I want to talk to you about Christian joy this morning, and I know that on any given Sunday, some are eager for that, and others are not. Perhaps you’re suffering. Perhaps you’re carrying heavy sorrows. I want you to know from the beginning that real Christian joy does not ignore or suppress or sideline your sorrows but will keep your soul afloat in them.

Another way to talk about our focus this morning is a term some of us use, called “Christian Hedonism.” Now, I know that “Christian Hedonism” is a provocative term — because hedonism, strictly speaking, is not Christian. If hedonism is a philosophy of life that treats personal, immediate pleasure as the highest good and proper aim of life, then hedonism is emphatically not Christian.

But if hedonism means, more generally, “a life devoted to the pursuit of pleasure,” that might not only leave room for the qualifier Christian; it also might give insight into an essential aspect of true Christianity.

You don’t have to like the term “Christian Hedonism” or adopt it. But I pray that in these next few moments, you will see an essential, central biblical truth it emphasizes — that this provocative term might just be a fresh way of talking about a timeless and vital aspect of what it means to be Christian, and that you would worship God for it. I believe that biblical Christians, however much they’re willing to take risks with new terms, have a plainly hedonistic strand to their faith. But don’t take my word for it. Test what I have to say this morning.

Pervasive Appeals to Joy

For instance, at the very heart of our faith is Jesus, who appeals to his followers again and again on the basis of “your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:12), or “your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:4, 6, 18). What’s that? The promise of reward is an appeal to pleasure — eternal pleasure. And when Paul summarizes the teaching of Jesus in Acts 20:35, he says to “remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” More blessed, that is, happier — happier if you go about giving to others, rather than angling to get from them. Jesus appeals to our happiness.

And how did Jesus himself endure? How did he keep going with the world and devil against him? Hebrews 12:2 says that “for the joy that was set before him [he] endured the cross.” (So also, see Hebrews 10:35; 11:6, 26.)

Then we have the apostle Paul, who said, “To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21), and “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8). And this morning we come to the prophet Isaiah, who says, “All who thirst, come to the waters; enjoy wine and milk, free of charge; all who hunger, feed on true bread that truly satisfies; eat what is good; delight yourselves in rich food.”

This will be an unusual sermon. This is not strictly an exposition of Isaiah 55. But I hope that here you will see for yourself, from this very Christian Hedonistic chapter, the heart of this vision of God and life some of us call “Christian Hedonism” — that you will see it in Isaiah, and Hebrews, and Paul, and Jesus, and throughout the Bible. I’ve worded the main points to be whole-Bible principles, even if I’ll lead with support from Isaiah 55.

I want you to be a Christian Hedonist, whether you choose to call it that or not. To that end, let me point your attention to three life-shaping truths in Isaiah 55.

1. God made the world, and you, for his glory.

Go to the last verse, Isaiah 55:13, which is a glimpse of the end, the new heavens and new earth God will bring about. It shows us what he’s been up to from the beginning:

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
     instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
     an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

The mention of “thorns” and “briers” brings to mind Genesis 3:17–18, where God says to Adam, after he has sinned,

Cursed is the ground because of you . . . thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.

Thorns are a mark of God’s curse on the world because of human sin. And in Isaiah’s vision of the new earth, he sees that “instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle.” Cypresses and myrtles are evergreens. The vision is that thorns and thistles will be replaced by evergreens. And the point is not horticulture. The point is the greatness of God. Just as thorns remind us of human sin, so the replacing of thorns with evergreens will display and show the glory of God. God will remake the world to “make a name” for himself — that is, to glorify himself. That’s why he made the world to begin with, and why he’ll remake the world when Jesus returns.

So, in Isaiah 43:6–7, God says about his people,

Bring my sons from afar.
     and my daughters from the end of the earth,
everyone who is called by my name,
     whom I created for my glory,
     whom I formed and made.

His people, he says, are for his glory, for his name. And his world is for his glory. Perhaps you’ve heard that phrase “the glory of God” so often that it has become white noise.

I remember growing up in church hearing the phrase often, wonderfully often, and yet it seemed to go in one ear and out the other. We sang, “To God be the glory; great things he has done.” What I didn’t realize was that this is no small biblical theme. As I got older, and started reading the Bible for myself, I saw it everywhere: his glory, his name, his praise, his honor. This is why God does all that he does. He created for his glory. He sent Jesus for his glory. Jesus died for the glory. He rescues us for the glory. He will remake the world for the glory. So, as Jonathan Edwards wrote almost three hundred years ago,

All that is ever spoken of in the Scripture as an ultimate end of God’s works is included in that one phrase, the glory of God. (Works, 8:526)

If you want to know God, you need to know that he does all that he does for his glory, and means for us his creatures to do all that we do for his glory. So, 1 Corinthians 10:31 says,

Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

We’ll come back to Isaiah 55:13. We still need to ask what the “it” in verse 13 is: “it shall make a name for the Lord.” But for now, see that God made the world, and you, and he will one day remake the world, for his glory. He does all he does for his glory.

