Isaiah 25:1-9 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 25:1-9 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 25O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you, I will praise your name; for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure. Verse 2For you have made the city a heap, the fortified city a ruin; the palace of aliens is a city no more, it will never be rebuilt. Verse 3Therefore strong peoples will glorify you; cities of ruthless nations will fear you. Verse 4For you have been a refuge to the poor, a refuge to the needy in their distress, a shelter from the rainstorm and a shade from the heat. When the blast of the ruthless was like a winter rainstorm, Verse 5the noise of aliens like heat in a dry place, you subdued the heat with the shade of clouds; the song of the ruthless was stilled.
Verse 6On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. Verse 7And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Verse 8Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
Verse 9It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Devotion
Why do funeral meals taste so good? Sliced meat on homemade buns, a smorgasbord of salads and home-baked cakes – funeral meals are a favorite of mine. Granted, they don’t compare to holiday feasts. But their simple familiarity somehow illustrates that, while the human life span is unpredictable, some things do stay the same.
On the other hand, maybe it’s not so much the food as the company – the company of the communion of saints, the community of faith that comes together in prayerful support of those who mourn and in celebration of resurrection hope.
The messianic feast Isaiah describes is far beyond any earthly meal we could imagine. Christians looking toward heaven, however, await not so much the heavenly feast as the Host who will preside at that feast. We long, at last, for the holy company we will keep. I share with you the grace I say before each funeral meal:
Prayer
Gracious Lord, we give you thanks for those who surround us in times of joy and sorrow. May the food that we eat nurture us for the journey, and may the meal that we share remind us of the heavenly feast to come. In Jesus’ name. Amen.