ABCs, an introduction…
James Cathcart
July 02, 2023
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Listen to this daily worship
Isaiah 55 (NRSVA)
1 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.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labour for that which does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
3 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.
4 See, I made him a witness to the peoples,
a leader and commander for the peoples.
5 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.6 Seek the Lord while he may be found,
call upon him while he is near;
7 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.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.10 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,
11 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.12 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.
13 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.
This July we are running through an A-Z of Faith in our daily worship! Each day we will look at a new letter and explore what it means — and what it feels like — to be a Christian today. The list is far from comprehensive, it’s just a fun exercise to take a fresh look at our faith.
Before ‘A’ tomorrow, we draw breath with the beautiful Isaiah 55. These ancient words speak of a timeless longing. Both God’s heartfelt desire to invite us, and our heartfelt desire to be invited, to be included, to belong.
Y’know I often think, the fascinating thing about humans is that we are simultaneously both vastly intricate… and incredibly straightforward.
It’s mindboggling to think that there are billions of people all going about with entirely unique views on the world — shaped by countless distinct factors. There’s so much nuance and difference even between two siblings who live together let alone between two random people on opposite sides of the planet…
And yet.
The older I get the more I get the sense that people are, at one level, also incredibly similar. For the most part, we just want somebody to listen to us. And we want somewhere to belong.
We might express those needs in all sorts of ways, but fundamentally I think it’s those two things we long for.
In Isaiah 55 — and in the midst of our beautiful heartbreaking reality right here right now — God’s compassionate invitation tell us two things:
1) That we are heard.
2) That we belong.
Now, are these beautiful ancient words simply wish fulfilment — just a human desire yelled into the void that’s echoing back to us? Or is there someone at the other side genuinely inviting us to more and more of a beautiful, heartbreaking life? Where rains fall and seeds rise and trees clap their hands?
I believe there is.
Someone we’re going to learn more about over the next 26 days…
PRAYER:
Lord in Heaven,
Whose invitation is born on the breath of the universe,
we are listening
In you we find recognition
and belonging.
Thank you.
Amen.
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