On this third Sunday in Lent, all three of our lessons have to do with repentance, but we will look at that specifically in our Isaiah text.

Verses 8 and 9 of our Old Testament lesson tell us about the absolute otherness of God. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, says the Lord." That is a revelation that we need to remember whenever we try to identify the Lord with theological theories from our own imagination, or whenever we try to say that one of our social programs is identical with the will of God. All of our theologies and philosophies, all of our programs and projects, both in and outside of the church, are tainted by our sinfulness. There is no thought or action of ours for which we can claim absolute truth and authority. Those lie in God alone, whose ways and thoughts are always higher and purer than ours. Thus, we always need the revelation of God's thoughts and ways that are illumined for us by the Holy Spirit and spoken to us through the scriptures. Apart from that biblical revelation, we do not know God's ways and will for us.

The specific character of God that is emphasized in verses 8 and 9 of our passage, however, is his incredible, forgiving mercy. We human beings do not forgive very readily. If someone has ignored us for most of our life, we have eliminated her from our list of friends and treated her with indifference. If certain persons have said all sorts of evil things about us, we have counted them as our enemies and often vowed revenge. If others have accused us of wrong against them, we have treated them with scorn or ridicule.

But not God. Those have never been God's reactions. Israel, languishing in Babylonian exile after 587 B.C., was in that country of captivity because she had ignored her God and run after false gods and blasphemed God's holy name. And now, what does God say to her through his prophet Second Isaiah? "Return to me, for I will have mercy on you and will abundantly pardon." It reminds us of the words of our Lord on the cross when the nails held him up against the sky, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Despite all the indifference and wrong with which we have treated our Lord, he holds out to us the invitation to return and to be forgiven. And surely, God is totally other than we in that incredible mercy.

There are lots of further notes that enter into that gracious invitation, according to our scripture lesson. First, the prophet tells us, "Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near" (v. 6). We can't just return to fellowship with our God any old time we feel like it. We can't just willfully break a commandment and then decide, "Okay, I'll find God now." We can't just glibly wrong a neighbor and comfort ourselves with the thought that nevertheless God will forgive and accept us back. No. The initiative lies always with God, and unless he draws near to us and says, "Return," we cannot go back to him.

At a specific time in the sixth century B.C., God drew near to the exiled Israelites, through the word of his prophet, and offered them his forgiveness. And at specific times, God in Christ draws near to us and offers us his mercy. The church has always called those times "the means of grace." And they come to us when the scripture is read or spoken in this church, revealing God's mercy; when the sermon is preached, inviting our return; and when the Supper is celebrated, offering us the forgiveness of Christ on the cross. At those times, through Word, written and spoken, and through sacrament, symbolized by water and bread and cup, God draws near to us and invites us back to himself.

Second, what God says to us at those times, however, is, "Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous persons their thoughts" (v. 7). In short, God says to us in his invitation of forgiveness, "Repent. Change your ways. Turn around. Direct your life in the opposite direction toward good. Vow to become a new person in Jesus Christ." No person can truthfully accept the forgiveness of Almighty God, unless that acceptance is accompanied by a sincere desire to walk in newness of life, according to God's Word of commandment. Do you remember the classic introduction that used to be given to the Lord's Supper?
Ye who do truly repent and earnestly repent of your sins ... and intend to lead a new life, following the commandments of God, and walking from henceforth in his holy ways: Draw near with faith and take this Holy Sacrament.... Book of Common Worship.  True and earnest repentance, the intention to lead a new life and to follow the commandments of God -- in that attitude alone can we accept God's offer of forgiveness and mercy.

Third, the content of the mercy that God holds out to us in his forgiveness is wondrous indeed. Listen to what God offers us in our scripture passage. "Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price" (v. 1). God offers us the water that will quench every thirst for meaning and peace that we have ever had. And he offers us the bread that will satisfy every hunger for God and his good. Do you remember when Jesus said it? "I am the bread of life; those who come to me shall not hunger, and those who believe in me shall never thirst" (John 6:35).

We need that bread of life and that living water, don't we? As our scripture lesson says, we have for many days spent our money for that which does not feed our hunger for goodness and our labor for that which does not satisfy our longings. Buying and selling, laboring and longing, the world's rewards have not fed our souls, and there remains within us a restless desire -- for what? Surely for God who created us to live in fellowship with him always.

God offers us that loving fellowship, that deep sense that we are finally home, returned to the family of God, where there are joy and laughter, and honor and goodness, and the peace that the world cannot give. God offers us nothing less than life abundant in his company. "Incline your ear, and come to me," he says in our text, "hear, that your soul may live" (v. 3). And more than that, he tells us he will never abandon us. "I will make with you an everlasting covenant," he promises. Death itself will not separate us from him.

So, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, and you who hunger, come and eat! God has drawn near to us in Jesus Christ. The way is now open to return home.