The Sacred Simile of Precipitation

In Nomine Iesu
Isaiah 55:10-11
July 13, 2008
Pentecost 9A – Proper 10

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus~

For someone like me, who does lots of teaching, preaching and talking, there’s nothing better than a good simile. As any English teacher will tell you, a simile is a comparison of two different things, using the words “like” or “as.” We all use similes all the time. Here are some famous examples: “Life is like a box of chocolates,” or, “He’s as stubborn as a mule,” or, “She’s as busy as a beaver.” Yes, there’s nothing better than a good simile. In fact, here are some similes . . . of similes: A good simile is like fine wine and savory spice. A good simile is like a preacher’s best friend.

But when it comes to similes, no one does it better than our great God. Why shouldn’t the God who created the heavens and the earth using words also sprinkle in a few similes among those words? Why shouldn’t the God who creates repentance and faith with words spice up those words with a good simile now and then? In today’s Old Testament reading God gives us one of His best, most sacred similes. This simile is so rich and so full that an entire sermon can be based on it:

As the rain and snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

This is what I like to call “The Sacred Simile of Precipitation.” God’s Word is like rain and snow. God’s Word (like precipitation) is refreshing and cleansing. God’s Word (like precipitation) is growth-causing, and life-giving, and life-sustaining. Like the sprinklers and hoses you see watering lawns this time of year, our God “waters” the world with His Word—the Words of the Bible, the words preached from pulpits—gospel words that proclaim the good news about Jesus Christ.

Now, as you know, rainfall and snowfall can be rather unpredictable. Sometimes we get too much. Sometimes we don’t get enough. But unlike precipitation that falls from clouds, God says about His Word: “It will not return to me empty. It will accomplish what I desire. It will achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” As God gives His Word to us, there’s never too much, never too little, always just right.

Isaiah was the prophet who first preached these words. In Isaiah chapter 55 the prophet is preaching about the future rebirth and restoration of Israel. But that rebirth and that restoration was to be a long time in coming. In fact, before that renewal would come, there would be judgment and exile, death and destruction. Bad times were ahead. Isaiah seems to be saying, “When times are tough—when everything seems to be going to hell in a hand-basket—hear the Word of the Lord. Drink in the promises of His Word. Be watered with the Word because that Word will not return empty. It will accomplish what God desires. It will achieve the purpose for which He sends it.”

Do you believe that? Do you believe that God’s Word—like raindrops from heaven—will accomplish IN YOU and in YOUR LIFE the very things that God desires? The evidence would seem to suggest that we don’t believe that. For if we truly believed that God’s Word always gets results in us, wouldn’t we want to be hearing that Word and studying that Word and reading that Word every day? If we truly believed that God’s Word accomplishes and achieves in us what God desires, wouldn’t our pews be full every Sunday? Wouldn’t our Bible studies be as well-attended as the Divine Service? Wouldn’t we want to invite someone to church with us all the time? Wouldn’t we give our offerings to the Lord joyfully and generously and confidently because the Word of God has had its way with us?

Why don’t we believe this? Why don’t our lives better reflect the power of the Word? Maybe it’s because we expect—we demand—immediate results, and we don’t get immediate results. We come to church. We hear the Word. And it seems that nothing changes. We get up in the morning. We open our Bibles. We have a time of devotion and prayer. And it seems that nothing changes. We feel no different. The same old problems and heartaches are still right there with us. And we conclude that the Word of God has failed—when in fact we have failed—failed to accept in faith that God’s results don’t always come on our timetable. God is at work in you for the long-haul—for eternity. You wouldn’t go out to your garden and plant your seeds, and then expect to enjoy juicy tomatoes and crispy cucumbers the very next day? That would be magical or miraculous. Yet somehow I think this is what we expect from the Word of God. And short of that, we’ll keep God’s Word as the last of our priorities and the least of our concerns.

Whenever God’s Word is last and least—whenever we fail to hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it—that’s sin. And that sin of ours is the worst of news. Or to put it in simile form, our sin is like a noose around our necks. Our sin is like a deadly, incurable, cancer. Our sin is like a guilty verdict that can never, ever be overturned.

There is but one thing that can remove your guilt and declare you innocent. The same Word of God that we sinfully ignore and reject—because of Jesus Christ that Word also declares that you are innocent—that you are forgiven—that you will live forever in God’s presence. The same Word that threatens us and condemns our sin is the same Word—the only Word—that sinners can believe and be saved.

Beloved in the Lord, Isaiah preached that God’s Word is like rain and snow—that it always accomplishes what God desires. And what’s true of God’s Word is especially true of God’s Son. You see, the object of our faith is not God’s Word, but God’s Son. It was that Son, Jesus, who ultimately accomplished what God desired. Jesus Christ achieved the purpose for which He was sent. Jesus Christ did not return to the Father empty-handed, but with wounded hands, and with a multitude of forgiven sinners, including you and me.

It is the blood of Jesus Christ, shed at the cross, that makes the Word of God grow—even in the hard soil of sinful human hearts. The cross of Jesus was planted high atop Calvary’s holy hill. There Jesus wore a choking crown of thorns. There Jesus was scorched by the blazing heat of His Father’s wrath against sin. There Jesus withered away to death as your sacred substitute. But God’s Word always gets the job done. God’s Word said that the Messiah would rise again on the third day, and that’s just what happened. And this was but a preview of your own resurrection life to come.

Brothers and sisters this good news—the good news that Jesus has taken away your bad and given you His good—this is what we call the gospel; and there’s absolutely nothing that compares to it. No simile can possibly get the job done. I could give it a try. I could say that the love of God in Christ is like winning the lottery. I could say that the love of God in Christ is like a cool breeze on a hot day in July. I could say that the love of God in Christ is like a box of chocolates. But none of these similes is good enough. Perhaps I should just say that the love of God in Christ is for you, and nothing in all creation compares to that good news. Amen.