Come to the Water

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time- Isaiah 55:1-3

Thus says the LORD:

All you who are thirsty,

come to the water!

You who have no money,

come, receive grain and eat;

Come, without paying and without cost,

drink wine and milk!

Why spend your money for what is not bread;

your wages for what fails to satisfy?

Heed me, and you shall eat well,

you shall delight in rich fare.

Come to me heedfully,

listen, that you may have life.

I will renew with you the everlasting covenant,

the benefits assured to David.

The Lord speaks to us today about our deepest longing for satisfaction. No matter how materially wealthy you might be, at our core all of us are needy. Some of us recognize that more readily than others, but it is a universal truth. That is actually good news because if we are not needy then we do not need the Lord either. 

The needs that Isaiah describes this week are thirst, implied hunger, and a lack of resources to address those needs ourselves. He even points out our tendency to seek fulfillment in “what fails to satisfy.” You may not think of it in terms of food and drink, but if you are honest with yourself, you will recognize that creeping, aching desire for something else. Satisfaction is a hard thing to come by. Perhaps you are not materially poor (but perhaps you are). Even so, many of us spend our resources–our time, our energy, our attention, and yes, our money–on things that fail to satisfy us. This week, the Spirit offers us “rich fare,” “life,” and “the everlasting covenant.” He offers to satisfy our hearts through the metaphor of satisfied stomachs. All for free! 

The feast that Isaiah describes recalls the feast on the mountain of the Lord described earlier in Isaiah 25:6-8 as well as Wisdom’s banquet described in Proverbs 9:1-6 and Sirach 24:18. It is also echoed in the New Testament in Jesus’ Parable of the Wedding Feast (see Matthew 22:1-14) where the poor and destitute are invited to the feast and in Revelation 19:9 where heaven is described as “the wedding feast of the Lamb.” It seems that this image of a feast that is free to all, especially to the needy, is a favorite of the Lord’s. It emphasizes the gratuitous nature of his relationship to us. The Lord does not want you to earn your admission or even to bring a side dish. He has everything handled. All he wants from you is you, unencumbered by your need to contribute, to achieve, or otherwise to deserve. 

We do not like to acknowledge our need, whether it is a need for government assistance programs or a need to be seen and heard by someone, a need for boundaries in relationships or a need for help doing life. This week, the Spirit invites us to lean into our neediness, our true neediness, not the one that can be solved with same-day shipping or fast food. Are you hungry for something? Do you realize that you do not have the resources to satisfy yourself? The same God who became man and multiplied loaves and fish offers to satisfy the deepest desires of your heart in ways you cannot even imagine. But only if you are needy.