Focusing:
We’re half-way through January – hardly a “new year” anymore. I hope you’ve found a good way into it.
Does it seem like “new normal” yet? Or are we still on the way? Still needing to be open to, and opened by whatever next steps, new visions, and new or renewed commitments God has for us, desires of us, wants for us? Living towards a new normal is not new, nor unique to us. It’s as old as the hills. It’s the message of our reading this morning, and a focus of our worship.
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 49:1-7
Today we easily identify and think of Isaiah as a prophet, helping us to know what God desires for the world. But among the people of his time, Isaiah and his message were not so easily and universally accepted.
For one thing, the people of Israel were scattered; it took time for Isaiah’s message to get around.
Also, what Isaiah said didn’t always match what people expected God’s way and God’s good news to be. Many just wanted God to help them defeat their enemies, and make Israel great again. But Isaiah sees that God’s desire is for the well-being of all the world – of all nations and all peoples.
Isaiah knows this will be hard for people to accept. So, in this passage, in addition to preaching God’s message, he also reminds people of his credentials for doing so.
Listen to me, distant nations,
you
people who live far away!
Before I was born, the Lord chose me
and
appointed me to be his servant.
He made my words as sharp as a sword.
With
his own hand he protected me.
He made me like an arrow,
sharp
and ready for use.
He said to me, “Israel, you are
my servant;
because
of you, people will praise me.”
I said, “I have worked, but how
hopeless it is!
I
have used up my strength, but have accomplished nothing.”
Yet I can trust the Lord to defend
my cause;
he
will reward me for what I do.
Before I was born, the Lord appointed me;
he
made me his servant to bring back his people,
to
bring back the scattered people of Israel.
The Lord gives me honor;
he
is the source of my strength.
The Lord said to me,
“I have a greater task for you,
my servant.
Not
only will you restore to greatness
the
people of Israel who have survived,
but I will also make you a light to the nations—
so
that all the world may be saved.”
Israel's holy God and savior says
to
the one who is deeply despised,
who
is hated by the nations
and
is the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see you released
and
will rise to show their respect;
princes also will see it,
and
they will bow low to honor you.”
This will happen because the Lord has chosen his
servant;
the holy God of Israel keeps his promises.
“Good news!” the prophet says. “We’re going home! God is going to gather us together, lead us back home where we belong, and help us be God’s people in the world, doing God’s good work in the world again. It’s good news, folks!”
“Hurray!!” the people cry. “We’re going back home. We can gather again in the Temple, and praise God as a single community of faith. Our cities and towns will be alive and vibrant. We’ll be a real people … a kingdom once more … God is going to make us great again. We’re back. To the way things used to be. Back to the way we used to be. Thanks be to God!”
At which point the prophet pauses. Takes a deep breath. And says, “Well, that’s not exactly what I was saying. Not exactly what I meant in what I was saying. That’s not what I see. Not exactly what God has shown me.
“We’re going back … but to the future. Or, at least, to the chance of a new future. To a new way of being. A new way of showing God’s will for all the world. Towards a new normal.
“For one thing, the times have changed. The issues, the needs to be answered, the forces at work at in the world, our neighbours, our enemies, our land are not what they used to be. And never will be again.
“For another thing, God’s purpose in gathering us together again is not just our success, our well-being, our being blessed. God is really not that small.
“God’s goal is to gather us again to serve and to be part of God’s good work in the world, for the healing and well-being of all – all people, all creatures, all the world really. To be a channel and a guiding light of God’s good will for all the world.
“That’s God’s new normal. Really, when you think about it, it’s the original normal that God began with when God created us as human beings, and gathered us to become God’s people. It’s the eternal normal, that gets expressed and lived out in new ways with every turn of history, every change and shift in us and in the world around us.
“And the question – new every day, is: are you ready to live into it? Are you willing to embrace it, and be embraced by it? Are you coming along?”
To which the people reply … well, I wonder what they reply.
Does this sound at all familiar?
Do you remember how, at the beginning of the COVID pandemic, when everything was shut down and we were forced into isolation, rest and reflection – like being sent to sit in the corner for a while to think about what we have done, we quickly came to visions upon visions of different, better and more godly ways of being a world together? People posted youtube videos about the needed “new world” that they saw, and their commitment to it when the pandemic would end. And we all watched and shared and celebrated the new vision that was being discerned.
“We’re all in this together,” was one of the big phrases. “No one is well, until all are well. We need to share what we have more freely,” we said so boldly.
“This quieter pace is good for us. Room and time in our lives for silence and reflection. More consideration of others. More attention and more resources needing to be given for those who are vulnerable, in greater need, at greater risk. More support for persons in service positions – who are really the essential members of any society.”
And then – when we saw animals – deer and sheep and others, moving into the quieted suburbs and even downtowns of our society, we took to heart the calling to live in more peaceful and respectful relationship with the natural world, with the environment, with the earth, with our own home, really.
And suddenly so many things made more sense. And seemed more imperative. Seemed more in accord with God’s good will. Like the call for truth-telling and reconciliation with the First Nations. Black Lives Matter, Idle No More and Me Too gained traction in our hearts. As did the need to address problems of climate change, and be far less reckless and thoughtless in the way we use and use up the land, the water and the air we all need for life. And the call to put more money, resources, and really creative thought into health care, long-term care, guaranteed basic income, and all kinds of other programs to serve and sustain the dignity and well-being of all members of society.
Today, we are still really only on the edge of the new normal that the world is in need of. Some are living towards it; others are living and working in direct opposition to it. Some are inspired by it, and are giving themselves to it in the ways they can; others are fearful of it – afraid of what is changing, of what has already changed, of what they might lose or have to give up along the way.
But can you imagine it? A new way of doing things? A better way of being world together? A more godly way of we humans really living in the image of God, in sacrificial care and undying commitment to the well-being all that is?
It's an exciting, inspiring vision that deserves the enthusiasm of the prophets among us. Deserves the wisdom and creativity of leaders who can discern and design good next steps towards it. Deserves the commitment of persons and communities of people to embrace the vision and join the journey.
And the question is, as it always is: Are we ready to live step by step towards God’s new normal for the world?
Am I willing to commit myself and my life – my way of life, to the kind of normal the world around us, needs of us?
Are you coming along on the journey as well?
And … one last question (really three): since this vision and the new normal that’s needed is so different from what we’re used to, and so alternative to what the world thinks “normal” should be, how do we nurture this vision within us, among us and with other companions of the way? How do we grow together in understanding it better? How do we find and sustain the strength, the courage, the faith, the hope, and the love to really be part of it?
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