2. God made you to long for and seek satisfaction.

God made you to desire happiness. You want to be happy. You long to be happy. You seek unavoidably to find satisfaction.

The seventeenth-century philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal put it like this:

All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire [for happiness] in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves. (Pensees, thought #425)

God made you to want joy, to long to be happy, and you cannot avoid it. And that longing is not bad, but good. In fact, what’s clear as day in the great invitation of Isaiah 55 is that God himself makes appeals to our happiness and joy.

“If you want to know God, you need to know that he does all that he does for his glory.”

Do you know what good news it is that God would talk like he does in verses 1–3? It means he intends to give refreshing, living water to thirsty souls. He means to serve us the soul-satisfying bread of life. The God who made you doesn’t drop in to say, “Hey, stop being so thirsty! Stop hungering, you needy humans.” Rather, he says, “Be hungry! Be thirsty! I made you to hunger and thirst that I might satisfy your desire.”

The problem with humanity is not that we desire. The problem is not that we hunger and thirst. The problem, called sin, is that we take the desire, thirst, and hunger meant for God and try to find satisfaction in things that do not satisfy (verse 2). In other words, as C.S. Lewis said, our problem is that “we are far too easily pleased” (The Weight of Glory, 26).

The opening verses of Isaiah 55 lead us to picture a street vender, calling out to anyone who will hear, “Come to the waters!” This August, as our family was leaving the Minnesota State Fair on a hot day, we came across several street vendors outside the gate. One said, very memorably, “You got a thirst? Come to me first. I’m your water guy.”

Imagine God, on the street corner, lifting up his voice: “Is anyone thirsty? I know you are. I made you to thirst. Listen up, all who thirst, come drink my cold, clear, refreshing water. All who need strength, drink my nourishing, vitamin-rich milk. All who need joy, drink my exhilarating wine. And the cost has already been covered. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

Verse 2 tells us why to come: to be satisfied; you know you want to be satisfied!

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
     and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

So, first, God made the world, and you, for his glory. And second, God also made you to long for and seek satisfaction. These two truths — made to seek his glory, made to seek our joy — are clear as day in Scripture, and here in Isaiah 55. Now, we get to the heart of what Christian Hedonism claims.

3. These are not two pursuits but one.

God made us and means for us to pursue his glory. And God made us and means for us to pursue our joy. These two pursuits come together in one amazing truth that our God is glorified in us, he makes a name for himself, through our rejoicing and being satisfied in him.

So, let me come at this one truth from both sides: first, from the starting point of our souls and satisfaction, and then from the perspective of God and his glorification. Both of these are here in Isaiah 55.

Our Satisfaction in God

First, God made our souls to be satisfied in him. Now, we’re not just saying he made us to long for satisfaction, but that he made us to find that satisfaction in him:

• “Come to me,” he says in verse 3.
• “Seek the Lord,” it says in verse 6.
• “Return to the Lord . . . to our God,” it says in verse 7.

God’s appeal is not “you do you” but “come to me.” God himself is the feast. This feast, which offers satisfaction that is full, and free, and forever, could only be God.

It’s full. It’s water for refreshment, milk for nourishment, wine for exhilaration, bread to satisfy hunger, rich food to fill the stomach and delight the palate. This is no appetizer or even entrée. This is a full banquet for the soul.

It’s free. No money is required. In fact, no money is accepted. It’s not because the food and drink are cheap; it is costly, rich fare, and it has been paid for. You buy and eat, you buy wine and milk “without money and without price” because God himself has covered the cost. We’ll come back to that.

And it’s forever. He says in Isaiah 55:3, “I will make with you an everlasting covenant.” This is not just one meal and then you go hungry. This is an everlasting covenant relationship with the God who himself is the feast and provides the feast and whose water and milk and wine never run dry — the God whose bread of life is never gone, the God whose table is never empty or even thin. He will make good on his offer, now and forever. That’s the promise of verses 10–11:

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven.
     and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
     giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
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 shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

And what is that purpose in Isaiah 55? The joy of God’s people, in response to his offer to be satisfied, and that to the glory of his name.

The satisfaction God offers in himself is full and free and forever, which brings us back to the question of cost. How does this lavish feast get paid for? The end of verse 3 mentions David, seemingly out of the blue for us. And verses 4–5 address David. How does this offer relate to him?

To raise the stakes: it’s not as if this offer is going out to good people. All this is on offer, he says, not to the righteous and deserving, but to the unrighteous and wicked. To sinners. Verse 7:

Let the wicked forsake his way,
     and the unrighteous man his thoughts.

