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Rev. Craig Hunter

April 15, 2007

Wake Up

Isaiah 55

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a warrior. His name was Kureggu, and he was a fierce and confident fighter. He was armed with an education that had been forged in some of the finest academic institutions of the land. It could slice through bad theology like a sharp knife through butter. For a coat of armor to protect him from harm, he wore the love of his family and friends. It was several layers thick and could protect him from all but the most serious of blows. Thus equipped, he dreamed of the day that he would embark on a quest to a land far away, to defeat whatever dragons he would encounter there.

One day, as he was traveling along the information superhighway, he was accosted by a weary band of messengers. The messengers, who came from the exotic land of Tekusasu, told Kureggu that they were in search of just such a dragon-fighter as he was. One of their previous dragon-fighters had left them, and they were afraid that dragons would come to take over their church home. "At last," thought Kureggu. This was just the sort of opportunity for which he had skill as a dragon-fighter. Here was his chance to prove himself. He would show others, and himself, that his sword really was sharp, his armor really was thick, and his training had not been in vain. Certainly he would become a hero. In the process, he would gain the respect of the grateful members of the congregation, and of course there would always be the treasure, and who knows, there would likely even be a fair princess whose hand he would win. So he strapped on his sword and his armor and set off for an adventure.

Let us call this the Fairy Tale of the Warrior and his Quest for Success.

Switch with me now to another fairy tale, the Fairy Tale of Prince Charming. The main character in this fairy tale is a friend of mine, by the name of Sarah. In this fairy tale, in a different time in a different land, Sarah lived in a high tower. She hated where she lived, however, -- everywhere she looked, she saw depression, and everything she ate had the bitter taste of loneliness. So she spent all her time and all her energy doing one thing -waiting for Prince Charming to come and lead her away. She was certain that he would come. He would be handsome and intelligent, gentle and kind. He would treat her perfectly, for he was perfect. Every moment with him would be magical. In him she would find happiness. And if he didn‘t come right away, that was okay, she would wait.

Then there is the Fairy Tale of the Golden Castle. In this fairy tale, you dream of having more space. You need more space in your home in order to relax. A bathroom for each person would eliminate many of the stupid arguments you often seem to have with other family members. If you had a bigger kitchen, then the additional storage space would allow you to buy in bulk, thus making it possible for you to magically spend more and save money at the same time. With a large Golden Castle, your home could become a social center for your friends. If you had a bigger dining room, then you could entertain more guests. If you had a bigger living room, then you would have enough space in which to fit the big screen television. You would be a big hit among your friends and children alike. Yes, it would be a dream come true, reducing your stress and at the same time improving your relationships with family and friends.

These three fairy tales are just examples of the many fairy tales by which we all live. Maybe you too are a warrior on a quest for Success. Or maybe you are waiting for Prince Charming, or his female equivalent. Or maybe your fairy tale is a different one. By what fairy tale do you live? In what dreams do you invest your hope and time and energy? The Fairy Tale of a Magical Cure to a Chronic Affliction, perhaps.

Or maybe for you, your fairy tale is the Fairy Tale of Happily Ever After. In this fairy tale, you believe that you will be resurrected after your death to an eternity of bliss. This is good news to you as you struggle to find a sense of fulfillment in your work, as your relationships don‘t seem to go the way you wanted, and as you wonder about the meaning of life. So you come to church faithfully to be reminded that some day over the rainbow, it will all work out. May that day quickly come. In the meantime, just maintain a holding pattern and above all, don‘t lose hope.

These are just some of the fairy tales by which we live. But of course, the reality never works out quite like the fairy tale. The dragons are tougher, the princes are not as charming, the palaces are not as beautiful or as satisfying, the happiness doesn‘t last for ever after.

Kureggu arrives in Tekusasu and enjoys the chance to fight dragons. But much to his dismay, he discovers that his sword is not quite so sharp as he thought and he worries about it growing dull. Nor is his armor quite as thick, and he is wounded from time to time. The battle with the dragons never seems to end, and sometimes he feels a weariness creeping up his bones. Whatever magnificent successes he may achieve, they do not last, and there is always another battle to fight tomorrow. What’s more, the hoped for princess does not materialize. He wonders how long he will last.

Meanwhile, Sarah waits in her tower. The longer she waits, the more depressed she feels. Princes come to visit her, handsome and intelligent princes, gentle and kind princes, charming princes, but none of them is Prince Charming, none of them is perfect. None of them is able to save her from herself. Eventually, burdened by expectations that are too great for them to bear, they all leave. And Sarah? She keeps on waiting, lonelier and more desperate than ever.

As for the Fairy Tale of the Golden Castle, you manage to get the larger house or apartment, but you have to work longer hours to be able to afford it. You also have to work more to be able to afford the things to put in the larger house - the bigger table, the bigger television, the extra food items for the pantry. More work means more stress and less time. More stress and less time mean that you are less able to enjoy the larger house. Your relationships with your children and spouse suffer. It is too bad that they do not recognize that it is for their sake that you buy the Golden Castle, it is for their sake that you work more, it is for their sake that you have less time to spend with them.

