Come to the Wells! (A sermon based on Isaiah 12)

Come to the Wells!

A sermon based on Isaiah 12

Sunday, April 4, 2010 -- Easter Morning

        Many of you recall one of our synod's evangelism strategies of the 80's: Print a bumper sticker foor every member vehicle with a picture of a well that reads, "Come to the WELS!" (That is, W.E.L.S. for Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod.) There were a few problems with that marketing plan not the least of which was that if you weren't already in the WELS, the bumper sticker was completely meaningless. What did it mean? Drink well water instead of city tap? Why only one "L"? Was the driver of this vehicle spelling challenged? And even when the acronym was explained it led to more questions than answers. Why are you a Wisconsin church when you're not in Wisconsin? What is a synod? And how exactly do you come to the WELS?
        But for all its flaws, you sure did see a lot of those stickers on a lot of bumpers in the parking lots of lots of WELS churches, in and out of the Wisconsin! And for all its flaws, I'm sure it did lead to more than one conversation about what it meant? Today, with or without the aid of a bumper sticker, we can still invite people to come to the wells. Not just to the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran synod, but to the wells of salvation. For here at church and here in the Word, we drink deeply from those wells. And we drink with joy because we know that by Christ's resurrection we are safe from God's wrath and we are safe to share God's love. 
        Seven hundred years before Jesus' resurrection from the dead, the prophet Isaiah wrote what's been called Isaiah's First Song -- a joyful song of the wells of salvation. So as we read that song in Isaiah 12, I invite you to come to the wells Isaiah wrote...

 ¹ In that day you will say: "I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. ² Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." ³ With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. ⁴ In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. ⁵ Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world. ⁶ Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you."

I. We're Spiritually Dehydrated

        Initially, it doesn't seem like there's much to sing about. For Isaiah writes in his lyrics that God was angry with him. God was not just disappointed, but downright mad! He was furious and had every right to be! For Isaiah, like everyone else, had sinned. And God has every right to be mad at us. Not just disappointed, but furious that we have chosen to defy him and oppose his commands. He says, "Love me with all your heart, soul, and mind for all I've done for you." And we say, "No. I'll only love you when I feel like it." He says, "Love others and serve them, just as I've served you." And we say, "No. I'd rather love myself and serve myself and only worry about what I want." God makes the rules, and we break the rules... and we make God mad. 

        Now you know that it's not pleasant to have a friend angry with you. That's bad enough, but to have God mad at you... well, that's quite another thing. When God was mad that the world was full of sin and every heart was bent on evil, he sent a flood to wipe out most of mankind. When Sodom and Gomorrah made God mad by refusing to repent of their sin, he sent fire from heaven to wipe them out. When Pharaoh made God mad by refusing to release his people, God sent an angel of death to kill the firstborn of all who refused to trust his promises. When some Jews made Jesus mad by turning the temple into a market Jesus made a whip and started hitting people in church!  And God promises hell -- separation from him for eternity -- to all who are less than perfect and anger him with their sins. Yes, to have a friend mad at you is one thing, but to have God mad at you... how horrible!

       And the truth is that a simple "I'm sorry" won't make it better. And we can't just buy God flowers to smooth everything over. God's anger can't be appeased by what we do. No. Someone has to pay for the damage done. Think of it this way, if I were to go over to your house and in a moment of clumsiness knock over a valuable vase that you love, the damage is done. Now you could insist that I pay to replace what I broke. You'd have every right to. Or you could forgive me. But if you do, you would need to pay to replace the vase or just absorb the cost and go without it. Someone has to pay for the damage done.

        Of course, for the damage of making God mad, we can never pay enough. We can't undo the sin, unthink the thought, or take back what we've said. And we can't make it up to him. Let's pretend that the vase I broke in your home was a very rare Ming vase (which can be worth two to ten million dollars). "I'm sorry" wouldn't put it back together and "I'm sorry" wouldn't put any money in your pocket. In fact, I doubt I would ever be able to repay you for your broken vase. The thousands I might be able to scrounge up wouldn't be close. Likewise, we can't pay God enough to make amends. Hell is the price to pay. And that's too steep for us. 

