Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Inwardly digest is our theme for the day.
It gives a picture of eating God’s Word and letting it become a part of you.
This theme first brought out in our Old Testament Reading from Proverbs 9 where God’s Word is personified as Wisdom who is inviting you over to dinner, to a feast
Proverbs 9: 4“Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!”
To him who lacks sense she says,
5“Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.
6Leave your simple ways, and live,
and walk in the way of insight.”
[If God is constantly inviting you to feast on His Word, hear His Word of insight, inwardly digest His Word, then that also means He’s not forcing you, you can say “No,” just like in Jesus’ parable of a man inviting others to His feast, but all alike began to make excuses as to why they couldn’t come, so the master who was rejected invites then those who won’t make an excuse:
‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’… ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. (Luke 14).]
I love to eat. My bride consistently feeds me delicious food that is also very good for me, too.
I love to eat. But I don’t like vegetables. Like really, not a single one. But I know they’re good for me. So, I do eat them. And I do feel better afterward and know I’m better for it, but I don’t like them going down.
I love to eat. But I do like Krispy Kream donuts going down. You sometimes don’t even have to chew them. That sugar packed bread deliciously melts in your mouth and just slides down. One time, I ate 6 of them because they were so good, hot and melty. Just one time – because I learned that eating 6 donuts is in fact a mistake for which you pay for hours afterward.
Let’s just say that my body did not like inwardly digesting 6 Krispy Kream donuts.
What have you been inwardly digesting recently?
What should you be inwardly digesting constantly?
The Book of Proverbs gives three pictures, kind of food related, of words we can receive and inwardly digest.
The first two pictures are of God’s Word, His Word of Wisdom.
Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine I have mixed…the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.
The first picture is this: it is of food that tastes doesn’t taste all that good, it’s bitter, but it gives life.
Like a big old plate of raw vegetables – it ain’t always pleasant or easy going down, but you’re better afterwards, in the short run, and in the long run.
It’s not pleasant to be reproved by God’s Word, corrected, for your foolish ways to be called out.
But, the truth will set you free, even if at first, the truth makes you angry.
So, when God is here addressing your sin, how do you receive it?
When He is convicting you of your impatience, selfishness and lack of love for others,
When He is calling out your temptation of being distracted away from Him,
When He is inviting you to receive Wisdom from Him in what you should believe and how you should live, but that also means leaving the ways of your sinful and the world, how do you receive it?
reprove a wise man, and he will love you.
9 Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser;
teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.
Or
7 Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse,
and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury.
8 Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you;
The second picture is this: Sometimes that Word tastes so sweet – so relieving, so comforting, so healing, and strengthen, and assuring, and saving – and it just sticks with you. Fills ya up, keeps ya going.
O taste and see the Lord is good – and sometimes we have no doubt about it.
Come, everything is ready – this is the feast!
Forgivness, life, salvation – here, it’s all finished, all bough and paid for by the blood of Lamb, who sets us free and now He is here just delivering it.
Open your mouth wide and He will fill it.
O, that’s good, and so good for you.
But, as another warning, there’s this the third picture the book of Proverbs gives us.
It isn’t that of God’s good tasting, or sometimes bitter tasting Word, it’s the false wisdom of the world, the temptation of sin and the devil – and, the warning is this: it taste really good at first, but it’s not good for you – sometimes it’s obvious right way, other times it takes time to hurt you.
You know those foods that you love, but then they don’t love you afterward?
You know those foods that taste so good, but they don’t really give you substance, and your doctor wisely says you need to stay away.
Well, there’s a lot of things that the world and our flesh and the devil tempts us that your pastor, from the wisdom of God says, we need to stay away.
We shouldn’t be inwardly digesting things that make us greedy.
We shouldn’t be inwardly digesting things that make us lustful.
We shouldn’t be inwardly digesting the worlds ways of anger or pride or disrespect of authority.
Some things taste so sweet, but they will turn bitter.
It sometimes feels good to gossip, like you’re powerful, like you’re fitting it, like you’re a lot better than them, but the bitterness it produces for the one you’re talking about and talking to, and you who are talking, hurts.
It sometimes feels good to skip church, like you got some extra time on your hands, but the filling and sustaining food you’re missing will become evident in your life and faith.
If the good doctor wisely tells you what’s good and bad for your heart and blood pressure, then the Great Physician tells what you should be inwardly digesting to create in you a clean heart and be renewed by the life that is in His blood.
The invitation to receive and inwardly digest God’s food is always an invitation away to be inwardly digesting that food that your sinful flesh craves and the world and the devil are happy to give.
Come this way instead – the Reading from Proverbs says.
Come this way to the feat – Jesus is inviting us.
Don’t make excuses.
The trust will set you free, even if at first the truth makes you angry.
Here’s the freeing truth that might make you angry at frist.
The ones who come to the feast in our Gospel Readings are the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.
So, guess what, that who we want to be.
That is in fact who we are, whether we want to be or not, whether we think it or not.
Apart from Christ, our life is poor. Either you scoff at, and you see the wisdom in that.
Apart from Christ, we are crippled, and we don’t fear, love and trust in God above all things and we constantly choose our selfish ways over loving others. Either you hate the messenger, or realize there instruction to be gained.
But, if we recognize that bitter, but freeing Truth – then when we poor, crippled, blind and lame sinners are delighted that He wants us to eat from His table.
That He has prepared everything for us to feast.
Do you love to eat and inwardly digest everything – His Word and His body and His blood – everything He wants to give you?
I know that it doesn’t always taste good.
I know that it doesn’t always feel good to be corrected.
I know that raw carrots probably don’t taste as good to you as Krispy Kream….
That it’s a struggle to keep coming to church, keep saying your prayers, keep living a life in accordance with God’s will.
But His food is good, His Word is good, and He is here to keep feeding you.
I love to eat, most of the time. But, sometimes I don’t feel like eating – someone that I love is sick or hurting or has died. Sometimes we’re too sad, too stressed, or too sick to enjoy food.
In those times, we especially rejoice that Jesus gives us food that endures.
God help us inwardly digest His gifts, so that, as the prayer says, by the patience and comfort of His holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life.