Pastor Dan Eddy
Isaiah 55:1-5
The Lord’s Diet
Plan
7-31-11
I.
Introduction – Way overweight
Dana Barker was
way overweight. To say he was obese would be understatement. The 45-year-old gospel singer who lived in
Dana told The Los Angeles Times that he
freely admitted to a regular diet of cookies, Hawaiian Punch and donuts, to
just name a few. He sweated just putting on his shoes, got short of breath just
standing or sitting, and said he took
"eight to 10 painkillers every morning just to function."
Dana Barker
needed to do something now or he was quickly heading to an early death. His
life was in the balance. Then he was
invited to be on ABC Television’s Extreme
Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. The show’s host Chris Powell is a 33-year-old personal trainer who works
with experts from the California Health and Longevity Institute. Dana entered a
weight-loss boot camp, a one-week crash course followed by a year of intense
exercise and dieting. And it would cost Dana nothing to accept this invitation.
The diet program was free. It was paid for.
(Pause)
Dana isn’t the
only one with dieting problems. The Israelites of the Old Testament in Isaiah’s
time faced their own food and drink problems. Chapter 55’s urgent and free
invitation from the Lord to a new diet plan included the healthiest of food
and drink. You can have as much as you want and you won’t get fat. It’s a banquet with a diet of spiritual food
and drink to save one’s soul for eternity. And like with TV show, accepting
this invitation would cost the dieter nothing. But rejecting it could cost one their life for eternity.
The Lord’s urgent
and life-saving invitation is not just for a small group of Jews living over
2500 years ago. This free invitation is for all people today, including you.
And the central question you should ask yourself after hearing God’s Word from
Isaiah 55:1-5 is “What am I eating and
drinking to feed my faith in Christ?”
II.
Food that fattens. Food that poisons one’s
faith
For Dana, his was
not a good diet. When the show’s host opened his refrigerator door and looked
in his garbage can viewers saw greasy bags from fast food places, empty
containers from Chinese restaurants, pizza boxes, ice cream cartons, chocolate
wrappers, to just name a few. It was all stuff he ate as he lived alone.
Chris turned to
Dana at one point and asked; “Why do you
not love yourself?” The love Dana
had for this food was killing him.
(Pause)
The television
cameras are now on your life. What spiritual food and drink would we find if we
opened the door to your heart…if we looked into your mind?
The food and
drink being described in this text is God’s Word, more specifically His diet of
wisdom. And it is fed to you by simply listening and not rejecting it. So in
whose knowledge do you trust to live your everday life? What are you eating and
drinking? Is it the fast-food of lust, the giant pizza box of greed? Is it the chocolate bars of jealously? Is it
the container filled with anger toward others? Does it include the intoxicating
drink of gossip? This food and drink taste good when we ingest it…but it leaves
us unsatisfied. So we want more and more until God’s Law shows us a mirror
where we see ourselves as fat and blotted. As verse 2 says: “Why do you spend your money for that which
is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?”
There’s a high
cost to worldly spiritual food and drink. It takes loves away from others; it
destroys relationships; it’s time away from God; It impends the healthy grow of
our faith. Unchecked…the more we eat and drink this stuff the more sin consumes
our faith. It gets lost in the fat. When we do what we want, when we want, the
way we want it…we don’t love ourselves…the love of the world hates God and
hates you. The love of worldly spiritual food and drink is killing you.
On the TV show I
will never forget when Chris purged Dana’s home of all this poisonous food and
replaced it when leafy green vegetables, fresh fruit, and quality meats. And at
first, Dana was losing an incredible amount of weight. And he was starting to
look good and feel better about himself.
But still
something wasn’t right. When Chris had him weigh in…Dana was way short of his
goal. Chris looked over his workout and diet…then went to his home and opened
up the garbage can outside and looked in his car, and saw the Chinese food
containers, the fast food bags, the pizza boxes. He was sneaking out and eating
the poisonous food. Chris asked again. “Why
do you not love yourself?”
As children of
God you are given this free and urgent invitation to feed on Christ, saved by
faith alone, without any cost to you. But it was paid for by Him giving up His
life, sacrificing Himself on the Cross to show how much He loves you, so that
you can love yourself and not kill yourself on the food and drink of sin.
And I think if we
took assessment of our spiritual health we would share much in common with
Dana. On the one hand, we are dining on the “bread of life” as Jesus describes
Himself in John 6. We are drinking in the “living water” as Christ spoke of
Himself in John 4. But we, like, Dana, backslide. We drink in Christ’s
nourishing milk, but we sneak out to have our worldly fattening cake.
It wasn’t until
Dana eliminated the bad, unhealthy, poisonous food that he began to see real
progress in his weight loss. He had to acquire a taste for the good food and
drink. And on a spiritual level, the same goes for you and me.
The Barna Company
does research to measure the spiritual development of Americans. This week they
release figures where only 40% of Americans say they read the Bible outside of
worship. Only 15% attended an adult Bible study. Are you among these?
What are you eating and drinking to feed
your faith in Christ? What wisdom are you dining on? In whose knowledge do you
trust to live your everday life? How’s the Lord’s Diet working in your life?
Can we do a test?
A weigh in if you will?
