No Free Lunch

No Free Lunch

Isaiah 55

            “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”  I believe this statement came into being because taverns in big cities used to have lunch items available on the bar.  Of course, you had to buy the drinks.  What the tavern owner charged for the drinks more than paid for the “free lunch.” The food seemed to be free, but really wasn’t.  It was a come-on to make people buy more drinks.

            I worked for a while as a salesman for a men’s clothing store.  We charged for alterations to any suit, slacks or sport coat.  When customers questioned the charge, my boss told them that no matter where they bought their clothes they were paying for alterations.  If a store offered “free alterations,” they simply raised the price of their clothing to cover any changes they might have to make in the garment.  In effect, customers were paying more for alterations than they would at our store, where you only paid for the work that needed to be done.

We know that, one way or another, we have to pay for anything we get.  Clothing, food, amenities in hotels—everything must be paid for somehow, either in direct payment or in added-on cost.  There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

God works differently, and Isaiah knew it.  Listen to the message God gave Isaiah to deliver to Israel. 

Come, everyone who thirsts,

come to the waters;

and whoever has no money,

come buy and eat!

come buy wine and milk

without money and without price.

Israel was in exile.  The hated Babylonians had defeated the nation, desecrated and destroyed the temple, razed Jerusalem, and taken the leaders—anyone of potential importance—into captivity.  Those left behind saw no hope.  Those who had been led away captive thought they would be home quickly.  Surely God would smite their enemy and return them to the Promised Land.  But God didn’t.  They stayed so long that they gave up hope.  The prophet Jeremiah told them they might as well get used to life in captivity, settle down and settle in.

Finally, Isaiah came with a new word from God.  Lunch would be free.  They could eat and drink at God’s table “without money and without price.”  How could this be?  God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”  In human transactions there’s no such thing as a free lunch.  In God’s shopping mall, everything is free.

We call this “grace.”  God gives us what we need and doesn’t keep a tab.  We get all we need to sustain ourselves without paying a cent.  In fact, we can’t pay for it.  No matter how much we have, we can never afford to buy God’s great gifts.

Grace.  Christ opened the path to grace for us, and stands at his table ready to welcome us with open arms.  All we have to do is take and eat. 

Near the end of the chapter Isaiah says:

For you shall go out in joy

and be led forth in peace;

the mountains and the fields before you

shall break forth into singing

and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Come to God’s table.  The lunch is free—really!  Free!