30 Days of Thankfulness4. An Invitation the Feast Dan Bidwell, Senior PastorIsaiah 25:6-8; Isaiah 55:1-3, 6-7 Sunday 20 November, 2022

Intro: Whats your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

I tried a dish Id never tried before dressing. Its stuffing that was never stuffed inside the turkey. Pretty great!

Thanksgiving is a time where we look forward to a feast with our family and friends. A time of wonderful warmth and enjoyment and love.

And our Bible passage today is also about looking forward to a feast a feast that God is preparing for all those who are his family and friends. A feast that lasts not just for a day, but for all eternity.

A feast we dont want to miss.

So why dont we pray and ask God to teach us about this feast.

Our heavenly Father, we give you thanks for the joy of feasting with our family and friends this past week. But we long to know more about the heavenly banquet, and your invitation to feast with you forever. Will you teach us now as we open Bible. In Jesus name we pray. Amen

1. Anticipating the Feast

This is the last day of our 30 Days of Thankfulness. All month here at church we have been focusing on growing in gratitude, by practicing thankfulness daily.

Many of us have been doing daily devotions with our 30 Days of Thankfulness prayer guide. Im still working through it, but I wanted to skip ahead to the last page because its about being thankful for how the story ends. Listen to what it says:

Sometimes it may look like the enemy is winning. But we know the Truth. We have read the ending of the Book of Truth. The Truth is that when its all said and done, God will prevail. There will be a day when theres no more pain, sorrow, suffering, and all thats wrong will be made right.

Our Bible passage today was written at a time when it seemed like the enemy was winning.

Isaiah was written somewhere between 700 and 740BC, when the northern tribes of God's people had been taken into captivity by the Assyrians. They had been taken away from the promised land, and kind of taken away from God. God was punishing them for their sinfulness. And so in Isaiah, Gods people are hoping for restoration and they're anticipating a rescue from God.

And so God gives the prophet Isaiah the words that we just read, a promise of restoration.

Imagine that you you're taken away from your people, and you're taken away from your home. And God says I'm preparing something for you. Im preparing a banquet. I'm preparing a feast. I'm preparing a party or a celebration.

It's a celebration of coming home (verse 6):

On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples,a banquet of aged wine the best of meats and the finest of wines. (Isaiah 25:6)

It sounds like a good party doesn't it? When he says the finest of wines I'm sure it will be a Napa cab, and who knows maybe a French champagne? And the finest of meats. Perhaps a Turkey. Or lamb

Do you know when I was growing up in Australia lamb was so cheap that we used to eat it every night of the week. We were so bored of it. Oh, were having lamb chops again??? Can you imagine?

This feast that God is preparing this feast, this celebration it marks the end of trouble for God's people. And his rescue. Its God bringing his people back, bringing his people home and bringing them back into his family.

So I have a question do you think this is a literal feast or is it a metaphor?

When we look at the Old Testament we see all kinds of different real feasts. God's people in the Old Testament had seven different feast that they enjoyed every year the feast of Tabernacles, the feast of weeks, Passover (there was four more that I can't remember). But seven times a year Gods people stopped to feast and to remember that God feeds them. God fed them in the desert and God feeds them every day. There's something about feasting and eating that reminds us of family and celebration. And so perhaps in heaven there will be a literal feast every day

Back in Australia Jo's grandmother lived at a house by the beach. And in the house next door there was a Polynesian family (Tongan or Samoan?). Anyway every Christmas they would have a feast, and this feast basically lasted three or four or five days. All day and late into the night, there would be people sitting out in the yard (Christmas is in the middle of our summertime). Somebody would play guitar and other people would be singing. They would cook meat and fish in the ground like a luau. People would come and go there was singing and praying and laughing and it lasted days. It was a wonderful feast with the family gathered all together.

And I think heaven might be like that.

It was the same in Jesus story when the prodigal son returned home. Do you remember what the father did? They killed the prize calf and they had a feast. They celebrated the return of their son who was lost and was now home.

Feasting literally is a wonderful metaphor for being invited home and being returned and welcomed. Our family was invited to a feast this week in St Helena. We were invited into somebodys family Thanksgiving meal. Its such a tangible expression of being included, and loved

So come back to the Bible passage in Isaiah 25. Is this a literal feast or is there something more going on?

