Isaiah 25:6-9 (NRSV)
Read Isaiah 25:6-9 on biblegateway.com
Verse 6On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. Verse 7And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Verse 8Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
Verse 9It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Devotion
Pot-luck suppers are wonderful – just ask Garrison Keillor. Sometimes there is even lutefisk! Whatever the tables include, the theme of these food fests is the same: “All are welcome.”
Pot-lucks are a foretaste of the Lord’s Feast in our text. When the Lord is host, the meal is sumptuous and includes “well-aged wines, strained clear.”
Like our pot-lucks, the grace sung at the start of the Lord’s feast is always the same: “All are welcome.” The difference is that the hearty feast comes from a wide variety of cook-books, written in many languages. Chop sticks will be available.
And what a delight to set a table with folks who were once strangers, even enemies, but now are mutual friends, fed by the same Lord of hosts.
We all will lift our glasses of “well-aged wines, strained clear,” to toast the gracious host, the Lord who is present with us at the meal.
Prayer
Be with us at your table, Lord. "Be here and everywhere adored." Amen.