“The Real Purpose Of God’s Word”
Text: Isaiah 55:10-13
7-16-2023
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Ok, fair warning to everyone. Cover your ears if you need to, but today’s sermon includes a 4-letter word that might offend you. It starts with the letter “s.” No, no. Not that one! It’s the word snow! Even though we’ve experienced a bit of a drought the past couple of years and it’s been kind of hot out lately, snow is still a dirty word to some folks. But whether you like the white stuff or not, it actually has a positive purpose; the same as rain. God tells us what that purpose is in our Old Testament reading for today. He says through the prophet Isaiah that the snow and the rain does not come down and then return to the sky without first watering the earth. That’s the main purpose of the moisture God sends. But it’s not the only purpose. It’s more complicated than that. When the rain and snow falls, that moisture nourishes seeds and plants so they can bud and grow and produce a crop. It sounds so basic, but plants won’t grow or yield anything at harvest time without moisture.
God uses these purposes of rain and snow to teach us something about His creative and sustaining Word. The Lord says that when His holy Word descends on us from heaven, it also will not return to Him without accomplishing His purposes. That’s pretty straightforward, but do we really understand the whole purpose of God’s Word and what He miraculously achieves through it? Sadly, we don’t. We often underestimate what God accomplishes through His Word. So it’s good for us to spend some time meditating on the powerful purposes of it.
It’s always helpful to find out the context of the Bible passages we read. And so, with our text we need to ask, “What was going on that caused God to say these words through Isaiah?” Well, He was speaking to the people of Israel who had been very rebellious and turned their back on Him and His Word. The Lord punished them by sending a foreign army, which conquered them and carried many Israelites into captivity. God had warned them about this long before it ever happened. He told them, “If you disobey my Laws and Commands, trouble will come your way.” But they didn’t want to hear God’s Word. It fell on their ears like an unwanted rain or snowstorm. And yet God sent His Word anyway because He had a purpose to accomplish through it, which was to restore His covenant relationship with His chosen people.
God’s Word had another purpose, though. To the Israelites it may have seemed like God’s love and promises had dried up. In a sense, God intentionally allowed a drought of His Word. But His purpose was not to harm or destroy His children. No, it was to make them stop their sinful ways and look to Him for relief. It’s kind of like us during a drought in our weather. We keep looking up to see if there are any rain clouds coming. As it gets drier and hotter, we pray harder and harder. It forces us to stop and look to God for relief. Well, God’s Word had been ignored for quite some time so He let Israel go without it for a while. That forced them to stop and examine their sinful rebellion, which had gotten them into their terrible mess. And that eventually made them turn to God for relief.
In reality, we’re just like ancient Israel. We’ve heard God’s Word. It has showered down on us and brought us the new life of faith. But we too can be rebellious at times when it comes to God’s Law which is part of His Word to us. It teaches us how to live in peace as His chosen people. God warns us that trouble will come if we step outside of His will. And yet, sometimes we get out our spiritual umbrellas when God’s Word showers on our sinful hearts and starts making us uncomfortable. We figure, “Hey, I’ve heard that before. It doesn’t apply to me. That Law stuff in the sermon is for that sinner over there, not me! That’s a dangerous path to be on. God’s Word is there to turn all of us away from sin. His Law shows us our sins so that we can repent and turn to God for relief. But if we put up our spiritual umbrella because we don’t like what we’re hearing in God’s Law we’ll also deprive ourselves of the refreshing benefits of His Gospel.
You see, God’s Word doesn’t just have the singular purpose of showering down Law. It also showers us with His good news of love. His Word called rebellious Israel to repent. Once they confessed their sins, He showered down His refreshing Word of forgiveness. Israel also needed the reassurance that God’s covenant promises had not disappeared. That’s an important part of the word picture that God uses in our text. Think about it. The rain and the snow fall in order to water the earth. It accomplishes the purpose that God sent it for. It brings the earth to life so that food will grow and we can be fed. But then what happens to that moisture? It eventually evaporates. Is it gone forever? No. It ends up back in the clouds of the sky. And before you know it, it’s falling back down again as rain or snow. That’s a fact of nature that you can count on.
God says it’s the same with His Word. It falls like the rain and the snow and brings new life to our souls. His Word accomplishes its purpose. It creates faith in our hearts as God showers His grace down on us. But that’s not the end of what His Word achieves. It doesn’t just evaporate and disappear once it sprouts new life in a person’s soul. No. His Word keeps coming back again and again falling like the rain and snow. It refreshes and nourishes the new life of faith that it created. And in this way, the cycle keeps repeating itself as God’s love and forgiveness keeps falling on us sinners. You have God’s own promise that His Word will continue to accomplish His purposes as it showers down on us.
Do you believe that? Do you believe that God’s Word ALWAYS accomplishes its purpose? I mean, what about the person who was raised in a Christian family and when they were young they were showered with God’s Word through worship and Sunday School? They may have even attended a Christian Day school. But then later in life they end up rejecting God’s Word and promise of salvation. How can we honestly say that God’s Word accomplished its purpose in this person’s life?
Well, to answer that question all we need to do is apply a modern illustration to our text. Let’s say your neighbor sprays his lawn with Round-up and it all dies. When the rain falls your grass is green and refreshed by it, but his grass stays brown and dead. Does that mean the purpose of the rain was not achieved? Not at all! The purpose of the rain was to water the earth. Just because your neighbor killed off his grass doesn’t mean that the rain failed. The benefits were there but his dead grass could not receive that life giving water. God’s Word also falls on some hearts that are dried up and dead from rejecting His new life. Even so, that doesn't mean the Word has failed. It still accomplished God's purpose. The good news is that God’s Word falls like the rain on believers and unbelievers alike regardless of their receptiveness. That life-giving Word is offered over and over again like the rain and snow falling from the sky. It never returns to Him empty because its primary purpose is to offer the free gift of salvation to the whole world. It accomplishes that purpose even though some reject it.
You know, sometimes we’re not so sure about God’s timing and His purpose when He sends the rain and the snow. A farmer or gardener may want it to rain so that their crops will grow. At the same time, a golfer or baseball player may not want it to rain and interfere with their game. Regardless of whose shoes you’re in, we need to remember that God has it under control. We can trust His wisdom to know when, where and how to send the rain and snow. We can also trust that God knows when, where and how to send the showers of His Word on the human soul. And we too can rejoice as we are refreshed by His Holy Word being showered down on us here in worship through the sermon and Holy Communion. We can also experience that refreshing shower of His Word daily as we read our Bibles. We have His solemn promise that His Word will not return to Him empty but will most certainly accomplish His purpose of bringing nourishment and life to our souls. For that we raise our voices in endless praise to our loving, heavenly Father for the wondrous salvation that He showers upon us through His precious, life-giving Word and Sacrament. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria!