First Reading: Isaiah 43:16-21
16Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, 17who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: 18“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. 19Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. 20The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, 21the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”
Psalm 126
1When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, then were we like those who dream. 2Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy. 3Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 4The Lord has done great things for us, and we are glad indeed. 5Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like the watercourses of the Negev. 6Those who sowed with tears will reap with songs of joy. 7Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed, will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.
Second Reading: Philippians 3:[4b-7] 8-14
4b… (T)hough I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith — 10that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. 12Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Gospel: Luke 20:9-20
9 {Jesus} began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. 10When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. 13Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ 14But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ 15And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” 17But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’? 18Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” 19The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. 20So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor.
Something New Equals God’s Revelation
Next to “love,” the word “new” is one of the most overworked words in our society today. We’re driven, it seems, to look for something bigger, faster, leaner, and with more bells and whistles than what we have. Truth be told, if it isn’t new, we immediately consign it to ancient history. Another minister tells of speaking to a group of seventh grade confirmands. They were at a rather rustic retreat center. One boy came up to him, saying, “Boy! Is this place old! In the bathroom you have to turn on two faucets to get hot and cold water!” New and old are always relative, of course, but we quickly tire of the old and readily embrace the new as better.
In our Old Testament text for this morning, God announces that He is doing a “new thing (v. 19).” Now before we go any further, I think this is one of those passages that has been overused, abused, and twisted to mean whatever we want it to mean. The truth is, God has had a plan for us from the beginning, and that plan has never changed. What has always changed is our ability to keep the covenant God has made with us. What we see as a new thing, is just God revealing His ancient plan in light of our circumstances.
So, to better understand what God is saying here we must keep other passages in mind. The first is found in Malachi 3:6 where God is telling the Hebrew people, “I the Lord do not change.” A sister passage to this comes from Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” God is doing the same thing He has always been done, loving us, providing for us, and reconciling us to Himself. It’s us who keep changing. It’s the sin within us that causes us to move away from God, so God is always reaching out to draw us back into a right relationship with Him. So when we read passages like these about God doing a new thing, it’s simply God revealing the next part of His plan to us.
Second, we need to interpret this passage in light of the first 9 verses of the previous chapter. Starting at verse 1 we read, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope.
This is what God the Lord says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it: “I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness. “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols. See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.” In the previous chapter, many of you will recognize several of these verses as ones quoted that point us to the promised Messiah.
What God is revealing is that He is clearly setting the stage for Jesus’ coming. God is foretelling is that He will do away with the Old Covenant, a covenant that the Hebrew people repeatedly broke, and God was announcing His plan to establish a New Covenant. A Covenant that isn’t based on something we must do, but that God alone will do in Jesus. And for Isaiah’s audience, this did sound like God was doing something new when what really was happening was that God was simply revealing the next part of His plan for humanity.
To unveil the next step in His plan, God brings to mind an exodus; three of them, in fact. The first exodus was from slavery in Egypt, the second exodus was from slavery in Babylon, and the third exodus (v. 25) was a spiritual exodus; slavery from sin. God, it appears, is using this language because humankind is far too often enamored with something new and shiny. In many ways we act like crows.
A crow is always attracted to new shiny objects. For whatever reason they collect these things and simply store them. As soon as they see another shiny object, they’re driven to collect it as well. Today we live in a throw-away society, and usually we buy something that’s new to replace the old, rather than try to repair it. We’ve found it’s generally cheaper to buy a new coffee maker, toaster, iron, a new razor, hair dryer, or whatever, than to have it repaired. Let’s face it, marketing geniuses have convinced us that new is better, is more trouble-free, performs better, feels good, tastes good, and is usually more attractive. We love new smart phones, new cars, new styles, new foods, new clothes, new cosmetics, new diets, whatever is new, it gets our attention. Let’s face it the words “new and improved” always grabs our attention.
Who, for instance, wants to go back to the telephone of 50 years ago when today’s cell phones are obviously new and improved, with better service, easier and faster, and clearer communication, and a multitude of services unheard of only a decade ago? Or, who wants to go back to being tethered to a power cord when today’s new battery hand tools are so much more versatile. And when you consider that the Jewish people Isaiah was talking to have been in captivity in Babylon for some 4 decades now, do they really want to regress to the “good-old-days” of being in slavery in Egypt?
I was teasing the Chrismon crew on Monday about being spoiled with adequate lighting. Two of the fluorescent bulbs were out in the classroom they’re using, and I suggested that we could go back to using Coal oil lamps. But in truth, who wants to go back to using those sooty old lanterns when we can simply flip on a switch and have all the light we need? The “good ole days” are great for reminiscing, but who wants to go back to all the trappings of those times? What God is telling His people is that there are better days to come.
To now, in exile, Israel has experienced many bad years. The majority of their best people are in exile in Babylon. It wasn’t a happy time. So, God sends Isaiah to give them words of hope. After chapter upon chapter of denouncement, God changes the tone of the message and begins to share His plan for the future. God is now sending them a message of hope, and the message was something like this: This has been a time of punishment, but soon things will change. Don’t look at the past. Remember, God is still alive, in control, and at work in human history.