Worldly wisdom
says, “Keep holding a grudge. You have a
right to do so”. Godly wisdom says, “Keep
forgiving, even if the other part is not sorry, and keep trying to hurt you.” What
are drinking in?
Worldly wisdom
says, “Gossip about them. After all what
it isn’t really gossip if what you’re saying is true.” Godly wisdom says, “Speak in ways to help improve people’s
reputation.” What one are you feeding on?
Worldly wisdom
says, “Avoid the unpleasant, seek the pleasurable, do what makes you happy.” Godly
wisdom says, “Confront to resolve, speak
the truth in love. Find true happiness in Me.” Which tastes better to you?
Worldly wisdom
says, “Prayer is a waste of time. You
have better things to do with your time.” Godly wisdom says that with the
Lord “when we pray to God all things are
possible.” Which is more appetizing?
Worldly wisdom
says, “Love others so God will love
you.” Godly wisdom says, “The Lord
loves you so you can love others.” Which sounds more appealing?
In this text the
Lord is trying to make the worldly ways of wisdom distasteful and to help you
by the power of the Holy Spirit to acquire a greater and greater taste for His
love, the Lord’s wisdom, so that as verse 2 is implying you may delight in the
good things God gives you in life. Good
things to feed on like love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5)
III.
Christ as your diet trainer
What was amazing
about this show was the host and trainer Chris did not give up on Dana, even
when Dana wanted to give up on himself. In one of the show’s scenes Chris wanted
Dana to walk 1 mile across a bridge to show how much better shape he was in.
Now walking a mile may not be difficult for you and me, but to a man the size
of Dana it was like you and me running a marathon.
So Chris is
walking along side of Dan. And as they are walking the cameras picked up on
some homeless looking guy. I don’t know if he was homeless but he looked like
he could be. Anyway, this guy is making fun of, laughing at, and taunting Dana.
“You’re a loser. You’re a fatso.” At
first Chris ignored this belligerent man; he’s there encouraging Dana every step
of the way. But as this man continued to be rude, Chris got over into this
guy’s face and told him to knock it off…that he had no right to make fun of
Dana and to get away from him. Chris was committed to helping Dana lose the
weight and eat right.
In verse 3, when
the Lord speaking through the prophet Isaiah said, “I will make with you an everlasting covenant.” he was reminding
the Israelites then and you and me today of the promised commitment to send His
Son, described here as the Holy One of Israel, the One Peter confessed as the “Holy One of God” (John 6:69)
It’s hard to lose the overweight of worldliness and sin. Diet
experts tell you the diets
that last are the ones where behavior has changed. That’s what repentance
involves…modifying our behavior for good. Repentance takes
work...but the risen and victorious Christ is more than the coach and trainer
to help us do that. He is our Savior and Redeemer, committed to loving and
taking care of us. It takes time to shed the diets that slow us down in our
relationship with Jesus. But if we don't...faith gets lost in the fat, and that
can have condemning eternal consequences.
But Christ is
alongside of you renewing that covenant today by throwing out the poisonous
food and drink of sin with His renewed forgiveness. And Jesus is walking along
side of you to have a satisfying diet of His love. It’s an acquired taste. And
Jesus is here to help us walk the difficult walk and He’ll get in Satan’s face to
keep him away from us, so that we can love ourselves because Christ first loved
us in order and showed it as the Cross, given by faith at your baptism, so that
you can love your neighbors as yourself.
IV.
Conclusion – when a diet works you tell
others
Well, the one
year date came and it was time for Dana to have himself weighed. The man, who
was over 515 pounds, tipped the scales at 295. He had lost 220 pounds. That
would be equivalent of what I weight today. Additionally he lost 20 inches
around his waist. Family members rejoiced that the diet saved his life. The end of the show featured friends and
family clapping and cheering and admiring Dana looking good in his new suit,
and him feeling much better about himself.
Have you ever
noticed when people feel better about the diet they are on…they tell others? The
same goes for the Lord’s Diet Plan. When people are satisfied, they extend the
Lord’s Diet invitation to others. What about you?
What are you eating and drinking to feed
your faith in Christ? What wisdom are you dining on? In whose knowledge do you
trust to live your everday life? How’s the Lord’s Diet working in your life? Do
you find it satisfying?
By faith respond again to the Lord’s urgent
and free invitation for a healthy everlasting diet in Him.
Think of it this way:
If you weighed 500 pounds and overnight you lost 300-400 pounds...by nothing
you did...why would you continue eating the same way just to gain it all back.
That's the way grace works...it gives us what we can't achieve...taking away
that which enslaves us, so that we can live in a way so as not to return to the
life that was.
Dana said: "I've
worked too hard for this to take this weight off and it's not coming
back." He found the right physical diet for his life. God’s Word of wisdom
and His love are the right spiritual diet for you life, with an urgent
invitation; a diet plan paid for with Christ’s suffering and death. It’s an
invitation you don’t want to refuse.
Start now this
morning by literally feeding on His real body and true blood to purge the
poisonous food and drink of sin by receiving His forgiveness, and then indulge
in the Lord’s Diet Plan that satisfies your desire to love yourself, so you can
love others, and live forever. Amen.