        And so, by nature, you and I are spiritually parched and totally dehydrated. And that's true whether we knew it or not! Right now, one of the books I'm reading is called, You're Not Sick; You're Thirsty! It's major premise is that most people are dehydrated, but they don't know it because you can be dehydrated without feeling any symptoms, without feeling thirst. You might just feel tired, or a bit sick, and not know that the real cause is that you don't have enough water. Likewise in this life, we might feel run down, depressed, stuck in a rut, and to be sure, some of that could be a chemical imbalance, but sometimes it stems from the spiritual dehydration we all suffer by nature. So what does Isaiah have to sing about? What do we have to sing about? 

II. Drink from the Wells of Salvation

        Because when we were spiritually parched, God first sent his law to rouse our thirst and then, he gave us a refreshing, live-giving, drink from the wells of salvation. When we could not pay to cover the damage done in making God mad, God paid it himself. He took the hit.

        The beautiful part of that first phrase of Isaiah 12 is the tense. Isaiah says, "You were angry with me..." but not anymore. He doesn't dwell on God's anger, but goes on, "your anger has turned away and you have comforted me." Literally, the Hebrew says, "God turned his nose." In Hebrew the expression for anger is your nose grows hot, so the NIV translated it, "your anger has turned..." But it could also be a picture of God turning his nose back to us having turned his back in his anger.  
        "In that day you will say: "I will praise you, O LORD. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me." What day is that? Let's back up a bit and look at Isaiah 11. There Isaiah writes, "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD - and he will delight in the fear of the LORD...  Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist..." And the results of the work of the Branch? He goes on, "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea."
        Of course, you recognize this familiar Advent text as a prophecy about the coming Messiah and the peace he would bring -- not a political peace from war, or famine, or a tough economy -- but peace with God. Chapter eleven makes it clear that "that day" is a reference to Jesus death and resurrection in our place. On the cross Jesus took the hit. He paid the price for our sin -- for all of it. And on Easter Day he rose again as the receipt or the proof of purchase, if you will. He lives! God has accepted full payment for our sins! 

        This is the well of salvation! The gospel! The good news that Jesus has made reparations to set things right between us and God. Jesus himself pointed that out in John 4:14, "whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Through the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus, Isaiah could sing, "Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation." With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." And so can we.

        And later in Isaiah (55:1-2) God would offer, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare." Or, in other words, come to the wells of salvation! Drink and be satisfied -- free of charge! Jesus paid for it all on Good Friday and his Resurrection on Easter morning guarantees it! And last time I checked no ushers were taking tickets at the door! No one was selling seats at church. It's still free to come to the wells of salvation and draw from the water with joy!  

        And this good news, these wells of salvation, give us every reason to sing! The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 23:5, "my cup overflows." In other words, when we drink from wells of salvation, we have more water than we need. We have plenty to share...

II. Invite Others to the Wells of Salvation

        In his song of praise, Isaiah not only sings of the salvation that is for the individual, ("you have comforted me...  God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid... ") but for everyone: "In that day you will say: "Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world..."
        When you have good news that is so exciting that it changes your world, you can't help but share it. You call, you email, you post it on Facebook: "I won the lottery!" "We're having a baby!" "I got the job!" "The cancer is gone!" "My team won!" ...Well, here's something really worth sharing! Jesus lives! He is risen! He is risen indeed! That means our sins are forgiven! We will not die in hell, but will go to heaven! Even after we die physically, we will live again -- physically! -- and be raised to life! Sin is removed! Death is defeated! Hell is conquered! Is there any more glorious a thing?!  

        And this good news that changes our eternity, is so exciting that we can't help but share it! "Make known among the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world..."
        Imagine you and your friends and family were stranded in the desert. Without water you all faced a certain death. As you wandered on collapsing one by one, you managed to find an oasis. Lush palm trees offer shade to any who come to drink of the cold, clear, life giving water. Now, after you had been refreshed and revived by the cool water, would you go swim a few laps or take a nap in the shade while your loved ones were still wandering our there dying of thirst and dehydration?! Of course not! You'd share it! You'd let them know: "Come over here! I found water! You have to believe me!" And you'd save their life.

        Likewise, you and I have been refreshed by the wells of salvation! Our thirst has been quenched by the Living Water who died for us and lives again! And now, we can't keep quiet! We have to tell others about him! And whether you use an invite to dinner, or to come watch "Road to Emmaus," or even a blue bumper sticker, we're eager to cry out, "Come to the wells! Come to the wells of salvation that you too might drink and be refreshed!" In the name of Jesus, the Living Water, amen.