But these two starkly differing approaches to life echo the theme underlying all our readings today. Isaiah, Romans and the Gospel all speak of differing responses, differing approaches to life.

The familiar and loved passage from Isaiah 55 begins with a generous invitation to drink and eat. But the prophet challenges his hearers with regard to their response to God’s generosity: “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” In other words why do you have such a negative approach to life? Why do you waste your money on things that do not matter, that are not life-giving? Why put your energies into things which in the end are destructive or simply are wasteful? It is surprising how much energy and time we can put into things which are not life-giving. Just think of the energy and money people put into family disputes. Or the resources put into legal actions which in the end prove little and do not advance anyone. I think of the Anglican Communion at present spending its sparse resources to maintain its unity over issues of human sexuality – while issues of injustice and conflict and economic imbalance imperil the lives of people. I feel for the Archbishop of Canterbury who pleaded with the recent Anglican Consultative Council meeting to focus on issues of poverty in Africa, of the AIDS pandemic, of climate change and the like, issues affecting the lives of millions. Sadly that conference remained consumed by the ordination of an American bishop and the blessing of gay marriages in Vancouver. Give me a break!

But these incidents and many more examples we could draw from our own lives and our life as a parish to demonstrate how easy it is to be seduced into a negative philosophy which is death-dealing rather than life-giving. So Isaiah continues: “Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.” Diet is fashionable in affluent societies. We are so concerned about eating the right things when half the world is simply concerned about survival. But the prophet is not only talking of food but about all we consume. Eat well he says; eat sensibly; eat what is nourishing to body, mind and spirit. In other words eat to live. And that includes of course eating and drinking the food which God supplies both material and spiritual.

Isaiah continues with a wonderful image of the earth bringing forth food from the seed which in its turn provides bread. He likens that process to every word that comes forth from God’s mouth: “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.” God’s word is effective; it is life-giving.

Paul in the Romans passage is also talking of two ways of responding to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. He does this in his contrasting of the way of the flesh and the way of the Spirit. “You are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.” This contrast has been and is easily misunderstood. It is easy to read into this text a dualistic approach to the body over against the spirit; that anything to do with the body, like sex for instance, is viewed negatively while the spiritual dimension is viewed positively. But this is to divide the human person into two which is contrary to the biblical way of viewing the human person as essentially one. God is the creator of the whole of us not just part of us. Our sexuality for instance is just as much part of us as our intelligence or our reason. One part is not better than the other. Paul goes out of his way in his metaphor of the body and its parts to make that point. So what is he contrasting when he talks of flesh versus Spirit. Like Isaiah he is contrasting two ways of approach; two ways of looking at ourselves and our world. One is a way that is life-giving and positive; the other is a way that is death-dealing and destructive. When Paul talks of “flesh” he is referring to that which takes it reference from the way of the world without God getting a look-in. Whereas the way of the Spirit is looking at the world, God’s creation with the eyes of faith. When you look at the world around you, at yourself and others, with the eyes of faith, you see a world and people created by God in and for love. Once you take that perspective your view of the world and yourself begins to change. You begin to see the promises of God at work in the midst of sin and death.

Paul reminds his hearers that they have glimpsed the Spirit of the Risen Christ at work in their lives and therefore not to forget that and behave accordingly. “All who led by the Spirit of God are children of God”.

The Gospel passage, the familiar Parable of the Sower, is also concerned with our response: are we good soil, open and ready to receive the good news of God and to stick with it or are we like the thorn infested or rocky ground, too distracted by many things or simply too set in our ways, to actually respond to the life-giving way of God. The striking thing in the passage is that it is God who supplies the seed: it is God who has embodied good news about life in the person and work of Jesus. And secondly like in the Isaiah reading God’s word will bear fruit; it will be effective; the harvest will be beyond belief. “Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundred-fold, some sixty, some thirty.” These figures are all extravagant, over the top. They speak of God who is abundant in his love and in his gift of grace.

So where are we in all this? Are we on the side of Life or of Death, of the flesh or of the Spirit; of a negative view of things or a positive view that leads to life and creativity? As Jesus challenged his followers: “Let anyone with ears listen!”   Amen

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