty than before when you know where to feast on God’s food? Are you hungry this morning? Are you eager to receive what God is eager to give? Or, are you still feeling bloated from eating what the world has to offer? Are you famished and ready to dine with your Lord, or not really that interested because you’ve spent the week filling up on the junk food offered in the world? You gotta eat. So, where are you eating?
Maybe it’s some habit that trips you up. Maybe it’s a taste you’ve acquired for some particular offering on the world’s menu. Perhaps there are social or financial reasons at work. Maybe you worry that if you’re sitting quietly at God’s table you might be missing something interesting at the world’s bar. Whatever the reasons, you find yourself too often eating what the world offers, eating what will never fulfill you. Don’t feast with the world and then come to God’s table. Do that, and you forsake what God provides.
In the Word of the Gospel and in the grace of the Sacrament, God is giving you his very best. He’s giving it right here and right now this morning. Here, at God’s banquet you are fed and nourished for eternity. Here, God gives you all that you need. Here he feeds you with his grace and truth, satisfies the longing of your soul, and answers the big questions of your life. Here, God gives you everything. There is nothing better, anywhere. Leave the world and its worthless food behind. Be done with it, forever. Pull up your seat at God’s table and eat. Listen and be fed. Eat and drink and be nourished. Sit long and linger at his table. He’s got the very best for you again this morning. You gotta eat. Eat what God gives. Amen.