August 2, 2026 Text: Isaiah 55:1-5
Dear Friends in Christ,
One summer when we lived in Kansas City, I went to 22 Kansas City Royals baseball games. It was with a church member who became a good friend. We never paid for any of the games. There were season ticket holders at the church that always had tickets for us. What my friend recalls and still brings up when we are together is that I never had any food or drink at any of those 22 games. He still finds that incredible.
Does it mean I mean I never ate at Royals Stadium? Au contraire. Toni and I along with the other Pastor and his wife and our secretary and her husband ate at the Royals Club. The head elder had privileges, and we were the recipients of his gracious invitation. 3rd base line, indoors, enjoying a feast and watching baseball. Pretty sweet, right? I stayed away from the ballpark food and got to eat cuisine that satisfied. The prophet Isaiah in our text is sending us a gracious invitation, it is no ballpark hot dog and bag of peanuts. It is a banquet, and it is without cost. You’ve been invited to the club. Have a seat. As you look around you may wonder . . .
“WHO’S FEEDING YOU?”
What are you filling up on? What satisfies? When a new president takes power there is mad scramble for thousands of positions. People want power and control. So many venues of power in life and so little time. We want control in our place of employment, in our home, over our spouse and kids, over our finances – is this vain hope feeding you?
Do we feed on things that can’t deliver? The cure for baldness, the antidote for skin aging, clothes to lure a guy who isn’t worth it, investments deals that don’t get you rich quick, or maybe drugs or drink or illicit sex. Are these fleeting moments feeding you?
Maybe you fill your plate with social media. They literally tell you they are feeding you – it’s called a newsfeed. You chase the rabbit down each and every hole and look up and two hours of your life is gone. Are you satisfied? Do you feel better? It is literally consuming the average human. Who’s feeding you?
Ok Pastor, you have jabbed us pretty good these last few paragraphs. Where should we feed? Worldly solutions do not offer satisfaction. We are told, “Just behave better.” Oh, we try but we keep repeating the same silly people tricks or we invent new ones. Survey after survey shows people want to put their phones down, but few do. We are not at peace because we are at odds with the One who made us. The single most basic relationship in life is between Creator and His creatures. Our human behavior is opposed to God’s will. We like the pig trough better than the banquet hall. What source can give us rest for our souls and peace with God and ourselves?
The only source of satisfaction and peace comes from the lavish feast that our Creator has prepared for us through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Hear the words our text, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” (v. 1-2). We have no money to give to feed ourselves. It is a smorgasbord of God’s grace, not man’s effort. Where man fails, God succeeds.
In loving compassion, the Father has sent his promised Son of David, Jesus Christ, who alone was able to keep all the requirements of God’s Law. The complete impossibility of man’s perfect obedience is accomplished by Jesus Christ. The righteousness we could not achieve is a gift from Jesus to us.
But we still have this problem of feeding on sin. Again, the lavish feast of God’s grace solves our dilemma of debt. In the suffering and death of our Lord, a lavish payment has been made for our feeding on power or things that can’t deliver or social media. This feast does not just satisfy, it goes beyond what we can imagine. Christ even ate our greatest threat – death. Paul wrote, “Death is swallowed up in victory.” (1 Cor. 15:54).
Pull up a chair. You are dining at the Royals Club with the greatest Royal. He grants you blessings through Christ at your baptism. Come to His banquet table at this altar. You have forgiveness and the assurance He is with you when your table on earth looks pretty bare. Through these gifts He is feeding you. This is peace that will not perish but will satisfy for all eternity.
Who’s feeding you? If you come away still hungry, then hear well the words of Isaiah this morning, for his invitation is for you. Welcome to the Lord’s Club.
Amen.