"New Things" - a sermon on Isaiah 43:14-21

1.     Question

What do verses 18 & 19 of Isaiah 43 conjure up in your mind?

2.     Background

We have messages in both Isaiah and Jeremiah designed to encourage the exiles in Babylon that God has not forgotten them. This forced exile north occurred after the fall of Jerusalem in the 6^th century BCE. The prophets are clear that, besides the political and military strength of Babylon, the reason behind this people’s fate ... is equally their refusal to live according to God’s ways. The peoples of Israel should have known better because of God’s long-term benevolent relationship with them. Yet we know, that although God will pause, and allow such people to learn their lesson, ultimately God will offer further opportunities of liberation and freedom. God will do new things.

3.     Resurrection Newness

In the fullness of time, six centuries later, when all other means had failed, God did something completely new in sending Jesus into the world, identifying personally with all humanity. Not only this, when Jesus was killed ... crucified on a Roman cross, God used this as an opportunity for all people to gain forgiveness and release from their sin and shame. The newest thing of all happened two days later, when God raised Jesus from death, allowing his forgiven children to follow Jesus into newness of life! God will not be constrained by the past – God will not be defeated – God does new things.

4.     Old versus New – personal & corporate – failures & achievements

This is especially good when things we’ve tried in the past haven’t worked out, like ... trying to contain God within our own agenda, which helps no one. Or like (on a personal level) ... trying to earn your way into salvation, where we would never be good enough to actually achieve this. Or like ... being judgemental of humanity from on high – this didn’t work for the Pharisees of Jesus’ time, and it hasn’t worked for the church over the years either. We, no matter how sanctified, are way too fragile and vulnerable to try any tactics like these. As we witness to the glory of God, we are faced with an understandable cynicism regarding the behaviour of certain church leaders over the years, and due criticism over the way money and property have been handled in some places.

But also, sometimes we even have to leave things of the past behind when they have been previously successful, for, like it or not, time moves on and culture changes, and they just don’t work anymore. So where people in previous generations were reasonably happy to put their bottom on a seat in a traditional place of worship, this is less and less the case in our communities. Sure, some churches in some localities are quite large, but you would still have to ask what good effect this is having on society at large right across the world. You might then wonder how many of these modern church attendees are truly disciples of Jesus? And does the blessing intended for the local community and the world then remain within the four walls of the church building??

5.     Today’s new thing

I believe strongly that God is doing a new thing, and that new thing is convicting the modern disciples of Jesus to connect with people in their neighbourhoods in new far more personal, relational and creative ways. We are the “sent ones”, not “ones” who simply wait for people to come to us. So it is good for us to meet together, though not as an “end” point of our work, but rather as a means of discerning more precisely how God is guiding us. In coming weeks leading up to Pentecost, I want to consider themes of contributing to community well-being, and also how we might discover where God is opening up new doors.

We just might find new effective ways of witnessing to Jesus that will silence the atheist push forever, just like the Babylonians lost their power to oppress nearby nations. The verses in Isaiah 43 (16-17) re-live God’s liberation of Israel from Egypt, which was God’s timely response to his people living in slavery so long ago. And God will act again in timely ways. This will be a repeating pattern. This is the testimony of the living Word of God. The Israelites of old needed to be restored to their land, the people of the modern world need to be restored to their Creator! David Platt writes, “[God] brought his children out of slavery in Egypt ... for the purpose of his praise among all people groups” (from: “Radical Together”).

If we discern and adopt the new ways of God, then we won’t be left wandering aimlessly in the desert, like the Israelites resisting the leading of God – thirsty and hungry and tired and complaining. Look at verses 19-20 ... for those who truly perceive where God is working, they will know their way, and desert experiences will be met by rivers of refreshing water to drink. Nothing will defeat us, not even wild animals, for we are living as God’s children.

The central words of this passage are (verse 19a): “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?” The context from verse 18 demands that we forget about the things of the past, whether they were disasters or whether they were accomplishments, and focus on the present that leads to God’s future. This is both personal and corporate. Given that we have confessed, repented, and where possible recompensed, for our sin, God has forgiven us, and that is done! As Alec Motyer points out “... the past can teach and illustrate but it must not bind; the Lord always has greater things in store – [God] is revealed in the past, but [God] is always more than the past revealed”.

God is drawing us forward beyond all human infidelity, surpassing all finite human wisdom (BW Anderson). We are now people of the resurrection who are looking for God’s next new thing. We almost live in tense expectation. I read verse 19 as a plea to exercise our (holy) imaginations until we see what God is seeking to show us. Now maybe, just maybe, our imaginations may have to be fuelled in some way. We start with the Word of God. This is where we also would ask ourselves and each other some questions. We might also have to prayerfully consider some of the facts that are already on the table, like the latest reflections on Wyndham’s rapid growth, under the heading – “Growth creates more problems for Wyndham”:

Wyndham has once again been named the fastest growing municipality in Victoria – and has used the announcement to call on the State Government to improve infrastructure and services. The Australia Bureau of Statistics data to June 30 2011 shows 12,200 new residents, an increase of 7.8%, moved into the municipality. Wyndham Mayor Cr Kim McAliney warned however that the title of being the fastest growing municipality is not a badge of honour. “While we know that being only 25 km from the City (of Melbourne), having affordable housing and land and friendly and welcoming communities are just some of the reasons so many people move to Wyndham each year, more needs to be done to address the growing pains being experienced by our residents,” she said. “Welcoming over 12,000 residents to our municipality each year means more than just supplying housing – roads, public transport, Police, health and family services all need to be provided to keep up with this rapid growth. “What is desperately needed is for the State and Federal Government to step up and commit funding over the long term to improve essential services and improve much needed infrastructure, in particular schools, arterial road upgrades and public transport.”

Once we take in such demographic information, the questions we need to ask are: “What would sound like good news to these local people?”, “What would they (be able to) respond to?” We have to ask, “What are their issues, needs and aspirations”, before we can effectively supply the gospel based solutions. We have to listen before we speak. This is no different to good overseas mission work, except we now have to deal with the reality of doing things this way at home. As I said last week, this is all pretty heady stuff, and difficult to handle – it involves risk, experimentation and courage.

There is a scene in the film “Mr Holland’s Opus” where the music teacher Mr Holland is criticised for using rock music in his class. Mr Holland’s response is that he will use whatever means available to help his class love music. For this teacher though, this was putting his job at risk.

But, of course, we haven’t been left to grapple with all this alone. While we are willing to embrace the new things of God, and be imaginative and creative, the Holy Spirit guides and inspires our thinking (intuition) and our various responses. A quote from Richard Bolles – “Your mission in life is to be in the place where your deep gladness and the world’s great hunger meet”.