Verse 2 also says that those to whom this invitation goes out have spent their money on what’s not bread and does not satisfy, which is not only foolish but wicked. It’s not only dumb but evil (Jeremiah 2:13).

How can this be that such an offer goes out to sinners? The answer (to bring it back to David, and a son of his) is that the invitation of Isaiah 55 follows on the heels of the substitution of Isaiah 53:5–6:

He [God’s Servant] was pierced for our transgressions;
     he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
     and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
     we have turned — every one — to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
     the iniquity of us all.

And so, because of the Servant, the Suffering Servant, the Son of David, Isaiah 55:7 can say, to sinners, to the wicked, the unrighteous, “Return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on [you], and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” Literally, he has a multitude of forgivenesses. He multiplies mercy. He is not miserly with his pardons but he abundantly pardons. And his compassion and multitude of forgivenesses show us the kind of God he is, the God who himself is our satisfaction.

So, first, God made us to be satisfied in him.

God’s Glory in Us

Second, let’s consider his glorification: our satisfaction in God glorifies him, that is, it makes him look good. Our joy in God makes a name for God. And so, we come back to verses 12–13:

For you shall go out in joy [the delight of verses 1–2!]
     and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
     shall break forth into singing,
     and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
     instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
     an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Back to our question: What’s the “it” in verse 13? What is the “it” that makes a name for God? What glorifies him here?

It’s not just the reversing of the curse, not just the replacing of thorns and thistles with evergreens. And it’s not just the majestic mountains and towering trees of the new creation. The singing mountains and clapping trees are supplements. They augment something. They adorn, they reflect, they accent. What?

Verse 12: “You shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace.” You who? You, the thirsty who came to the waters. You, the hungry who came to God’s feast. You, the wicked and unrighteous who received abundant mercy without money and without cost because of the costly work of the Servant — you shall go out in joy.

Then, what does it mean here to “go out”? You go out from the slavery of sin, like God’s people went out from Egypt. You go out in joy, like God’s people in exile will go out from Babylon. You go out from sin’s misery and “go out in joy” and peace. And all this — God’s happy, satisfied people at the center, serenaded by the hills and applauded by the trees — all this makes a name for God.

In other words, our joy in God shows the sort of God he is, which glorifies him and makes a name for him. Or as John Piper says, based on Isaiah 55, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

And get this: If God’s purpose to be glorified and my passion to be satisfied are one, then do you know what that means? The very omnipotence of God with which he pursues his own glory is the very omnipotence with which he pursues your joy in him.

What About Sorrows?

But you might say, “Okay, all well and good. But what about right now, in my messy life? I hear you that joy and peace are coming. Breaking forth in song is coming. The whole creation clapping with applause for God’s happy people is coming. That will indeed make a name for God forever, but what about right now in this fallen world? What about my suffering? What about my sorrows? What about how pathetically thin and fragile my joy in him seems to be? It would not be good for God’s name to hang on my fickle heart.”

A very important, and stabilizing, clarification about this amazing vision of Isaiah 55 is that it is a vision of the future, a vision of where we’re headed. Now, in an important sense, it is already true in the coming of Christ and in the real offer of joy and in the real, tangible, significant joy his people have in him, even in this sin-sick world. He is glorified in us when we are satisfied in him.

And yet, in an important sense, this vision is not yet fulfilled. The end is not yet. Tears have not yet been fully wiped away. Evil has not yet been finally banished. Sin still wreaks havoc in our world, and even still dwells in us, alongside God’s indwelling Spirit. We are not yet home. And we glorify him now through a joy deeper than our sorrows, and thicker than our sufferings, and will glorify him in the end through unencumbered, unchallenged, unmixed joy, with every tear wiped away and every suffering resolved.

So, I want to end this morning like a street vendor. Brothers and sisters, listen up. Pay attention. Here’s the offer, right now. This is a real offer. Does your soul thirst? Is your soul hungry? Jesus, the son of David, says, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37). And he says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). And the Bible ends with a reprise of Isaiah 55 in Revelation 22:17:

Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

Jesus satisfies the longing soul — already in measure, and one day in full. He is living water for your thirst, true bread for your hunger, milk for strength, wine for joy — and all without cost, because he himself has paid the price.

And in doing so, he is glorified. He makes a name for himself. Our satisfaction in him, imperfect as it is for now, glorifies him.

So, I want you to be a Christian Hedonist, whatever you call it. I want you to come, with me, to God to satisfy our soul. Come to his word to feast and find joy. Come to prayer to be refreshed and strengthened. Come to worship, and to his church, to be nourished and satisfied in him.

And in our joy, our satisfaction, our delight in him — even as embattled and dynamic as it is in this life — he is honored, exalted, and glorified. Because God is most glorified in us when are most satisfied in him.