Actually when you look at vv7-8 there is something metaphorical about this feast. In v7 God says:7 On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples,the sheet that covers all nations; (Isaiah 25:7)

God is talking about death. He's going to destroy death on the mountain. Part of this celebration is not just a return from exile but it's the end of suffering. And it's the end of death and it's the end of sorrow. Verse 8

8 he will swallow up death forever.The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces;he will remove his peoples disgrace from all the earth.The Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 25:8)

Isn't that wonderful? The Lord has spoken When God says something is going to happen, it does.

Isaiah 25 is a word of prophecy a promise of God about something that is yet to come. And if youve read the end of the Bible, Revelation 21 paints a very similar picture of the end of all things. Where the new heavens and the new earth come down and God is with his people and he wipes away every tear. And there'll be no more death and no more mourning and no more crying and no more pain because the old order has passed away and the new has come.

This is an eternal promise. And so the feast in Isaiah points forward to the celebration of the end of all that is bad in this world, and signals the beginning of an eternity of only goodness. Isn't that wonderful?

2. Responding to the Fast

So how do you respond to Gods invitation to the feast?

Do you remember being a kid and at school and somebody has a birthday party. And they hand out invitations. Do they still do that or do the moms just text? In the olden days you used to get a paper invitation.

It was so exciting. Everybody in the class got an invitation (except sometimes they didn't - that causes trouble!)

But in Gods kingdom everybody gets an invitation. God says, I want to invite everybody to the celebration. He doesn't go around the classroom and say, Not you. Actually he invites everybody to this big party - the party that lasts forever, the celebration for all eternity.

Have a look at a verse 6. It says there:

6 On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples,

At the time that God wrote this, he had his special people, his chosen people, the Israelites. But actually this promise is not just for his chosen people, it's a promise for everybody.

And anybody who answers this invitation can come to the party.

Wouldn't you want to go to this party? You wouldn't want to miss it, would you?

So come to the Isaiah 55 reading. How do we respond to God's invitation to come to the party? God says:

1 Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.3 Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live.I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.

God issues this invitation, and to come to the party you dont have to buy a ticket. It's not a party where you have to pay your way in. He actually offers it to people who are thirsty and hungry, people have no money, people who have nothing to bring, and nothing to offer. They're not friends with God because of anything good they've done. He just loves them as they are, and he says: I want you to come to my party

When we come back to Matthews gospel next year, our very first chapter when we come back in Matthew 22 is this story of a wedding feast. The groom invites people but lots of them say, well I've been too busy I can't come. And so the groom sends his servants out onto the street and says we've got all this beautiful food I want everybody to come. And there's still room so he sends his servants out again and more and more people come into the feast.

You see, God wants us to come and all he says is just come if you're thirsty. Come if you're hungry. You don't need to have money, I just want you at my party. You don't need to bring a present, you don't need to pay me back. Just come

So how do we respond to Gods invitation?

Look at all of the verbs in vv1-3:- V1 Come; buy; eat

It's kind of strange to buy when you don't have money, isn't it. But it's almost like a free shop. God wants to give you everything. This is Gods grace in action!

And then in v2:- listen

We need to listen to God to respond to him. Then he says in v3

give ear and come to me

Give ear means listen. And then he says it again

listen that you may live

When we come to God, when we listen to God, the result is that we find life. Eternal life. We get life that is true life. And I don't think it's just life into eternity, I think it's life right now. We don't have to wait until eternity to receive these blessings. We get them now. We get to live.

And again have a look at v1. This is a promise for all people. Come all you who are thirsty.

This is a message for all people everywhere, not just special people sitting in the church today. It's not just a message for people who identify as Christian.

You know sometimes you look around and think, Oh well that person they wouldn't be interested in Jesus because they have a different cultural background, or a different religious background, or a different socioeconomic background. And so I don't need to share Jesus with them. That's not true at all!

This invitation is for all people! This is a message for all people to come to God, to find life. And it's free and it's good and it's not just about food but it's about truly living and enjoying life the way that God made us to live. In the way that God intended it to be, to be with him around his table sharing at the feast.

And do you know, for 2000 years people everywhere have been responding to this invitation.

