Scripture Text (NRSV)
Isaiah 43:16-21
43:16 Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters,
43:17 who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot
rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
43:18 Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
43:19 I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I
will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
43:20 The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water
in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people,
43:21 the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.
Comments:
First Impressions:
Do not remember the former things – God’s forgiveness as a perfect eraser (even better than that new Mr.Clean Eraser!)
I am about to do a new thing - God doesn't tell us what the new thing is, this invites us to stop, look, and listen, AND TRUST
so that they might declare my praise – we are made for worship
Doc
This prophet of the exile declares that long ago the Lord performed mighty deeds and delivered Israel from Egyptian bondage. Now, the Lord is about to perform another act of deliverance. This salvation leads the people to praise God.
A new thing—can you see it? This text anticipates God's doing a "new thing." The Exodus from Egypt was for Israel a moment of God's extravagant love. In this text the new thing God will do is portrayed as a kind of second Exodus. It will redeem the people from exile and restore them to the land. This new thing is about to happen, this is the moment. Do you recognize it?
Have I the courage or the heart to preach these words? My congregation (somewhat self-governing, in our denomination) seems to be moving toward closing. Several among those who gather do not wish to do so, yet pleas to allow God to do a new thing fall on the deaf ears of those who believe they are exhausted by decades of service. My heart is all tied up in the process. Often, I look to the scriptures in the lectionary to feel prompted. Dare I speak? lkinhc
Have I the courage or the heart to preach these words? My congregation (somewhat self-governing, in our denomination) seems to be moving toward closing. Several among those who gather do not wish to do so, yet pleas to allow God to do a new thing fall on the deaf ears of those who believe they are exhausted by decades of service. My heart is all tied up in the process. Often, I look to the scriptures in the lectionary to feel prompted. Dare I speak? lkinhc
You ask about the courage to use these words in a congregation bent on closing. I preached similar words in a congregation that was not as honest about wnating to close, but didn't want to do the things necessary to live. Sometimes being a prophet is about prediction and maybe that is your fear. That your predicition will not come true. But sometimes a prophet is sent to speak a word to call God's people to something and we speak it even if they may not listen.
I used these words in that congregation and a few people heard. God is about to do a new thing there. The question is whetehr they want to be a part of it or if God will have to do it in spite of or around them. It sounds to me like the Spirit is moving you toward speaking them.
Mspastor
lkinhc:
I just wanted to share with you what happened with a friend of mine when she was moved to a 2-point charge two years ago. The one Church in the charge was very, very small and she told them that she was sent there to close the Church. Is that what they really wanted? Since that beginning, she has increased the congregation 3x over and God is certainly doing a new thing in that Church! Thanks be to God for God's gifts of renewal! "Ask, seek, knock and the door shall be opened." Preach it! <///>< pb in ny
"No matter how many times we experience it, no matter how many times we celebrate Easter, the forgiving embrace of God comes to us as new." 2001
"As much as we may dwell on it, we can't change the past... so let's get on with it." 1998
"Did you notice that everything in this passage is in present tense?!" 1995
This is my fourth trip through the lectionary, and I have again chosen Isaiah as my preaching text. And it is as fresh this time around as it was 9 years' ago.
--Doc
"No matter how many times we experience it, no matter how many times we celebrate Easter, the forgiving embrace of God comes to us as new." 2001
"As much as we may dwell on it, we can't change the past... so let's get on with it." 1998
"Did you notice that everything in this passage is in present tense?!" 1995
This is my fourth trip through the lectionary, and I have again chosen Isaiah as my preaching text. And it is as fresh this time around as it was 9 years' ago.
--Doc
To pb in ny and Mspastor: Thanks for your words of encouragement. I guess they can't do anything to me now!
The big surprise in all this is how hard it hit, and how badly it hurts. And the fact that nearly everyone except me saw it as inevitable. I believed that "...where two or three are gathered..." deal. But it could be that they gather in a cold, dark room, because they can't afford lights!
In the same way that these revelations hit hard, your words sustain me. In appreciation, lkinhc
Allow me to share my experience in a two point charge. One church averaged about 12 in worship, while the "country" church avereraged about 35. The smaller church was in a small rural town and was a "family" church -- primarily one family built and supported the church. There were two other churches of the same denomination in and around the community.
