Margaritaville
Isaiah 55:1-13
Ho,
everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without
price. 2Why do you spend your money for that which is
not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen
carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich
food. 3Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so
that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my
steadfast, sure love for David. 4See, I
made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the
peoples. 5See, you shall call nations that you do not
know, and nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of
the Lord your God, the
Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
6Seek the Lord
while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; 7let
the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let
them return to the Lord,
that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon. 8For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are
your ways my ways, says the Lord.
9For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so
are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10For
as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return
there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and
sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11so
shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to
me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in
the thing for which I sent it. 12For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in
peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 13Instead
of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall
come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an
everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. Isaiah 55:1-13
Several
years ago, the website The Onion, featured a fake press release for a
new snack cracker by Nabisco. The
product was called T.C. McCrispees and was described as “the
antidote you’ve been reaching out for.
Our tasty new snack cracker will, if only for few lovely
moments, significantly lessen the aching, gnawing angst that haunts
your very soul.” It goes
on to say that T.C. McCrispee’s is widely expected to be Nabisco’s
most anguish-relieving snack-food product since the 1983 introduction
of Double Stuff Oreos!
The
article goes on to say that the cracker “further compensates for the consumer's vast, howling
emptiness by giving him or her the option of adding toppings to the
cracker's surface, such as aerosolized cheese or sausage bits.
"By eating T.C. McCrispee's in such a manner," he said,
"consumers will be deluded into thinking they have taken actual
steps to improve their lives, or—in the rare case of a vegetable
topping—their health." (“New
Crispy Snack Cracker To Ease Crushing Pain Of Modern Life” http://www.theonion.com/content/node/30189)
Now
I suspect that sounds both pretty funny and pretty scary. Funny because we realize just
how ridiculous this claim is. Scary
because it hits too close to home for many of us who spend our lives
trying to fill a void in our lives that we can’t really explain. We eat too much. We drink too much. We spend too much. We work too
much. We expect too much
from others. We look outside ourselves for something to fill the void,
to lessen the aching, gnawing angst that haunts our soul, and in the
process we reach out desparately for
anything that will fill the emptiness.
In doing so we begin to waste away.
The
song we just heard a few moments ago is a great example of this. Margaritaville is an anthem for
beach vacations, spring breaks, and drunken parties. Yet, when you actually listen
to the words, you hear not the voice of a man enjoying the party but
the cry of a man in pain—a man whose life has no meaning, who has
lost it all, and who has no one to blame but himself.
And
God cries out: “Why do you spend your
money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does
not satisfy?!”
But
it’s not just the addicts who are wasting away. Many people fill the void with
less destructive and more culturally approved behaviors. They go through life
perpetually hungry and they can’t figure out why their lives are so
meaningless, so dull.
A
few years back, a woman, named Marge, wrote Ann Landers :
"I'm
forty-four, husband same age. We get along okay - no drinking, no
gambling, no skirt chasing. He has a good job and our home is paid
for. Our four children are healthy and normal. They do well in school
and the three older ones have never caused us any trouble. So why am I
writing? Because my life is blah. Something is missing. It's like stew
without salt. I feel a certain emptiness. What is it?"
Many
people, like Marge, don’t appear to be wasting away but they are. They generally work hard, have
nice homes, successful lives. Their lives are very full. They appear to have everything
that we say makes life succesfull: work, money, status, activity. Yet, they go through life
perpetually hungry. A
gnawing hunger remains.
And
God cries out: “Why do you spend your
money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does
not satisfy?!”
There
are folks who are starving all around us. There are folks at home in
their beds sleeping off last night’s party. There are folks working yet
another shift trying to make ends meet.
There are folks sitting on their porches drinking coffee and
wondering why their job, their success, their home, and their family
are not enough. Folks wondering why this second marriage which held
out so much promise has fallen apart.
Teenagers wondering what to do now that she is pregnant. Adults wondering how they are
going to pay the credit card bill and the mortgage and still have
enough left for groceries. Senior
adults wondering what value their lives have now that they have no
job, no money, and have to rely on others.
So
whether they are wasting away in Margaritaville or wasting quietly
away in the comfort of their home, their problem is the same—a need
to satisfy the hunger within. A
hunger so uncomfortable, they continue to reach out to grab
something—anything—they can stuff into the void to relieve the
ache and to hold on: work,
sex, drugs, alcohol, shoes, activity—you name it. Good or bad--it’s junk food
for your soul. It fills you up, but it doesn’t really satisfy!
