The Best Things in Life are Free Isaiah 55:1-5 Michael J. Roth Introduction A. There is an old English proverb that says, The best things in life are free. In 1948 Dinah Shore wrote and sang a song with the same title: The moon belongs to everyone, The best things in life are free. The stars belong to everyone, They gleam there for you and me. The flowers in spring, the robins that sing, The moonbeams that shine, they're yours, they're mine. And love can come to everyone, The best things in life are free. Of course this was a love song. You don t have to have much money to enjoy the simple things of life, including romantic love. B. Some of you may remember the 1956 Musical starring Ernest Borgnine and Sheree North called, The Best Things in Life are Free. It too told a story of how a person can have it all, but that can t buy love. C. Then in 1964 Sam Cooke added also sunbeams to those things that are free: Flowers in spring The robins that sing Sunbeams that shine They're yours and they're mine Love can come to everyone Best things in life They're free All of the good things Every one of the better things The best; best things in life They're free This version still focuses on love.
D. About that same time the Beatles used the same line in a song, but came up with a different conclusion: The best things in life are free But you can keep 'em for the birds and bees Now give me money, that's what I want That's what I want, yeah That's what I want Your lovin' gives me a thrill But your lovin' don't pay my bills Now give me money, that's what I want That's what I want, oh yeah That's what I want I think there are many in our world still today who would agree with the Beatles. They don t want what s free; they want what money can buy. E. Interesting enough the very next year the Beatles recorded a song that included these lyrics: Say you don't need no diamond ring and I'll be satisfied Tell me that you want the kind of thing that money just can't buy I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love Well, I suppose they should know; they had plenty of money. Maybe the best things in life are free. F. Is it true that love is free? I would suggest that if you need to pay someone to love you it isn t really love. However, if you don t invest yourself in that other person, if you don t work at making the relationship mutually beneficial, this human kind of love won t last. In truth the only real love that s free is the love that we have from God. That is essentially what Isaiah is saying in our text. I. A gracious invitation A. Come, everyone who thirsts - "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 1. This is an invitation to feast on the good things of God. Luther rightly calls the wine and milk here, the Word of God. He says the wine is for the mature and the milk is for the young in faith. Through the Word all the spiritual blessing of Christ come to us. a. Many places in Scripture either the kingdom of God or heaven is described as a great banquet with the finest of wines and the richest of foods. It is a picture of blessings of forgiveness, life and salvation that was earned by Jesus on the cross. b. Likewise those who are thirsty can be satisfied with living water, the Water of Life, which is Jesus. c. Are you thirsty? Are you hungry? Are there things in your life that leave you unsatisfied, depleted and without peace? When we have sins that need to be confessed, habits that need to be broken, attitudes that need to be adjusted and a life that needs fixing we are spiritually dehydrated and starved. It is to us that the Lord says, Come, without money, buy and eat. 2. These good things from God are free. a. They have already been paid for. Isaiah was looking forward to the coming of the Messiah. Just two chapter earlier he described this Messiah as a Suffering Servant who would carry our sin and guilt as a Substitute. In exchange we would receive righteousness before God and all the good things of the kingdom. b. The best things in life forgiveness, mercy, peace with God, eternal life are free,
because they have already been paid for by Jesus, God s Son. c. The Lord s invitation of come means that we can lay before Jesus our sin and shame, even our very lives, and He will heal and forgive and satisfy. So, says Isaiah, B. Why spend money uselessly - Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? 1. What the world has to offer does not satisfy. The world sells us a bill of goods. It is never what we hope it to be. We are always disappointed. a. Tennis star Boris Becker was at the very top of the tennis world -- yet he was on the brink of suicide. He said, "I had won Wimbledon twice before, once as the youngest player. I was rich. I had all the material possessions I needed... It's the old song of movie stars and pop stars who commit suicide. They have everything, and yet they are so unhappy. I had no inner peace. I was a puppet on a string." b. Becker is not the only one to feel that sense of emptiness. The echoes of a hollow life pervade our culture. One doesn't have to read many contemporary biographies to find the same frustration and disappointment. Jack Higgens, author of such successful novels and The Eagle Has Landed, was asked what he would like to have known as a boy. His answer: "That when you get to the top, there's nothing there." c. King Solomon in the Old Testament was the wealthiest and wisest man there ever was. Of his wealth and fame he wrote that it was all vanity, because, we brought nothing
into this world and we will take nothing out. All the money, pleasure, fame, fun and happiness of this life is meaningless if we don t have faith. Jesus said, What good is it a man gains the whole world, yet forfeits his own soul? 2. What the world offers is not free. a. That s the kicker. Although the good things of God are free, the good things of this life are not. In fact, they are very expensive. How often have people sacrificed dearly for what they thought they wanted. Many have given up their marriage. Many have alienated their children. Many have ruined their health. Many have given their lives. And, sadly, many have sold their soul to the devil. b. I am reminded of Greek myth about Sisyphus. He was a king punished by being compelled to roll an immense boulder up a hill, only to watch it roll back down, and to repeat this throughout eternity. It describes the hopeless toil of those who live for this life only and strive for bread that does not satisfy. Luther also applies this to the vanity of trying to earn the favor of God. The best things in life, the good things of God, are free because of the faithfulness of our God. He gives us II. A sure promise A. An everlasting covenant - Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3 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.
1. God establishes a covenant relationship with us. a. When the Lord took on flesh and blood in the incarnation He sealed a relationship with humanity. He became one of us, in order to redeem us. The covenant He has made says, I will be your God and you will be My people. Never will I leave you and never will I forsake you. I will forgive your iniquities and remember your sins no more. b. When we were baptized we were brought into this covenantal relationship with the Lord, our Redeemer. 2. Our soul lives in the Son of David. a. Again, He gives us a gracious invitation, come to me; hear, that your soul may live. With the message of the cross God speaks in our ear His promises of life and salvation. b. What an awesome promise that is! Despite our sin and failures, despite our vanity and unworthiness, despite the total depravity of our soul, God, in Christ, wants to give you all the good things of the kingdom free. Simply B. Because of the Lord your God - 4 Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. 5 Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you. 1. This invitation is for the nations. a. Although Isaiah speaks to the people of Israel, he assures them of the universal intentions of the Lord to call all nations to Himself. Hear your name in this is call.
When the Bible says, God so loved the world He sent His only-begotten Son He was thinking of you, because you are part of the world. b. For us New Testament Christians, those who are baptized into a covenantal relationship with the Redeemer God, it means that we too are to bear witness to the mercies of God. As the Scriptures say, we are to be lights on a stand, a city on a hill, royal priests declaring the praise of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. 2. Nations will come to those who are blessed by the Holy One of Israel. a. People will line up for something that is free. A friend of mine told me of a church in Flint that was giving away ipods to get people to come to church. Also, consider the millions who play the lottery or gamble at the casino hoping to win it big, essentially getting something for nothing. b. We can t give away ipods or wads of cash. We have something better to give, something that is free. We can give others Jesus, the living water, the Bread of Life, the Savior of the world. He alone will satisfy. He alone will bring peace, forgiveness and mercy to a troubled and weary soul. He gives the good things of God freely, without money, without merit, without a hitch. In Jesus, the best things in life are free.