The Best Things in Life...

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

They say that the best things in life are free. The Beatles proclaimed to the world, “Can't buy me love.” A wife's kiss, a son's hug, a daughter's grin – things like these have no price-tag. You cannot buy the sun or the rain. Good health is priceless. Indeed, many of the best things in life are beyond the ken of the marketplace. They may take work, but they cannot be bought.

In today's Old Testament lesson, the Lord exhorts you to come and receive great blessings at no cost to you. Come, buy and eat and drink, without price or cost! Come and receive all those things which are necessary for your daily life. You who thirst, come and drink deeply, and be satisfied. You who are hungry, come and eat your fill of rich food. Eat and drink and be satisfied by the bounty that the Lord provides. And keep your money, because the Lord has spread His table before you as a gift and a blessing. He asks no price, no admission cost. He only invites you to come and partake of the wonders He has in store for you.

The Lord God, your heavenly Father has promised to give you all good gifts. He is the author and source of life, and He creates and sustains all things by His loving command. The Lord has created your life, and He knows well all that you need to live and thrive and grow throughout the days He has fixed for you. As your dear Father, He will graciously give you all that you need to support this body and life, purely because He loves you. There is nothing that you could want that He cannot give, and nothing you need that He will not supply. His bounty satisfies your poverty. His riches far outstrip any need or lack that you have or feel.

The Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, is your God and Father, and He has promised that He will bless you and keep you throughout all the days of your life. One thing He demands of you – that you come to Him to receive these good gifts.

The prophet asks, “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread?” People feel many motivations to work. Some work out of a sense of duty to self or to others. Some work out of a desire for money. Others work for power or prestige or praise. No doubt, you want to feel some sort of fulfillment or reap some kind of return for your work.

The world says to you, “he who dies with the most toys wins.” But most people miss a key point in this statement. You may amass the most toys, but you still will die. You may have the fanciest, shiniest tractors. You may own half the acreage in the county. You may have the most well-kept house or most pleasant family. But, sooner or later, all these things will pass away. You cannot take any of these things with you. To think otherwise is foolishness. To assign a value beyond their station is idolatry.

Solomon, in the midst of all his glory and splendor, said, “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil.” (Ecclesiastes 2:24). The toil of a person's hands is but the means that the Lord has chosen to give you the daily bread He deigns to give. The value to your labor is not that it earns you some merit before God, but that it helps care for your neighbor. You may think that your work will earn you whatever you want, but that is folly. Solomon realized that amassing a vast storehouse of wealth and possessions does no good, because you will die, and then who knows what will become of it?

But you have mistaken the amassing of stuff for the joy of a job well done. You have traded the blessings of charity for the strife of greed. You have been rich in your petitions to God, but poor in your work for your neighbor's good. You have laid up into storehouses rather than feeding the hungry. Your closet remains well-appointed while the poor go naked. Your neighbor is lonely, the widows and orphans among you are deserted, and you fail to comfort and help them. You would rather cling to the gifts than honor the Giver. You will not be the instrument of good to others, but demand that they do good to you. It is not the government's job to care for those in need – it is your job, one at which you have failed.

But take heart – all is not lost! Listen to what the Lord commands: “Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good.” In spite of all your failings and your idolizing, the Lord God calls you once again to His table, where He lays out for you the richest food and best drink there is to be had. He bids you come to this altar and feast upon the very Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. This body and blood were shed for you upon the cross for the forgiveness of your sins. The Lord who gave His life into death has risen from the dead, and here comes to you to give you His life in your very body. He is no apparition, no ghost, no myth. The Lord Jesus Christ is living and active, and He is here today, in His Word of life and in His Supper. Here He feeds you with the food and drink that satisfy the hungry heart and the thirsting soul. Come to the table and receive the food of heaven, offered to you without price. Receive what money cannot buy for you, the forgiveness of your sins.

Many good things in this world are free, but the forgiveness of your sins is not. It cost the very life and death of the Son of God. However, the Lord does not begrudge you this. Rather, He offers to you the fruits of Christ's sacrifice freely, as a gift to you. Your salvation was not free, but it comes without cost to you. The bread of life is given purely out of divine, fatherly goodness, without any merit or worthiness in you. The forgiveness of your sins is won by Jesus, and He delivers it to you here at this table. He has called you here in faith, and He bids you eat and drink deeply and fully, and be filled with His everlasting life.

“And I will make with you an everlasting covenant,” the Lord says. He makes with you an everlasting covenant through faith. Your Father has put His name upon you and calls you His own. He pours the Blood of Christ over your lips for the forgiveness of sins. And He will continue to keep you with Him and with all the saints in the one true faith. All this He will do because He, the Holy One of Israel, has glorified you by making you His own.

In keeping His everlasting covenant, the Lord God will never leave you nor forsake you. Nothing in all of creation can separate you from the love of God. No blessing is too great for your heavenly Father to give to you according to your need. He who did not spare His only Son, but delivered Him up to death, will certainly keep your life and preserve you from all evil.

So continue to pray each day and often, “give us this day our daily bread.” Ask God for the things necessary for the coming day. Ask Him to bless your labors, that you may be a blessing to others. And He will give you all good things, according to His loving care. He will make you a blessing to those whom you help. He will use you as His instrument in this world to care for His children in need. The Lord does not need your labor, but your neighbor does. Receive from God in your poverty and give to others in your blessedness. He will give you all that you need, even if it comes in surprising ways, by unexpected means. And He will continue to glorify you through the forgiveness of your sins.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.