A text – Isaiah 55:10-13
10 For 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,
11 so 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.
12 For 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.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the briar 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.
A reflection:
These verses from Isaiah have a sower and seed, just as our parable from Matthew does for this week. But this passage paints an even bigger picture than Jesus’s parable, because it creates for the reader or hearer a framework so large that it contains God’s big future for Israel and for all of the world God loves. The water on the planet circulates and continues to nurture the earth, and in the same way the word from God’s mouth (all of God’s creative power) never returns to God empty but instead having accomplished God’s purposes. People and even mountains and trees sing and clap, and in the Kingdom of God only vegetation of beauty and use will flourish and last forever.
If you don’t like spoilers, sorry. Isaiah knows the ending of the story. God wins, and God’s creation keeps telling the story forever. Some evenings, after I watch the news, I feel like God is being thwarted right and left and the bad guys seem to be prospering. But just look at Isaiah here: God wins. And God’s creation keeps telling the story forever. Sometimes even our strongest friends look like they are about to throw in the towel. But you and I, we know the ending (Thanks, Isaiah, for the spoiler.), and we can remind our discouraged friends with a smile: God wins, and God’s creation keeps telling the story forever. Sometimes, in fact, that will be our only job today or tomorrow, to tell people how things will come out: God wins, and God’s creation keeps telling the story forever. We are part of God’s never-ending story-telling creation.
A prayer:
Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for making a place for us in your creation, so we can keep telling your story to those who need to hear it once again (or maybe for the first time). Help us to know when to sing and clap our hands like mountains and trees, to be part of your everlasting sign. Amen.
Short Dwellings in the Word by Dr. Pat Taylor Ellison 
“God Wins”—-we need a t-shirt and a flag and a banner because like a lot of us, it seems the dark days are never ending. People—ya gotta love ’em, but boy howdy, they make it hard to do so at times.
Thanks for the upbeat today as it continues in a rain pattern and while trhe weather guys tell us, we are in a drought; I’m beginning to wonder about arks and the such!
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