Just like you cannot stop the rain by shouting, so you cannot stop the plans of God from coming down.
The season of Pentecost is about hope. It is hope in the Word given through the power of the Gospel. It would be helpful, since it has been seven weeks since the feast of Pentecost, to look back and see what we have learned so far. This Sunday’s readings are clearly designed to draw out the doctrine of the efficacy of the Word of God. Taking your hearers deeper into the teaching and the experience of the Word in their lives will help them to grow more and more in love with the gift of the Word, especially in the Word made flesh, our Lord Jesus Christ.
My suggestion is to develop an expository sermon for this Sunday. Unpacking our text verse by verse or unit by unit will allow you to take your hearers deeper, in every respect, into our reading. There are two basic movements in this short section of Isaiah. The first unit is 55:10-11. Here, we see that God’s plans and ways are accomplished through His Word of promise. Unlike the promises that we make, which can be thwarted or ruined, God’s promises and plans always comes to fulfillment. Just like you cannot stop the rain by shouting, so you cannot stop the plans of God from coming down. The plan of God for you was to send down His Son Jesus Christ. It was in Jesus, the Word made flesh, that the Lord’s promises did not return empty. No, Jesus accomplished all God promised for you through His cross and empty tomb. Perhaps, what is most chilling and comforting about this metaphor in Isaiah is how the rain and snow are inevitable. It is an unstoppable mandate from Heaven. But instead of bringing destruction, Isaiah focuses on how God brings life by this Word, by this Word fulfilled in Christ. This is the Christ who was given to you in the waters of your baptism where you are connected to His life, death, and resurrection (Romans 6:1-11).
The second unit in our reading is 55:12-13. These verses complete the Word which began back in chapter 40. The journey through the wilderness ends in celebration at the city of God. The Word brings life and peace. This passage takes us from transcendent promises to transformation and life. The transformation is from thorns to fruitful trees. These images harken back to Genesis where the curse is represented by thorns, and we were justly barred from the Tree of Life for sin. Here, Isaiah shows that we have access again to life by a tree. But it would not be a tree in the ordinary sense. Hope and life would be bought with the planks of the tree of Calvary. There we see the thorn crowned head of Jesus transform suffering for our sin on the cruciform tree of life placed in the midst of His people for salvation. Isaiah shows us a reversal of thorns into cypress and briers into myrtle. Christ shows us a reversal from Law to Gospel on the cross for you. Both Isaiah and the promised suffering servant Jesus reveal a reversal of divine punishment which is transformed into a sign of divine forgiveness.
Both Isaiah and the promised suffering servant Jesus reveal a reversal of divine punishment which is transformed into a sign of divine forgiveness.
All of this is accomplished by the power of the Word of God. This is seen clearly in our appointed Gospel lesson for today from Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23. In the Parable of the Sower, most preachers tend to focus on the quality of soil and growth. This can be problematic in that it can create more disturbing questions than answers. For the sake of our sermon and the connection between Isaiah and Matthew, I would focus on the amazing ability of the seed sown, the Word of God, to go everywhere, like the rain and snow, and accomplish its task no matter what. Wherever the Word goes, something happens. He sends His Word out, recklessly it seems, because He has supreme confidence in that Word to accomplish the divine purpose for which it was sent. It is sown with intent to go into the hard, rough, thorny patches and highways and byways of your heart and grow a surprise harvest in you that will bring blessing and eternal life through Christ.
Since this is an expository sermon, let us use the Verse-by-Verse Structure.
“This structure uses the versification of the text to lead the hearers sequentially through the reading. Rather than follow the arbitrary division of the text into verses, however, the preacher often divides the verses into sections that can be considered according to their content (for example, the communication of a complete thought), their form (like the first articulation of a refrain in a psalm), or their function (which could be the creation of an experience of tension in the opening conflict of a narrative).
The sermon can open deductively by highlighting a topic that will be addressed for the hearers through a close reading of the text or inductively by communicating a need on the part of the hearers that will be answered by a closer reading of this particular text. The introduction is important in that it communicates the value of walking slowly through the text and invites the hearers to join the preacher on that journey. The preacher then focuses on one portion of the text, offering textual exposition and hearer application before moving to the next selection of verses. Ultimately, the preacher seeks to trace a consistent theme throughout the sequence of verses for the hearers and relate this theme to the proclamation of God’s gracious work in Christ. This approach should not simply offer the hearers random exegetical comments and various reflections without a coherent theme.”[1]
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Craft of Preaching-Check out 1517’s resources on Isaiah 55:10-13.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Isaiah 55:10-13.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
[1] https://concordiatheology.org/sermon-structs/textual/verse-by-verse/
