Stroll through Scripture for Sunday December 14, 2025

Based on Isaiah 55:1-13

Isaiah 55 is a radical message.  Come and get what you need without money.  Can you imagine a society that would live like this?  How would it be different?  

Humanity has had a problem with the centrality of money for a long, long time.  God’s kingdom operates in a different way.  

It’s dangerous to talk about the effects of money.  One time I talked about debt relief and received a multitude of comments in response.  People were upset.  They said it wasn’t fair, especially if they paid their debt back – why should others get off without paying their debt?  Money loves to keep people trapped.  Money has a way of making us focus our attention on ourselves.   Money loves to be the center of attention.  

While no major civilization had a temple dedicated to currency, temples in ancient civilizations served as primary financial institutions because they were secure and believed to be protect by the deities of their civilization.  Money has had a long history of being humanity’s top concern.  

So when Isaiah 55 starts off with a message that dismisses money, it’s radical.  Isaiah 55 instead shifts the focus to a relationship with God as the primary concern.  The rest of the passage shows the return on investment of such a relationship.  And that return is a changing of society – away from mistrust and cheating others to a society that is in right relationship with God and one another and the rest of creation.  

Isaiah 55 presents a radical vision for human society in which there is enough for everyone, and everyone is satisfied.  This is a vision of Shalom.  As I have talked about this before, shalom is more than just a Hebrew greeting.  It is the concept of wholeness, completeness, enoughness.  

When you have enough, there is no need for more.  There is no need to fight. There is no need to compete.  There is no need to hoard.  There is no need to covet.  Everyone is satisfied and has enough.  This is a picture of what thriving looks like.  This is God’s vision of success.  Success isn’t having more that you need and having more than everyone else.  It’s not getting yours at the expense of others.  It’s everyone having what they need to the point of satisfaction.  And when people are satisfied, there is joy, contentment, peace, singing even.  

Questions for further reflection:

• Apply the vision of Isaiah 55 to our world today.  What kind of impact would that have?  What would be different?  Why?