The smaller church closed last year. They had been told by many pastors (including myself) that the day would come if something didn't change, but they continued to choose family history over serving the people of God.
The country church has doubled their weekly attendance and is known as an active and vital church, doing ministry in ways very different from what had been done in the past.
It hurts to know that the smaller church closed -- but I also know that by choosing to keep their faith to themselves, their future was sacrified.
Is OUR faith strong enough "to go boldly where no man [sic] has gone before"?
God is the God of the past, but God is also found in the present and is found the future. It's not a matter of where God is, but where we look for God's presence.
God, allow us to proclaim your truth, not our own.
c (name and location withheld to protect the congregations)
anonymous c: I think your description of the people of your church that closed, "they continued to choose family history over serving the people of God." hit the nail on the head. This is just what God warns against in the first part of this text. Many of us tend to focus on God's past mercies to such an extent that we can't see what God holds out to us in the here and now. Eugene Peterson's THE MESSAGE translates v.18 this way - "Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history." But we hang on to "the way we've always done it," even when those ways no longer make any sense in our contemporary context.
This is not really a call to completely ignore history and tradition; it's a reminder that God is at work TODAY! As Jeremiah said in Lamentations 3:22-23, The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." We need to continually renew the ways we express OUR faithfulness in the God whose work is ever fresh and new. Ken in WV
My commentary by Paul Hanson notes the contradiction going on in the first three verses; I am the God who brought you out of Eqypt, remember? Then, in the third verse it seems to say, "Forget that" - which doesn't seem to jive with all other scripture - Israel is who she is because of a historical moment - and she is supposed to remember that, not forget it.
He then goes on to say that while God wants them to recall his leading them out of slavery in Egypt and that he is about to do a similar thing again in leading them out of exile - it's not a futile cycle that will be repeated again and again. There is a purpose - a goal - which is stated in our last verses:
In chapter 34 the jackals and ostriches ravaged the ruins. But here even the jackals and ostriches will give honor to God. And just as God brought the Hebrews out of Egypt "so that they might worship me", so God is doing a new thing that all of creation might declare God's praise.
Tigger in MN
Father God, your Word provided me with much needed encouragement for today. Ultimately, you are the one who moves the universe. Blessed are those who follow your path through the sea, for the current will carry them much further than their efforts. Woe are those who wanted to challege you using conventional means, for they will get no where. It's hard for us to not consider former things, for we know them well, we learn from our history, we spent thousand of years stratified it. It's hard for us to perceive new thing from you, because many times our own perception fooled us. Do you want us to look for unconventional things you are doing? Perhaps we can get started by looking for what your chosen people have been drinking from and start to learn your new way. Oh God, you are too hard for us to comprehend even though your love is too simple for us to accept.
Coho, Midway City
lkinhc,
Dare you preach these words to a congregation set to die? Of course! Not only that, but you don't dare NOT preach these words.
I have twice been sent to congregations which desperately needed to become part of the new things God was doing. Both times God had me preach this message to them over and over again.
One congregation cursed God (the board chair said the church was his, and even God wasn't going to take it away from him) and me. Another received the message... and despite my screw-ups, has jumped on board with God and is seeing great things happening.
They need to know God is doing a new thing... and if God has not chosen to do it in their church, God will do it elsewhere.
I think my last contribution (the one above) needs a little clarification...
"They need to know God is doing a new thing... and if God has not chosen to do it in their church, God will do it elsewhere"
That's not meant as a "get your act together or God will dump you" statement. It's meant as a "either start doing something new, or else celebrate what has happened and realize the torch has now passed" statement.
Maybe the idea here is not to forget the past, as much as it is not to look only to the past to see what God is doing.My current church is always talking about the past, about getting all the inactives back in the pews. Everything seems to depend on re-establishing the past. But talk of trying anything new (worship, hymns, media) and most (not all, but most) act as if I've insulted their mothers. Bill Easum in "Leadership on the Otherside" has a comment about church members who come to church because they know it's the one place in their lives that will always be the same.It's not a compliment!
I think the question is do we only trust our past experience of God, or do we trust God and God alone yesterday, today, and tomorrow -even if that means God is doing something new.
revgilmer in texarkana
revgilmer,
At a church growth conference I attended recently, the presenter said, "The best thing to do with your list of inactive members is to give it to another church, and swap out with them." Made sense.
Purposely anonymous
