This is what the Lord says—who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,
who drew out the chariots and horses,
the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
“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.
The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise.”
-- Isaiah 43:14-21 (NIV) --
This entire chapter of Isaiah holds a special place in my heart. You may not have it quite so deeply ingrained within you as I do, but it starts like this:
But now thus says the Lord, who who created you, O Jacob,Those of you who know a bit about the book of Isaiah know that this comes from 2nd Isaiah.
who who formed you, O Israel:
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,
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.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious in my sight and honored and I love you,
I give people in return for you, nations in exchange for your life.
Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you;
I will say to the north, “Give them up,”
and to the south, “Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away and my daughters from the end of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.
This is a word proclaimed to a people who believed God had walked away from them, abandoning them to either captivity in a foreign land or vassal status in a country that used to be their own.
This is a word proclaimed to a people who remembered hundreds of years of glorious freedom.
This is a word proclaimed to a people who told themselves they were God’s chosen ones, righteous and faithful like no one else.
This is a word proclaimed to a people who built palaces and temples, who believed that those palaces and temples were a sign of God’s blessing and thus would always be full.
This is a word proclaimed to a people who remembered hundreds of years of glorious freedom.
This is a word proclaimed to a people who told themselves they were God’s chosen ones, righteous and faithful like no one else.
This is a word proclaimed to a people who built palaces and temples, who believed that those palaces and temples were a sign of God’s blessing and thus would always be full.
Does that sound like anyone we know?
The prophet continues:
This is what the Lord says—your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives
all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride.
I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King.”This is what the Lord says—who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,
who drew out the chariots and horses,
the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:
“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.
The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,
the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise.”
This is a word proclaimed to a people experiencing hardship and alienation.
This is a word proclaimed to a people coming to grips with deep grief they had not been prepared to endure.
This is a word proclaimed to a people paralyzed by nostalgia, the seductive lens which distorts, blurs and softens the past until historical fact is buried under a quilt of sentimentality and affection.
Again: does this sound like anyone we know?
There’s a meme going around these last few years that always makes me chuckle: “I could really go for some precedented times.” But truly, I say to you: God’s people have been here before. This way through the wilderness is not a way that is beyond God’s reach, and we are not a people who have been abandoned by our loving Creator. Isaiah reminds us that floods and fire are no match for the God who is with us and will accompany us in the journey along the way that is set before us.
Yes, these are uncomfortable times.
Yes, these times are likely to grow more uncomfortable as we travel together.
Yes, there is a lot of uncertainty along this way that God is making, this new thing that God is doing, and it appears that God is going to have some interesting traveling companions for us as we go. Jackals and owls and Lutherans: Oh, MY! But scripture tells us that God’s people have been here before, and reminds us that God’s steadfast love will always overcome our missteps, our mistrust, and our missed opportunities in the end.
A few weeks ago, one of my friends from seminary was looking at graduation data and realized that the classes of the early 2000s were the largest in the short history of the ELCA. This is not the script that I thought we would be given when I began to feel called into some sort of leadership in God’s church. Some of you who’ve been at this longer than I have likely feel the same way, especially those of you who remember the hope and promise of the hard work that went into creating this community of faith we now call home. Some of you who are a bit less seasoned might be wondering just what sort of script God has in mind for you and for us. Truth be told, all of us are pondering this question: how is God calling us to be different today? What will it look like as we get to work flipping the script from a tragedy of decline, scarcity, and anxiety to a passion play of growth, abundance, and faithfulness? I confess that while I love plot twists in movies and theater, I’m not a fan of big surprises in real life, but it appears that we are in for some doozies in the scenes that are about to unfold.
The way lies before us. The pages are waiting to be filled. The Great Playwright is sitting down, and you who are known by name will have a role to play. Places, everyone. The curtain is rising soon. Amen.
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