Words for nourishment?

     It begins! The Story will guide us through the next nine months of worship and education, and we will be transformed as individuals, families, and a whole congregation of people reading through Scripture together, learning how God's story and our story fit together, and learning to see God.  This Sunday we will introduce the story, talk about the whys and hows, and have a serious conversation about the place and role of scripture in our lives.
     If the annual poll by the American Bible Study can be believed, this year they reported that:

Americans overwhelming (77%) believe morals and values are declining in the U.S. The most-cited cause for the decline is a lack of Bible reading. As in previous years, the survey found that the Bible remains a highly valued, influential force in America. But beliefs about the Bible and its role in society are becoming increasingly polarized—particularly when the data is examined by age group.
  The research also uncovered a significant disconnect in belief versus behavior. While 66% of those surveyed agreed that the Bible contains everything a person needs to know to live a meaningful life, 58% say they don’t personally want wisdom and advice from the Bible and about the same amount (57%) read it fewer than five times per year.*

Lutherans have a unique way of reading and talking about scripture and the Word of God.  While the simple fact is that the Bible is 66 individual books divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament, "its meaning — and its significance to the Christian faith — is far more complex and profound. As Lutherans, ELCA members believe that the Bible is the written Word of God. It creates and nurtures faith through the work of the Holy Spirit and points us to Jesus Christ, the living Word and center of our faith. And in reading the Bible, we are invited into a relationship with God that both challenges us and promises us new life."**
     To help us think about Scripture and its role in our lives, we will examine Isaiah 55 this week.  This is part of Second Isaiah, the portion written to Israel while they were in captivity in Babylon.  Because of the triumph of Babylon and the exile of Israel as slaves, the people felt that God had forgotten them, that God was not near, and had little hope of returning to the promised land.  In this portion of Second Isaiah, the prophet is kindling hope, encouraging the Israelites to 'seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.'  Not only is it a gentle reminder that God had not abandoned them, but it is a calling back to the core of who those people were.  They were covenant people, and God is faithful.  So faithful, in fact, that God's word happens.  Period. 
'For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
   and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
   giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
   it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
   and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.'
This promise to the exiled community of Israel is the same promise we hear today.  We may not be exiled, but maybe we feel lost, or alone, or confused, or let-down.  Maybe we don't feel any of that at all and feel content, or joyful, or thankful, or peaceful. Whatever it is we feel, we have God's promise that as sure as rain nourished the ground, so God's Word nourishes us.
      More than just a list of dos and don'ts, more than a how-to manual of life, more than good advice or the history of the world, this is God's Word and its purpose is to transform and to nourish.  It is revelation insofar as that it reveals to us the nature of God, and points to Christ. 
     Through reading scripture we are nourished, we are healed, we are transformed.  And this, all through words on a page.  (And a good measure of the Holy Spirit!)

*from: http://www.americanbible.org/state-bible
**https://www.elca.org/What-We-Believe/The-Bible.aspx