Isaiah 55:6-11

Seek the Lord while he may be found! Call on him while he is near! ⁷ Let the wicked man abandon his way. Let an evil man abandon his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will show him mercy. Let him turn to our God, because he will abundantly pardon. ⁸ Certainly my plans are not your plans, and your ways are not my ways, declares the Lord. ⁹ Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my plans are higher than your plans. ¹⁰ Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky and do not return there unless they first water the earth, make it give birth, and cause it to sprout, so that it gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater, ¹¹ in the same way my word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty. Rather, it will accomplish whatever I please, and it will succeed in the purpose for which I sent it.     (EHV)

Dear Friends in Christ,

The Brothers Grimm tell the story of Hansel and Gretel, lost in the woods, frightened and alone at first, then threatened by a terrible witch who wants to eat them up. At long last they find their way back to their father, who has been mourning for them alone at home.

Few things are as frightening as being lost alone in the woods as a child. What a relief to finally hear your father’s voice calling out after you. You run in the direction of his voice until finally you see each other and run to each other, holding each other tightly. It takes a while, but eventually the terror melts away and calm returns to your heart.

That’s what the Miraculous Message of the Gospel does for us— 1. A Message Desperately Needed, and 2. A Message Full of Power.

It’s a Message Desperately Needed

The story of Hansel and Gretel is our story. We were lost—separated from our Father. Ever since the fall into sin, and Adam and Eve’s being cast out of their true home in the Garden of God, we, their children have been wandering, lost in the woods of the world, being stalked by a man-eating spirit called the Devil. We need to listen for our Father’s voice calling out for us, and follow that voice until we return to Him and find our real home again. Seek the Lord while he may be found! Call on him while he is near!

Like a child wandering away totally unaware from its parents in a crowd, so many people on this earth don’t realize they’re lost. They’re surrounded by crowds of other lost people, so they don’t notice. Even if they realize they don’t know the way home, they find comfort in numbers.

In real life, you hear people say dumb things out loud, like “Well if I go to hell, at least I’ll be in good company.” So many figure, “If I just don’t think about it, it will all work out somehow. There are too many of us unbelievers for God to let us all go to hell.” But do the sheer numbers of lost and wandering people mean that they’re not lost? Two chapters earlier, Isaiah described the scary situation we all were in, and he even includes himself: “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” (53:6a).

Isaiah needed to hear his Father’s voice, the Shepherd’s voice to find his way into the fold and ultimately return home. That’s what everyone needs. That’s what we need. Seek the Lord while he may be found! Call on him while he is near!

We hear His voice in His Word. When Adam and Eve were lost in the woods, hiding amongst the trees, ashamed and afraid, God went looking for them. He called out to them and when he “found” them, he spoke firmly but tenderly as a Father. He gave them His Gospel promise that one day, their Greatest Descendant, the Seed of Eve, Jesus, would crush the serpent’s head and set things right again. When we were lost, God found us too and spoke to us through His Word. Isaiah began this chapter with these words from the Lord: “Hey, all of you who are thirsty, come to the water, even if you have no money! Come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. … ³ Turn your ear toward me, and come to me. Listen, so that you may continue to live” (Isaiah 55:1,3a).

It’s a Message Full of Power

And what is the message He brings? “I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the faithful mercies promised to David” (Isaiah 55:3b). God had promised David a son—not just any son, but the Seed first promised to Eve. David’s son, yet David’s Lord is the Christ who came to establish this covenant: “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” … “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved” … “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Mt 11:28–29; Mk 16:16a; Lk 19:10).

How beautiful and powerful are the Words of God. What a stark contrast to false words of those who would lead us a stray and keep us lost in the woods. Think back to the story of Hansel and Gretel. As lonely as they felt, they weren’t the only ones there in the woods. It wasn’t silent around them. Nor was it only forest animals they heard. They saw a house there, a house made of gingerbread. And they heard a voice calling out to them. They were coaxed by the deceptively gentle words of its owner, a witch, who planned to bake them for lunch in her oven.

There are many sweet sounding messages calling out to the lost children of the world. In fact, as Luther reminded us in “A Mighty Fortress,” the world is filled with “devils, all eager to devour us.”