As for the Fairy Tale of Happily Ever After, who knows, maybe some day over the rainbow, it will all work out. But in the meantime, you are stuck. Stuck not in the Happily Ever After but in the Depressing Now. Stuck in a dead-end job, or dead-end relationships. Stuck in despair at what you see in your own life and in the world around you. And the more despair you feel, the more you long for the Happily Ever After.

The question is, if the reality never works out quite like the fairy tale, then why do we stick to the fairy tale? Why? Why is Kureggu so focused on success, why is Sarah so focused on Prince Charming, why are we so focused on the material wealth of the Golden Castle, or on a far off happiness in another life? Why do we seek salvation in that which, in the end, does not provide it? Why do we seek salvation in that which, in the end, does not provide it?

That is the question that Isaiah asks in the Biblical text today. “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?“ he asks. The question is as fresh now as it was twenty-five hundred years ago. Apparently, even back then there were people living in fairy tales, looking for salvation in that which does not provide it. I can imagine Isaiah‘s tone of exasperation. It seems like such a no-brainer. Why would anyone do such a thing? Why would anyone maintain the fairy tale in the face of reality?

Perhaps because people are lost, and don‘t know where else to find the bread that satisfies.

Perhaps because people are not even aware that they are living in fairy tales.

But most of all, I suspect it is because, in the land of fairy tales, there is an evil spell that has control over us, that dominates our wills, that makes it difficult if not impossible for us to turn our backs to the fairy tales that do not satisfy. Even when we know it is a fairy tale, we seem unable to escape it. In theological language, the term for this evil spell is Sin. It is a mystery. No one quite understands it, or how it works.

Maybe that is why Isaiah does not answer his own question. He just leaves the “why“ hanging there. Maybe there is no answer, or maybe it is not one that we can understand.

Instead, Isaiah offers a different way. "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." Isaiah is issuing an invitation here, an invitation that is open to everyone, even and especially those without money, an invitation that breaks the evil spell of Sin, an invitation that calls us out of our fairy tales and into a deeper and more true reality in which a satisfying relationship with God is available to all. The line over this chapter in my Bible reads “An invitation to abundant life.” I love this passage. It is beautiful. So many of the verbs in the passage have that tone of invitation. Listen to just the verbs -- “Come, come, buy, eat. . . come, buy . . . listen, eat, delight . . . incline, come . . .listen. . . see .. . see . .seek . . . call . . let . . let."

Isaiah uses so many metaphors of the senses to express the nearness of God. These seem to culminate in verses six and seven: "Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let 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 them."

It is as though Isaiah is saying, "Wake up!" Wake up from your fairy tales that do not satisfy.

Wake up, Kureggu, to see that while you are so focused on the quest for success, you are so often failing to enjoy the journey. The greatest treasure is not the product of any success, however great, rather it is the gift of love freely given.

Wake up, Sarah, to see that your life has more meaning than any relationship with any guy. Wake up to see that you are not alone in your loneliness. God is there with you too.

Wake up, those of us who desire the Golden Castle, to see that our struggle to attain obscene prosperity occurs at the expense of the poor. Wake up to see that prosperity does not buy us contentment.

Wake up, those of us who dream of Happily Ever After, to see that our relationship with God is not an escape, it is not a ticket to a better life, it is not a means to an end, rather it is the end, it is the goal. Our concern and hope for our future should not distract us from the present. For we believe in a resurrection in this life; any resurrection in the next life is a bonus. We should not focus so much on what God will do in the future that we fail to see what God is doing in the present, here and now, that we fail to see how God is even now bringing life out of death, hope to those paralyzed by despair, power to the powerless, and justice to the God-forsaken. Christ is risen. It is a present reality . The real magic happens here, now, in our ordinary, day-to-day lives. “The kingdom of God has come near," as Jesus said; it is nearer to us than the air we breathe, we do not have to go on long and elaborate searches to find it.

Rather, if we want to experience the kingdom of God, we need to do only one thing. Love. Love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. Love here is not so much a warm and fuzzy feeling as an action verb that involves taking care of the sick, ministering to those in need, taking a stand on issues of justice. This is not something for which you need a sharp sword or a Golden Castle. Rather, it is the way of the cross, and anyone can follow it. It leads to life.

Isaiah’s text does not end there, it does not end with an invitation to wake up. Rather, it ends with a promise. “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. Instead 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.”

Mountains and hills that sing?!? Trees that clap their hands?!? It sounds like something out of a fairy tale, doesn‘t it? Maybe that‘s the point. In God's story, reality is a bit like a fairy tale, but it is not a fairy tale that we create. Waking up to reality means waking up to the fact that we are in God's fairy tale, not our own. In God's fairy tale, miracles happen, to us and to neighbors and to our enemies, and even to make us love our enemies. In God's fairy tale, we are in for quite a ride, for who knows what will happen next. So strap yourself in, because only one thing is certain -- that the ending to God's fairy tale is better than any we could possibly imagine for ourselves.

Copyright © 2007 Craig Hunter
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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