"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has 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 diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food."  (Isaiah 55:1-2)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.The ways of the Lord are not our ways. His thoughts are not like ours. They are far above us: As the heavens are high from the earth, so, too, are God's thoughts and ways far above ours. And this is a good thing. Often we think about this lofty fact in the light of God's being so much bigger, so much smarter than us. We think of it in regard to His omniscience, the fact that He knows all things and can see the game play out, whereas we are stuck in the game and can't see more than two moves in front of us. While this is all true, of course, I don't think this is what Isaiah means.

Isaiah tells us to come and buy wine and milk, come and purchase them both so that we can be content. And so we come, with money in hand; money that looks like our works, money that looks like our self-assured pride, money that looks like our lineage or our ancestry or anything else that pertains to the Law. We come prepared to purchase that which we need, for this is the way of our lowly thoughts. 
But what we buy looks nothing like wine, nor does it taste anything like milk. We don't seem to mind, for we are quite assured that what we have purchased for ourselves is--we think--far, far better than what God has in store for us.

But our Lord's ways are so much different, so much higher. He tells us to buy, but without money, which means, of course, that we aren't buying anything. Instead, it is all a gift given. For when I don't bring anything to the table, but get the most exquisite meal anyway, that means the Lord is going about His higher work once again. Gifts for everyone! Free and clear! Bellies all full, sins all forgiven, death all dead.

Come, buy the things of your Lord! You won't believe how great the deal is. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus, Thy boundless love to me No thought can reach, no tongue declare; Unite my thankful heart to Thee, And reign without a rival there! Thine wholly, Thine alone I am; Be Thou alone my constant flame.
("Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me"  LSB 683, st.1)

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Duane Bamsch