But our Savior keeps searching for us—for all the lost. He never judges us a “lost cause.” Like a father searching for his kidnapped children, He cannot give up or rest as long as even one of them is still missing. And even if they chose to run away, it doesn’t change His desire to bring them home and love them. That’s how we know He is truly our Father. He’s not a fake like all the other gods. He’s the real deal. He made us, and He sent His Son to die for us and redeem us—that’s how much He loves us! And so He keeps calling.

⁶ Seek the Lord while he may be found! Call on him while he is near! ⁷ Let the wicked man abandon his way. Let an evil man abandon his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will show him mercy. Let him turn to our God, because he will abundantly pardon.

All false “gospels” teach what we must do to obtain God’s favor. The true voice of the Father promises rescue from above to the helpless. That’s what makes God’s Word a Miraculous Message. It saves us by giving us faith and hope, rather than orders and rules we can’t keep. We know our Shepherd’s voice because it is true and honest. It makes our hearts burn within us. He tells us plainly that we are lost. He doesn’t sugar-coat the truth. He shows us our sin and levels with us about our natural helpless and hopeless condition. False rescuers tell us to trust ourselves. “C’mon, you can do it.” “You’re not really so lost.” But our consciences, no matter how hard we want to believe that false message, tell us who is really being truthful with us: It’s Jesus. It’s God the Father. It’s the Holy Spirit. They’re the ones we can trust. God’s Word is true, and that’s what gives it power: Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky and do not return there unless they first water the earth, make it give birth, and cause it to sprout, so that it gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater, ¹¹ in the same way my word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty. Rather, it will accomplish whatever I please, and it will succeed in the purpose for which I sent it.

It’s miraculous and powerful, but it can be resisted. Many do so. You heard in the Gospel lesson what happens to the seed of the Word. Some of it is plucked away by the birds, some of it grows but then withers and dies. Some of it is trampled along the path. What a wonderful relief that it germinated in our hearts and is still growing! The Gospel has given us hope and hope springs eternal. It’s a miracle you believe—God’s miracle in you.

When God speaks, things happen. When God spoke at the founding of the world molecules and atoms came into being and came together at His Word. And just as God’s powerful Word created the world and made it teem with life, in the same way His Word melts hearts of stone and brings dead souls to life. God’s Word convicts us of our sin. “Guilty,” He says, and we are condemned. “Justified,” He says, and we are pure and holy in His sight. “Believe in me” He says whenever and wherever the Gospel is preached throughout the world, and people become Christians, are justified and are given eternal life! All that simply through the proclamation of the Miraculous Message of God’s Word.

God speaks, and the Kingdom of God, His Kingdom of grace, grows and spreads  without ceasing until He will say, “It is enough” and return to judge the living and the dead.

As in Jesus’ parable, we see God’s message trampled underfoot. We see it plucked out of people’s hearts and choked out by the weeds of worries and wealth. We’re tempted to doubt its power and to think we need to add to it, subtract from it, soften it up—do something to make it more effective. After all, we want God’s kingdom to grow—and we’d like to see it grow faster. But that’s not our business, and we can’t help God’s Word be more powerful. Jesus Himself told us of the birds that eat it and the feet that trample it, and Isaiah reminds us God’s Word “will accomplish what I –God—desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

The Word of God is a Miraculous Message. We—people with eternal souls who were lost, who would still be lost without the Gospel of God in Christ—do well never to listen to others who call out to us and try to lure us astray and back into the woods of confusion and doubt. Remember that gingerbread houses come with ovens and witches! And when we’re tempted to try to help God along in His rescue mission, we dare never mess with the Word of God, altering and distorting it to the peril of other lost souls, thinking we can make it better and more powerful. And if we truly trust the power of God’s Word, His Miraculous Message, we do well to scatter the seed of the Word generously, eagerly, boldly and loudly—proclaiming and sharing the message of Jesus with the lost around us. Let’s boldly confess with Paul: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes—to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed by faith, for faith, just as it is written, ‘The righteous will live by faith’” (Romans 1:16–17). That is the call in the woods of Jesus Christ, our Rescuer and Redeemer. That is the Miraculous Message that found us. That is the message that has been entrusted to us to faithfully use to rescue others.  

Believe this: Just as the rain and the snow come down from the sky and do not return there unless they first water the earth, make it give birth, and cause it to sprout, so that it gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater, ¹¹ in the same way my word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty. Rather, it will accomplish whatever I please, and it will succeed in the purpose for which I sent it. Amen.