In Matthew 8, Jesus said:

11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 8:11)

Jesus promises this wonderful party with people coming from everywhere, from all over the earth and every culture and every religion when they find their hope in Him

But I do need to mention a caveat at this point. Even though Gods invitation is an invitation to all people, there is something very exclusive about what God is offering.

To find this life that God offers, you need to come to him. You need to choose him, rather than trying to find life and satisfaction elsewhere. Look at v2:

2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.3 Give ear and come to me; listen, that you may live. (Isaiah 55:2-3)

This is a hard word in a pluralistic world. Id love to say all roads lead to Rome, and all religions end in the same place. But thats not what the God of the Bible says. Here in Isaiah 55, God says you have to come to him if you want to find life. Jesus made it even more explicit when he said:

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

We need to know Jesus if we want to respond to the invitation. Thats why we spend so much of our energy learning about Jesus here at church every Sunday. Hes the key. Hes the way we find life. And forgiveness. And all of Gods gracious blessings We need to come to him.

3. Enjoying the Feast

So how do we enjoy the feast every day?

I think it's a shame that we wait until Thanksgiving to eat turkey. I imagine you can probably buy turkey all year round, but we just don't and maybe it wouldn't be special if we did.

But we don't need to wait until Thanksgiving, or we don't need to wait until Christmas, to enjoy God. We don't need to wait until we die to enjoy God. And in fact we shouldn't.

Do you remember that fantastic movie with Robin Williams The Dead Poets Society? If you need to cry today you should watch that film. Its this beautifully directed film about a group of boys at a private Academy in their senior year of school. Set in the 1960s. And they have this teacher who inspires them (Robin Williams) to make the most of every day. Carpe Diem. Seize the day. Dont put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

And so with God, we don't want to put it off until tomorrow. We don't want to put it off until after we're busy or after the holidays or after I've got over this medical issue. We don't want to put off enjoying God. We want to do it everyday.

Have a look what it says at the end of Isaiah 55 in verse 6. It's just like the Dead Poets Society. I think they might have copied from the Bible.

6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.7 Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Seek the Lord while he may be found Now is the time for people to find God. And actually this is the easiest time of year to help people find God. Because Christmas is the easiest time to talk about Jesus. We've got all these wonderful events at church that will gently put Jesus and the holidays together for our family and friends. And this is not just a plug for our events, this is how we help you invite people to the feast.

You know when you get invited to dinner at somebody's house, it's very special. It indicates something about your relationship. It is an honor, in some ways, to be invited into someones home.

I think when we invite people to church, we want it to feel the same as inviting them to a feast. You might need to actually invite them to a feast first. You might need to invite them to your home for a meal to show them that you love them and that you want them to be part of your family. But eventually that will also mean inviting them to share in your bigger family, this family here at church which is Jesus family.

Because you dont want your friends to miss the party.

When I was a kid, we missed a birthday party once. We received the invitation, and we RSVPd. We bought a present. But it got to Saturday afternoon and somehow with 4 kids at home we forgot to go to the party. We missed it. And I was so upset.

When it comes to Gods party, you dont want to miss the invitation. You dont want to miss the RSVP date, you dont want to forget that this feast is coming.

You want to seek the Lord while he may be found, and we want to help our friends seek the Lord while he may be found. We don't want to wait until they die before taking the chance to have that conversation with them. Don't wait until it's too late because there's a beautiful feast for everybody who responds. And God wants us to help invite people to his big feast.

Let's pray.

Heavenly father we thank you for the feast that we enjoyed on Thursday and we thank you for the feast that we'll enjoy in heaven forever and ever. Help us enjoy you today to have life to the full. And we pray that we might enjoy life with you forever. And father please, please will you help us to invite people to the feast of Jesus Christ, the feast where there is pardon where the disgrace that we had from our sin is washed away. Where people who have nothing to bring, nothing to offer, no money to buy salvation find forgiveness in your Son. We pray Father that you would help us to invite them to come with empty hands and to enjoy your gracious provision. We pray this in Jesus name, AmenWatch at: https://youtu.be/71x8Tt8IC6Y File Downloads: https://dq5pwpg1q8ru0.cloudfront.net/2022/12/17/14/52/34/5074cc31-df01-4ac0-b7fd-fe2756126fc9/11.27.22%20%20Sunday%20Sermon%20Transcript.pdf