The Word That Never Comes Back Empty

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Isaiah chapter 55 is a wonderful passage. In the book of Isaiah, there is condemnation of the nations. There is condemnation of Israel for her unfaithfulness. But there are also great promises of hope. Emmanuel—God with us—will come one day. And here, in chapter 55, God speaks of His Word and the righteousness that it brings.

The image is almost as if Genesis 3 never happened. If you go back to Genesis 3, Adam and Eve eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. One of the curses laid upon them is that by the sweat of their brow they would, from that point on, bring forth food. But often, in its place, would come thorns and brambles and thistles—in other words, things you can’t eat. The curse isn’t work. The curse is that the results aren’t going to match the work.

But here in Isaiah 55, God tells everyone, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. If you don’t have any money, don’t worry—come, buy and eat. It’s free. It’s free. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Incline your ear and come to me; hear, that your soul may live. And I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, you shall call a nation you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you.”

Peace will reign among the nations. And then He enjoins and begs, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon, because the grace of God is great.”

That’s just some of the verses that come right before our reading. And then our reading—this beautiful gospel passage:

“For as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there, but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 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 shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle, and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

The word of the Lord does not return empty, but it goes out and creates a harvest. It creates believers, because the word of the Lord comes to us sinners and forgives our sins. It comes to us through the power of the Holy Spirit and makes us children of God. It comes to us in water, and it comes to us in bread and wine—body and blood given and shed. It comes to us because we are weak, yet God is strong. We are children, but God is our Father.

And this Word is not just for us, but for the whole world, so that all might believe, all might be saved, and all might know the way of life. One of the early church writings, written somewhere around AD 100–120, says that there are two ways: the way of death and the way of life. The word of the Lord creates the way of life.

It is life. So much so that Moses, giving his last sermon in Deuteronomy chapter 8, reminds the people that man does not live on bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. And when Jesus is being tempted by Satan—the first temptation, right? “Hey, man, you haven’t eaten in forty days. You must be hungry. And Pop-Tarts aren’t invented. Why don’t you turn some stones into bread?”—what does Christ respond with? What does Jesus say? It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

It’s not about Jesus. It’s about God. Jesus is the faithful Son. He is God Himself, who came to die for us—not to serve Himself, but to serve you, to serve me. He came for the forgiveness of sins.

And in another place, in John chapter 4, Jesus is out there and His disciples come to Him and say, “Hey, Rabbi, eat.” And He says, “I have food that you don’t know about.” And the disciples talk among themselves and say, “Has anyone brought Him something to eat? You guys were with Him, right? Did you see somebody slip Him something—a granola bar or something like that?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work.”

We have been fed the words of everlasting life. We have been fed the forgiveness of sins. We have been told what brings life—not our works. You know, Paul says, “I could boast in all these things. I could brag in all these things.” Imagine this: my worst fear is sharks, right? I was not a kid who jumped into the deep end of the pool, because even though it’s a pool in the middle of Oklahoma, I saw that movie Jaws. All right?

Imagine being shipwrecked for a day and a night in the ocean. That is my nightmare—literally. And Paul’s like, “I’m not going to brag about how God provided me through that. I’m going to brag that He gave me a thorn in my side, and He said, ‘My grace is sufficient for you.’” I’m going to brag about Jesus Christ, who is the Savior of the world. I’m going to point people to God in His Word. I’m going to tell people that there’s a better way than themselves—there’s a way that puts God first, a way that helps us love our neighbor, that honors authority, that honors life and possessions, that honors the truth, that tears down false idolatry.

This is the Jesus we believe in. This is the Word that God speaks about here in Isaiah 55.

We are laborers in a field that we did not plant, that we did not water, that we did not weed. But God has given us the harvest, and you are part of that harvest. You know, often we talk about being sheep and things like that. Well, you’re wheat as well. I don’t know what that says about us, but you’re wheat as well.

You are part of the rich harvest, and the joy that brings, the peace that brings. And you don’t have to brag to people about how great your life is. You can be honest with them.

You don’t have to tell people about all your accomplishments or point them to all your trophies, because you know that God loves you. What does every child want? Unconditional love. They want unconditional love. God loved you unconditionally and still does. His Word testifies to that. His actions show it.

He is creating a new garden. He is building a room for you, even now, in His mansion in the sky, which will one day be here again on this earth. We will walk with the Lord as we did in the garden.

As we prepare to enter Lent—you have about ten days—figure out what you’re going to give up.

By the way, as we prepare to enter Lent, we do it with the joy set before us: Easter Day. We do it because the Lord’s Word does not return empty, and it is grounded in the sure and certain promise of the resurrection—that your sins are forgiven.

So go live as beloved children of God, knowing that He cares for you, that He loves you, that your sins are forgiven, and that you have been called to a greater life than this world can ever give. You don’t have to earn it; it is freely given to you.

In Christ’s name. Amen.