Matthew 14:13-21
Listen and Watch Sermon
Pastor Tom Johnson, August 2, 2020
In our Scripture from Isaiah today, we have a window into the marketplace of ancient Israel. People would gather in a high trafficked area. They would display all their produce, vegetables, fruit, baked goods, meat, fish, eggs, jars of dairy, wine, beer, fabric, clothing, dyed linens, spices, herbs, jewelry, artwork, and craftsmanship. In addition to skillfully laying out all their merchandise, they’ve developed the skill of drawing attention to themselves and to their products through the human voice. You can still experience this at a convention with table after table of vendors doing all they can to get your attention—or at flea markets—or at the farmer’s market. “Good afternoon! Nice hat!” Anything to get your attention. “Hey! Have you ever tried one of my delicious olives?” “My tents will keep the rain and cold out!” Flattery goes a long way. “You look like the kind of person that would appreciate well-aged and well-refined wine!” “You would look fabulous in my purple-dyed fabric!” In today's text, God steps into the marketplace—poking fun at everybody else’s sales pitch. He uses the language of those desperate to gain a profit off anyone they can. The first word God uses is a meaningless interjection. It’s only function is to make a loud, attention-getting sound: “Ho!” In Hebrew, it is “Hoi!” “Hey! Yo!” we might say.
Today, neon lights try to hypnotize you into a door for a delicious meal. A billboard entices us with someone who was once bald and now sports a full head of hair. Ads promise to make you rich, gorgeous, happy, and to extend your life-expectancy. I remember as a child watching commercials for toys. Each toy seemed to have a life of its own. It seemed so much more colorful, sensational, and spectacular on television than when it was in my living room. When I see “buy one get one free,” I start doing the math. If they can make a profit off my buying two for the price of one, then what percentage of a profit were they making before the sale price? It has to be at least more than 50% profit! Or how about an all-you-can-eat restaurant? How inexpensive is the food they are serving—how low is the nutritional value if they can fill us to the gills and still make a profit? How much food does one need to eat before they lose their profit?
The marketplace is full of lies and deception. If sellers can convince you that you are getting more value for what you are paying, you will feel great about charging your card or handing over cash. That’s their goal—for us to feel good about giving them money. If we new the truth of how much the items are actually worth—if we knew the truth of the quality (or lack thereof) of the product—we likely would feel like victims—lured and deceived by a con-artist. We may always have to live with buyer’s remorse. In the economy of the world, that is often how things work. There are winners and there are losers. There are those who will lie and deceive to make a profit. And in the spiritual realm, the Devil is a master at deception. That is his name: Deceiver. And we can get carried away by the empty promises of sin and its pleasures. What if every material thing in the world that we put our faith in—and buy into—will eventually let us down? What if we found out that in the world’s marketplace we will always be the losers and victims of scam after scam?
I’ve mentioned this before a few years ago. But I’ll never forget hearing a very young incarcerated man at Stateville telling me and a group that it took him 2 1/2 years to realize he was there because at one time he believed in a lie about gangs—that they will give you a place where you will belong, make you rich, and unending romance. We have been haggled so much by the world that we can easily lose our way. We have invested so much and received so little in return. I believe it is one of the biggest reasons most of us have a hard time understanding grace. How can something be of value if it is simply given away? How can something have worth if it is free.
Just a few chapters earlier than our Scripture today, the prophet writes., “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of the Lord stands forever!” (Isaiah 40:8). As as Paul says of the Gospel: “God has shown us the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” The Scripture today is about grace. It helps us understand what grace is. It is g-r-a-c-e. God’s richest at Christ’s expense. It is treasure that we receive for free. It is unearned. It is not purchased. It is free.
That is what I love about our text today. God humorously uses a sales pitch. He haggles us—not to buy—but to receive—his grace, his love, his generosity: “Hoi! 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.”
“Hey you! Are you thirsty? You hungry? Come to my table. Everything you see is absolutely free. What? You do not have any cash? You have terrible credit? That is exactly what I expected. That is why I am not here to sell but to give. Why go to the other tables and buy food with no nutritional value? Or why would you spend your hard-earned money for food and drink that will spoil and clothing that will wear out and tear? Why not get the very best for free?”
In our Gospel reading, Jesus tells his disciples not to send them to the towns and marketplaces to buy a meal but to come to him and receive for free. All ate. All were satisfied. God truly opens his hand and satisfies the desire of every living thing as our Psalm says. At the Lord’s Table we receive not just Bread and Wine but the Body and Blood of Jesus—we receive the very currency by which our salvation was purchased—not gold or silver but his precious Body and Blood. “The wages of sin is death,” Scripture says, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 6:23). Through Jesus death and resurrection, God has paid our all our debts. He gives us forgiveness and eternal life. We owe him nothing but our love, gratitude, and thanksgiving. We don’t buy his love by our obedience or good works.
“Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. Naked come to thee for dress. Helpless look to thee for grace.” He opens his hands. He satisfies the longing of body and our soul. He fills that God-shaped void in our hearts. He haggles us—pleads with us to receive all of this by grace—absolutely free.
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