So
God cries out, “Why do you spend your
money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does
not satisfy?! It doesn’t have to be this way!!!!”
To
those wasting away, God says, “Come!
Come to my banquet. Come
eat your fill of the best life has to offer: joy, peace, gentleness,
self-control, forgiveness, love . . . .” Stop filling yourself up with
that which does not really satisfy and fill yourself with healthy,
life-giving food. Come!
The
promise of Margaritaville is only a shallow echo of the promise of
God. The promise of Margaritaville is a party where the pain of life
is dulled as you fill the empty void with junk. And quite often the promise of
the American dream does the same thing: work as hard as you can, spend
as much as you can to ensure your success and security.
If
you find that hard to believe, look at the current credit crisis. Some say the problem is that
Americans have taken on too much debt—which is true. But I believe
the deeper problem is that we are too hungry. We are trying too hard to
fill the void, to prove our worth, with a bigger house, a nicer car,
more clothes, more expensive education.
So we work too hard. We
spend too much. We strive
to have it all and in the process we lose all that really matters.
We
strive to fill the empty spot—that spot that craves love, acceptance
and security—with stuff that can’t last. But it comes at a heavy price!
But
the promise of God is quite different!
“Ho,
everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money,
come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without
price. 2Why do you spend your money for that which is
not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen
carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich
food.”
The
promise of Margaritaville is that there is a party where we can forget
the gnawing within. A
place and time when we can forget the nagging wife, abusive husband,
and miserable boss. A place where for the price of a drink we can numb
ourselves to life’s pain and struggle and for a little while forget
how empty we feel. But the
problem with Margaritaville is that the morning brings only a headache
and a gnawing hunger even worse than before.
God
has an even better party and an even greater dream for us than we
could ever have imagined. God
promises to give us what we truly need:
acceptance rather than rejection; hope rather than despair;
deep love rather than shallow companionship; community rather than
alienation; forgiveness rather than judgment; love rather than
rejection.
Yet,
all too often, we sit stuffing ourselves on potato chips and coke. We
settle for a pale imitation of the real thing, when right behind us
God has set up a banquet table loaded up with everything we ever
needed: love, forgiveness,
acceptance, peace, meaning, comfort, freedom . . . And God calls,
“Come! Come to my banquet! It’s
for you! It’s free! All you have to do is turn
around and come to the table.”
Historically,
Christians have debated whether there should be requirements for
approaching the Lord’s table for communion. Some say only those who have
been baptized can be invited. Others say only those who are part of
their community or who believe they way they believe can come to the
table. Yet others, taking
one verse out of 1 Corinthians to heart, think you must somehow be
worthy to come to the table.
However, I side with those who say the table is open to all. The invitation is extended to
all. I believe, like Isaiah, that God’s grace, love and acceptance
is available to all without price.
All that is needed is simply this—turn around.
Turn
around. In church language, we call that repentence. In fact, that is
exactly what repentance means: to
turn around.
Turn
around. Turn away from
those your sins that separate you from God and others and even from
yourself and turn toward the holy life of God.
Turn
around. Turn away from yourself, your desires and your wants, and turn
toward God, who gives you all you truly need.
Turn
around. Get your head out
of the fridge where you are desperately looking for that which will
not satisfy you anyway and turn toward the table God has prepared. Quit stuffing yourself with
frenzied activity, shallow parties, and hours upon hours of
meaningless work, and friends who don’t accept and love. Come to
God’s table, God’s party, and discover real food—real
meaning—in life.
Folks
are starving all around us. And, I suspect, those folks are not just
outside the walls of this church.
Perhaps some of you are starving too.
And
to all the hungry people, God calls us, “Come!” Don’t worry
about money—it’s free. Don’t
worry about being worthy—because none of you are. Quite stuffing yourself with
the things which don’t satisfy! Quite wasting away on things which
only bring the illusion of community, freedom and peace! Come to my
table.
Come
to the table where the unforgivable is forgiven
Come
to the table where the unacceptable is accepted.
Come
the table where the unlovable is loved
Where
the broken is made whole.
The
captive is made free.
The
dead are brought back to life.
Come
eat and fill yourself on the finest God can provide.”
Come!
|
