A New Thing
Isaiah 43:1-7, 19-21
Isaiah 43 is a beautiful passage in scripture. When Becky and I were planning our wedding, it was one of two scriptures we both needed to be read (and actually sung by a choir!) for our wedding ceremony to feel complete. What Isaiah says to us in the 43rd chapter of his writings is a helpful thing to hear when fear and anxiety grip us in the midst of something new. And, boy, did getting married feel new and terrifying for me! Not because of Becky, but because I had my own fears about marriage that came from witnessing my parent's marriage fall apart in my early adolescence.
Isaiah shares God's promise with us when he relays God's words to us, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you."
Quite the promise.
I think we should be willing to admit that there might be some poetic license surrounding any claim in scripture that we are impervious to fire or drowning solely because of a sentence written by a prophet some millennia ago. Far from choosing to find a bonfire to jump into, perhaps we can still gain assurance from maybe the most important promise in Isaiah 43: "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you." Being burnt by flames or drowned by water aside, God is with us. And while miracles are possible, I am not going to preach a sermon about a wand-waving God who helps us as disciples break the laws of physics and physiology!
But God is with us no matter how high the flames get, or how ferociously the water churns. And God is with us no matter how tough life gets. God is with us especially when we follow God's call into the unknown as well. Are you expecting a child and feel completely unprepared? God is with you. Are you about to start a new job in a completely different area than you were expecting your life to be? God is with you. (I certainly needed to be reminded of that when I accepted the appointment to serve as pastor here!) Are you on the verge of ruin? God is with you.
And God is with us as a church when we face the challenges of being a christian community in the 21st century. God is with us as we explore the unknown surrounding how we can be a vital congregation surrounded by so much need, apathy, and even despair. God is with us! We are not alone!
If we can stay tuned into God being with us, then we will be able to more clearly see and be ready for the new thing God is doing among us. Which is my other favorite part of Isaiah 43. Whether or not you are aware of it, God is doing a a new thing! And Isaiah challenges us, "Do you not perceive it?!" God is doing a new thing here at Lakewood UMC, do you not perceive it?! Join us on Sunday to see if maybe you might start perceiving the new thing being birthed in our midst on the corner of 14th and Brentwood.
