Isaiah 43:16-21; Psalm 126; Phil 3:4-14; John 12:1-8 Trinity Episcopal Church 5 th Sunday in Lent, Year C-March 25, 2007 The Rev. Linda Spiers Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? (Is 43:18-19). Gerhard von Rad was the author of my Old Testament text my first year of seminary. Regarding these words of Second Isaiah von Rad said of this most remarkable of all texts we should not speak until we decide we trust it. 1 To God s people now exiled in Babylon, Isaiah promises God will do a new thing. To a people who are not able to generate newness for themselves, God will do a new thing. To a people in exile, God will liberate. If anyone can believe it, it will be an exodus more wonderful than being freed of bondage in Egypt and coming through the Sea of Reeds. Apart from the people God will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." (Is 43:19). Promise to the people exiled in Babylon promise to people today The author of this part of Isaiah was writing just before the fall of Cyrus in the year 539 B.C. They were words of hope and promise to a people not yet freed from exile in Babylon. The language of the author was commonly known as confessional language that helped people remember what God had done for them 1 Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination, 2 nd ed., (Minneapolis: Fortune Press, 2001), 77. 1
mingled with language of the promise of what God was yet to do. 2 It not only reminded them of what God had done but also who they were as people of God. Like the God who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior, God is about to do a new thing. (Is 43:16-17). It was as if to say this new thing will be better than the imagination could fathom. To a people who had struggled in the wilderness with Moses and eventually led by Joshua across the Jordan River to the Promised Land, God was still with them. God would help them find a way to salvation. Just imagine there will be rivers in the desert. Wild beasts will be tamed. Perhaps it s like that little polar bear cub rejected by its mother in Germany and who now cuddles and plays with the zookeepers that rescued it from being destroyed. Wild beasts will be tame and honor God. God is about to do a new thing. Last Sunday afternoon I met with the Youth Advisory Board for Heads Up! Hartford! Heads Up! Hartford! is the weeklong mission trip in which five of our youth participated last year. The Youth Advisory Board gives feedback and is instrumental in planning the activities for the upcoming camp and providing leadership during the camp. Some of the youth that gathered have been part of Heads Up! Hartford! since its inception four years ago. Others attended last year for the first time. All that gathered have a passion for building community with 2 Fred Craddock et al, Preaching Through the Christian Year: Year C, (Harrisburg: Trinity Press International, 1994), 161. 2
other youth very different from themselves to understand and embrace diversity of all sorts to challenge it and to overcome prejudice. They also have a passion for helping those in need however that unfolds. They celebrated that we would build 10 Habitat for Humanity sheds this year on the site of Habitat homes. Some of these youth who gathered have had troubling times in their young lives and have seen God work wonders in them in a sense leading them out of the wilderness, feeding them and quenching their thirst. They have been transformed by things of life and by their experiences with other youth at Heads Up! Hartford! I had a sense they were excited about the possibility of God s doing a new thing in them. It was as if they had just heard the hopeful words from God, I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? These youth were released from whatever held them back and led to a new place of selfunderstanding and meaning. In our meeting they talked about wanting more time in the evenings of Heads Up! Hartford! to sing to share favorite songs of praising God from our various churches. Isaiah s words rang out for me, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise. (Is 43:20). Those youth want to sing more! They were getting me exited about Heads Up! Hartford!, and I hope we ll have more Trinity youth consider going this year and joining those who ll return. 3
I wonder about the other ways in which God is about to do a new thing in our community right here in Trinity, Collinsville? Our national church and our children are certainly stirring us to think about others in a more global way with the millenium development goals. Some have shared with me how the MDG bulletin inserts helped them come to a new place of responsibility in helping to end poverty. We re confronted with the jar that soon will have to be wheeled in vs. held by our children at the conclusion of our Lenten services. You have given much especially in the weight of coins for those in need. We at Trinity embark upon a new pastoral ministry of blessing those in same-sex committed relationships now allowing for the blessing of all God s people and not excluding some. That decision stretched us and challenged us and brought us to a place of living into part of our baptismal covenant. In the sacrament of Holy Baptism, the prayer for thanksgiving over the water ends this way: We thank you, Father, for the water of Baptism. In it we are buried with Christ in his death. By it we share in his resurrection. Through it we are reborn by the Holy Spirit. Therefore in joyful obedience to your Son, we bring into fellowship those who come to him in faith, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The people of Israel were promised a new exodus God was about to do a new thing in them. By virtue of our baptism, you and I are promised a new thing. God does a new thing in us by bringing us through the waters of baptism being buried with Christ and sharing in his resurrection. I believe we have those 4
moments of new life given to us in many circumstances in small ways and in big ways. The good news is that God s promise is just as relevant for us today, as it was for the exiled Israelites. Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? (Is 43:18-19). Of this most remarkable of all texts we should not speak until we decide we trust it. I trust it, and I delight in speaking it. How about you? 5