Isaiah
43:1-3a, 18-19
I have to confess that my brain is a bit slow at coming back online. The Advent season went by in a blur,
but it was certainly a great and meaningful time.
How do we get from the beginning of a year to the ending so
quickly? Didn’t we just begin the
year?
Some of you may be happy to bring 2013 to a conclusion, as you faced
great challenges. Others, perhaps,
had a year so full of blessing they are sad to see it end.
In my continuing quest to be more organized (which is largely vain
attempt), I am a compulsive list maker.
At the beginning of each week I create a list of everything I need to do
by day and by category. Unfortunately,
I often add more things to my list during the week that I delete. Sometimes, I wait until I’ve completed
a task before I add it to my list, just so I can immediately scratch it
off. I do realize that’s a bit
questionable. Because I make so
many lists, I enjoy reading the end-of-the-years lists.
Along with the usual lists of what happened in the past year, I read
a list about the technological trends that will most impact our lives in the
coming year. Technological
advances certainly bring some benefits to our lives, but technological progress
and new technologies are neither a guarantee nor a predictor of spiritual
progress. In fact, it seems that
some of our technological progress hinders our spiritual growth and
development. For all of our
electronic connectivity, for example, it seems as though we are less connected
to one another on a personal and spiritual level.
This morning, we read from the prophet Isaiah, and as we do I would
like us to consider that God Is Doing A
New Thing. New things are not
only coming from engineering offices or computer companies, but new things are
coming from God as well. I would
add that the most significant changes and new dynamics in our world today are
of the spirit rather than technology, and it will be the spiritual changes that
will hold the promise of bringing love and peace to our world. A new move of God will change human
hearts and allow this to happen, not a new phone or computer technology.
Isaiah 43:1-3a, 18-19 –
But now, this is what the Lord
says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel:
“Do not
fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when
you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk
through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you
ablaze.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your
Savior; “Forget the former things; do
not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new
thing! Now it springs up; do you
not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the
wasteland.
Can such ancient words bring a real hope for change in our
world? Can words from such a
distant era bring evidence that God is doing a new thing in today’s world?
The passage from Isaiah was written in a time after the people of God
were allowed to return home after decades of captivity in the nation of
Babylon. The words are
interesting, because it’s almost as though God is re-introducing himself to his
people.
But it’s not just a reintroduction; it’s a promise that he is doing
something new amongst them, within them, and through them. There is also implied need of patience,
and we’ll see that in each of the points in this morning’s message.
God Is Doing A New Thing in the Church (the church universal, that is).
On Christmas Eve the Indianapolis
Star published an article about Englewood Christian Church, which has a
very interesting story.
Several decades ago Englewood church enjoyed attendance of over
1,000 people, but today a good Sunday’s attendance will not reach 200. As the neighborhood changed around the
church, the church went into decline.
But the decline was merely numerical, and something happened that
proves the measure of a healthy church has little to do with numbers.
Seventeen years ago Englewood church began having Sunday evening
conversations, where the church would gather to talk about what kind of church
God wanted them to be. Out of
those conversations, and listening to where the Spirit was leading, Englewood
church became a very different kind of church. Over the past fifteen years they have transformed their
community. They operate one of the
highest rated preschools in the city of Indianapolis. They have fully remodeled forty homes and repaired another
two hundred. They converted a
building into a thirty-two unit apartment building, one-third of which houses
people who were previously homeless.
They fund microbusinesses and are working on the founding of a school
and a senior living facility. All of
this, and more, when they could have been content to accept their numerical
decline as an ending to ministry.
By the measurement of attendance one could make the claim they are in
decline, but the reality is that Englewood is finding God doing a new thing in
its ministry and serves as living proof of what Jesus says in John 12:24 – Very truly I tell you, unless a
kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed.
But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Sometimes, a church has to die in some capacity for it to
really live.
It takes a great deal of patience waiting on the new thing God will
birth in a church, but I am absolutely, completely convinced that God is doing
a new thing in the life of the church in our age. What some people define as decline in many places is the
kernel of wheat falling to the ground so many other seeds may grow. Patience is required as God brings this
new thing into existence, but make no mistake – God is certainly doing a new
thing in the life of the church.
God Is Doing A New Thing In Others.
I think I can say with a great deal of certainty that we need
patience as we deal with people. I
think I can also say that what we see of others is not the true reality of
their lives. How many times
have you been very surprised at something you learned about the life of another
person, to the point that you said I had
no idea they were dealing with such a difficult matter?
It’s interesting dealing with people, isn’t it? And one of the reasons why it’s so
interesting is because we don’t know the realities of their lives. I often hear people talk about their
desire to be like someone else.
They believe the other person lives an ideal life. They have a great job, a great
marriage, and a great home. From
the outside, everything appears perfect.
But the reality may be very different. What appears perfect on the outside may, in reality, be a
life that is falling apart. At
other times, we deal with someone who reacts very negatively to us, or yell at
us, when the reality is they are not yelling at us, but a situation in their
lives. I listened to someone the
other day tell a story about one of their coworkers. The coworker was difficult to deal with, and very hard on
everyone in the office.
Eventually, one of the coworkers approached this person and asked what
they had done to deserve such harsh outbursts. The reaction was quite surprising. The person who dealt so harshly with everyone in the office
quickly became very emotional and poured out a litany of struggles and failures
in her life. Obviously, she was
not yelling at her coworkers; she was yelling at the struggles in her life.
It takes patience to deal with others, but patience is required
because they are not yet where God wants them to be, but neither are we where
God desires us to be. God is doing
a new thing in others, and we need to remember that because God is dealing with
them in a redemptive way, so must we.
God Is Doing A New Thing In You.
One of the most common questions I’ve been asked over the years is a
variation of this one – How can I know
what God wants me to do with my life?
Most of the time, when people ask that question it has to do with
vocation – does God want me to be a teacher or an engineer or an
accountant? It’s not that I think
one’s vocation is unimportant, but I don’t believe that is God’s greatest
concern about our lives.
I believe God is most concerned with whether or not we are people of
love, grace, and compassion than what job title is attached to our lives.
Whatever we might be experiencing in life, I think it is important
to ask, what might God be doing in my
life? Even through our
difficulties, which we try so hard to avoid, but they may become tools God uses
to be doing something new in our lives.
Some years ago I took a break from school. I had finished a semester of seminary and felt like I needed
a break. I found a job that paid
my bills, but it was not a job that I liked; in fact, I couldn’t stand the
job. For one, it required me to be
at work very early in the morning, and I’m not a morning person. The job required me to carry parts to a
group of people working on a packing line, and they were paid according to how
many boxes they packed. It was
difficult to keep up with them, but if I fell behind and they had to wait it
cost them money, which they did not like.
So much of my day was spent listening to them telling me to keep moving
quickly so they would not run out of any parts. At the time, all I could do was dream of a better job. I was very impatient to find something
“better.” What I realized, some
time later, was that it was one of the most important jobs I ever had. In my impatience, all I could see was a
job that had no relevance to my life beyond paying my bills. What I finally realized was that God
was doing a very important work in my life through that job. What appeared to be my worst job may in
reality, have been my most important.
Never forget that God is doing a new thing. Though we may not see it – either in
the church, in others, or ourselves, know that God is always at work, and
always doing something new.
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