“Not Your Thoughts”
Isaiah 55:3-11 (55:8) – March 20, 2022
Have you ever listened to children or young people talking amongst themselves? It can be fascinating, to be sure. I am thinking of listening in on a conversation where the young people talked about wishes. “Oh, I wish I had…!” or, “I wish I was…!” Wishing for things we don’t have or can’t ever do. Like, wishing for ten million dollars, or for a unicorn or a flying car. Or young people wishing they could go to a special camp, or make the travel team or do really well in school. I can almost hear the rest of that wish: “if only, if only, THEN I’d be happy!”
In our reading today, the prophet tells us “6 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on God while he is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” How many people here have thought their own thoughts, not God’s thoughts? How many have gone their own way, and not concerned themselves with God and what God wants, at all? (And I include myself in that number, too! I am guilty, too.)
Let’s face it. Haven’t we all – at one time or another – wanted stuff that was really outrageous? And, wasn’t at all what God wanted in our lives? “But, if only I could have that cool car – or fancy house – or prestigious job – if only, if only, THEN I’d be happy!”
But, what about God? What does the Lord want for us? I know I have asked God to show me – periodically. But, not all the time, and not even most of the time. Face it, I am pretty selfish most of the time, saying “I want what I want when I want it!” I have a feeling that you might be in the same boat, wanting the same sorts of things. Not what God wants.
There’s a problem here in the scripture passage, in Isaiah 55:7. The prophet mentions the wicked, who are pursuing their own wicked ways. They are not following after the Lord. They are not even close to doing what the Lord wants them to do. These wicked people don’t even know about what they’re missing. “Let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts.” So, these wicked people, these unrighteous guys are even thinking bad thoughts, thoughts that are not pleasing to the Lord.
We’re talking about some pretty negative people, and some pretty negative actions, where some people actively go out of their way to be disobedient and disruptive. Some people are like that. The Bible often talks about those kinds of actions and that particular kind of people. Except – don’t you and I act like that (and even think like that) every once in a while? And maybe more often than that?
To remind everyone, our sermon series this Lent is on the Lord’s Prayer. This week, we are highlighting “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” With as often as we pray the Lord’s Prayer, I suspect God would be really pleased if we took this part of the prayer seriously. In other words, God would be so pleased if we did – and said – and thought things that were pleasing to God, and that would give God glory!
We know what many of the things that please God look like. We can even make a list! In God’s kingdom, there is enough for everyone: enough food, enough shelter, enough healthcare. In God’s kingdom, everyone feels loved and loves others. In God’s kingdom, people find ways of settling problems other than war and conflict and fighting. In God’s kingdom, when there are hurting people and abusive problems, people forgive each other and reconcile.
The Bible tells us, again and again, in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, that ”what is now true every day in heaven will one day be true on earth – especially if we all work to make that happen.” [1]
Sure, we can be disappointed when we finally get the things we have wanted for a long time, those things we think we wanted, and find out after all that they do not make us happy after all. Remember what I said: “I want what I want when I want it!” Except, sometimes it can really be difficult for me – for you – for us to figure out what we truly need, in God’s eyes, and what we selfishly or willfully want, where God is not even in the picture.
This reading from Isaiah 55 as well as the petition of the Lord’s Prayer highlight putting God and God’s will first and foremost in our lives. How can we do that? By putting God’s Word first and foremost in our lives, too. God is a God who works in the lives of people – in your life and mine. Even when we are down, depressed, sick, lonely, or feeling far away from the Lord, we can remember who our God is. The Lord will give us hope even in the most dire, the most sad, the most far-away times. Why? Because our God is a God who keeps promises and works in our lives. [2]
Our reading today urges us all to turn to the Lord. “Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon God while he is near;”
The Lord is closer than I thought! God is right here, johnny-on-the-spot! And I have a sneaking suspicion the Lord is right next to ME, right next to you, whenever we earnestly look. And, I know God’ll be right there, immediately, whenever I call.
(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!
[1] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2016/01/year-c-third-sunday-in-lent-february-28.html
[2] http://www.word-sunday.com/Files/a/15-a/FR-15-a.html
“God Works!” (Sunday 15A) Larry Broding’s Word-Sunday.Com: A Lectionary Resource for Catholics.
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