October 20, 2026 Today's Reading: Isaiah 55:1-9 Daily Lectionary: Deuteronomy 19:1-20; Matthew 15:1-20 “Come, 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.” (Isaiah 55:1) In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. This may be one of the most hope-filled invitations in all of Holy Scripture. God Himself is calling out to you and to the world, not to make demands but to invite you to come, to receive, to live. “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!” This is not a financial transaction in the marketplace. This is a Gift from your Father in heaven. For what can be purchased with money and price but the things of this life which do not satisfy? God invites us higher. Come and receive those things which money cannot buy, which your labor cannot produce! Come to the cleansing floodwaters of Holy Baptism, the wine which carries the precious blood of our Passover Lamb, the milk which is mingled with free-flowing honey in the glorious Promised Land. Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good. Feast in body and soul upon the Word and even upon the Word made flesh. Incline your ear, and come to Me. Seek Me where I have promised to be for you. In the Word. At the font. On the altar. Let even the wicked of the world forsake his ways, and let the unrighteous abandon his thoughts. There is room for them, too. God will abundantly pardon. Dear Christian friends, the words of Isaiah 55 are not stuck in the past with Israel of Old. His covenant, signed and sealed in the blood of great David’s greater Son, our Savior Jesus Christ, is an everlasting covenant of forgiveness and life and salvation. The call rings out to you and to the world: come and receive that which is paid in full for you, freely offered to all who would believe. Come and see. Come and hear. Come, eat and drink. Come to Jesus, and live forever. “Come, 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.” In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Come to Calvary’s holy mountain, sinners, ruined by the fall; Here a pure and healing fountain flows for you, for me, for all, In a full, perpetual tide, opened when our Savior died. Come in sorrow and contrition, wounded, impotent, and blind; Here the guilty, free remission, here the troubled, peace may find. Health this fountain will restore; they that drink shall thirst no more. (LSB 435:1, 3) Rev. Roger Mullet, pastor of Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, Buffalo, WY. Where are you looking for meaning? In Lift Your Eyes: How to Live Outside Yourself author Joshua Pfeiffer charts a compelling path outward: upward to God in faith and gratitude, outward to our neighbors in love and service, and forward in joyful anticipation of resurrection.
