What delights your soul? Is it a cluster of kids around a cake like we talked about in TNT? Is it a flood of sunshine on a snow-laden morning? Is it an unexpected yet well-earned recess in the afternoon an hour before you pack up for the end of your school day? Is it time alone in the woods? Does a text message from a friend delight your soul, or the weight of a good book on your lap and a reading lamp hugging your left shoulder? Is it the sight of a workshop and time on the clock—perhaps a whole afternoon—that's yours?

Since wealth comes from what one enjoys over what one has, what delights your soul? Is it communion? Is it being greeted by those who know and love you here in church? Is what delights your soul a place in a sermon that actually reaches beyond your sternum and warms your heart with words from your friend, the Savior from Nazareth? Is it an anthem the choir sings, or one of those hymns where you wouldn't be surprised if the floor underneath you actually vibrates with the organ and the rafters above may well open up to a heaven you know is just so close?

What delights your soul?

Listen to me, God says here in Isaiah, and what delights your soul will be yours. Listen to me, God says here through the prophet, and the feelings of all these wonderful things—these feelings of joy, peace, contentment, and pure happiness—will be yours. Listen to me, God says, and your soul will delight. Listen to me, God says, and your life will be better, your pains will be less, your love and appreciation greater.

Some of us have had quite a winter or a cold, dark season, so today, in appropriating this text, we're not going off into a la la land of prose and poetry, we're going right to the sermon notes. With pencils or pens ready, here's the fill-in to number one. We are going to look specifically at just how this delight will be ours. Using the Isaiah text, we're going to discover four ways to own the delight God promises us.

These four ways do come with a little work and a warning. Like any directions with a 'how to' project, the warning is what we need to check out first, and may appear like a crack on a fine ceramic jar or vase.  I'm talking about what we come across in verse six today. Take a closer look at it with me by reading aloud that verse, and again, it's verse six. Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him now while he is near.

This verse implies there are times God is not near.  Here our prophet is saying that God isn't always going to be available. We talked about fear and about faith last week. This is not a fear tactic. This is a clear writing sharing that there will be the day when those in the world either are—or are not—with God.

Do not wait, implies our author, who is the second of three prophets all writing under the one name Isaiah. Like the Apostle Paul warns in many of his writings, this deutero-Isaiah author is sharing what's imperative: do not put off a right relationship with God because there will be a time when it's too late.

Speaking of time, this second of three Isaiah writers sends this message when the Israelite people are captives in Babylon. In other words, he's writing to those who've been displaced and long to get back home. And he tells his people, as he tells us all, to call on the Lord while the Lord is near. God is not planning to move away from us, but the time will come—either in this second coming or at the end of your life when yes, you either are, or are not, with him. The Lord doesn't move; you do.

So, as we know we are the ones to get moving, let's get to those four things we can do today to enable a relationship with God that ensures not only a connection beyond our life spans, but one where today our souls will delight. Let's talk about four ways we can have this relationship with God that God desires.

In talking about these four, you'll see four lines in your sermon notes this morning. One by one, we will fill in each line with one word. These are simple words, yes, but these notes, when you carry them through your week, when you apply them to your days, will make a difference. And on this, the third Sunday of Lent, it's time to make a difference. It's time to continue this growth this church has been talking about.

Okay, we started with verse six. There we talked about why we should do what we're going to do—and what we're going to do—all of us—is enhance our relationship and further define our love of God.

From verse six return now to verse one. Read this first verse with me now. "Come, all you who are thirty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!"

There is one word repeated twice there. It starts two sentences. That word is come. That's the first word to place on the four lines in your sermon notes.

Come.

Some may say, "Well, gosh, this is simple! Come. I mean, I'm here, aren't I? I made it out of bed, didn't I? I mean, I'm sitting here, aren't I?"

And God may well ask you this in response: are you really here? Are you really present? Have you really traveled over (and in most cases through) those places you've needed to travel to be here, to be with me, the one with Christ?  

Come. It's a glorious invitation, isn't it? And it's also a gloriously simple invitation, isn't it? Come, he says. Come to the place where you can find drink for free.

And we are thirsty. We are thirsty for answers. We are thirsty for peace. We are thirsty for our church and our church lives to be made full and happy, we are thirsty to see just what God has in mind and in store for us, and, made perfect in his image, we find our rightful or our perfect place with him when we accept the invitation.

The problem is we just don't accept that invitation enough. We don't walk with God enough. We don't trust God enough. Decide now. Do I stay in this trouble I'm in, do I stay angry with someone for weeks on end—and there are some here who have been angry with someone, or something, for weeks on end—or do I accept the invitation toward peace? When my world rocks, when my temper flares, when I can so easily judge or lash out at someone I'm supposed to love, when I grumble instead of show gratitude, when I snare when I should smile, do I do what I need to do, and what I need to do is come and present with God?

That's number one on our journey today. For your soul to delight, come. Come to God. The next comes from the latter half of verse two. God, through Isaiah says, listen to me, and you will eat what is good.

The second word on your list is listen.

Julie car radio.

Again, the first word is come, the second is listen. The third is seek. You'll find this in verse six, the verse we talked about earlier.

Seek the Lord.  Movin' On. Rascal Flats. Daniel.

I've dealt with my ghosts and I've faced all my demons // I'm finally content with a past I regret // I've found you find strength in your moments of weakness // For once I'm at peace with myself // I've been burdened with blame  // trapped in the past for too long...I'm movin' on...

Finally, what completes the list of four—all of which we see here in scripture today—is to call on God. We find this command (or I suggest the plea), also in verse six.

Call on God. (example: I do call on God...when I'm in trouble, when I want something, when it's been too long since I've been back in church, when it fits my schedule...)

We would be hypocritical if we think the only building we will do around here involves the possibility of added square footage. No folks, that's not how God works, and that's not how or even why you are here. We are here to build our spiritual lives. That responsibility is ours.

And age doesn't have privilege here. There are youth with solid spiritual cores. There are youth with God-connecting tools within them that we'd all be wise to emulate.  So today, we fill in the last sentence on our sermon notes page. Now we are going to work specifically at how this delight will be ours.

And in working specifically, you know exactly what I'm talking about now in a, b, c and d. Food costs money, lasts only a short time, and meets only our physical needs. But God offers us free nourishment that feeds our soul. How do we going to have delight—real, true, rich, delight—in our souls? We are to come, listen, seek, and call on God.

Amen.