God through His prophet is saying “Don’t remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing . . .” In other words, don’t look back at your disappointments, at how you’ve suffered in exile, away from the Promised Land, your God remembers you and His judgement is coming to an end. Now Gods is about to reveal to you how He’s going to change your future, for the better. God is preparing them not only for their return to their own country, but for a New Covenant, one based in His Messiah.
To remind them of how God has always been in control, Isaiah points them back to the first Exodus, when God led the people out of slavery in Egypt. He reminds them of the time when the waters were rolled back to let them pass and how the waters closed once again over the Egyptian chariots. Isaiah reminds them of their miraculous deliverance from the hand of Pharaoh, of how the Egyptian army was destroyed, and he assures them God will deliver them again. God will restore the Israelites to their home in Judea. God from the time sin entered this world has been working to reconcile us to Himself. Don’t despair, Isaiah says to them. “Don’t remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to reveal the next part of my plan of reconciliation; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I, your God, will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. “The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; 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.” The imagery is striking.
God will build a way in the wilderness, says Isaiah; rivers will flow in the desert, even the wild animals–the jackals and the ostriches–will honor God. Why will God do all this? One reason: reconciliation. God chose Israel to be priests to the other nations. The Israelites were chosen to be “the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.”
It’s an old play but one many of you might be familiar with, the “Fiddler on the Roof.” Tevye is a pious Russian Jewish peasant who loves to stare up into the sky and argue with God. In one particularly dark moment, when everything seems to be going wrong in his little Jewish community, Tevye looks toward the sky and says to God: “It’s true we are the Chosen People. But once in a while can’t you choose someone else?”
That’s reminiscent of a little verse in the book of Amos (3:2). God says to Israel:
“Of all the peoples of the earth, I have chosen you alone.” Then God adds, “That is why I must punish you the more for all your sins.”
That’s a hard verse for us to digest because in the waters of Baptism, we too have been made a member of God’s chosen people. And as one of God’s chosen, we’re called to be a light to the world, a priest to our neighbors. We’ve been set apart to be members of the one holy catholic and Apostolic church, the body of Christ in this world. And this setting apart comes with a responsibility to be different than the non-believers around us.
Does this mean that God expects more from us as Christians? Yes. Remember Jesus’ prayer for His disciples, Father “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:15-16). In the waters of Baptism, we have been chosen by God and set apart to be workers in His kingdom. In the waters of Baptism, we died to the old Adam and were raised to new life in Christ. And as we daily remember our baptism, God daily renews us for even greater things in His kingdom. Jesus was clear, “to whom much is given, much is required” (Luke 12:48).
Martha Graham was one of the foremost dancers of the twentieth century. On one occasion she commented: “People have asked me why I chose to be a dancer. I did not choose to be a dancer. I was chosen to be a dancer, and with that you live all your life. When any young student asks me, ‘Do you think I should be a dancer.’ I always say, ‘If you ask me that question, no! Only if there is only one way to make life vivid for yourself, and for others, should you embark upon such a career.’” Martha Graham felt she was chosen. And what does it mean to be chosen? Let’s consider our situation.
You and I may think that we chose of our own free volition to be Christians, but is that necessarily so? Most of us came from Christian families. We grew up at least nominally in a Christian nation. It was primarily a result of our being born into a certain family. But what would have happened if you had been brought up in a pagan tribe in New Guinea or in a strict Moslem family in Saudi Arabia. Would we have still found our way to Christ? Maybe, but it’s doubtful. This is why we have been chosen, to bring the Good News of Jesus to those who were not born in a Christian family or nation.
Certainly, we are free to ignore our upbringing, ignore the teachings we have received, ignore the culture of which we are a part. However, the one thing we dare not do is boast about our faith as if it was something we accomplished all on our own. St. Paul was clear, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). Like the Hebrew people of old, we have been chosen for a purpose, to declare God’s praise to other people and nations.
In the previous chapter in Isaiah we read, “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles . . .” (42:6). God’s plan from the beginning was to reconcile humankind to Himself and He chose the Hebrew people as the vehicle to work through to reach the other people of the world. Israel, and by extension us, have been chosen for a purpose, to declare God’s praise to all nations.
How then do we fulfill our purpose? We do it by living a life of obedience and of genuine Christian love. Author Max Lucado tells about a woman in a small Arkansas community who was a single mom with a frail baby. This hard-working Mom had a neighbor who would stop by every few days and keep the child so she could shop. After some weeks this neighbor shared more than her time with this hard-working Mom; she shared her faith in Jesus Christ. Because the Holy Spirit was at work in this young mom’s life, she turned her life over to God. When some of the young woman’s friends asked what the neighbor’s church teaches, she responded by saying, “Here is what I do know, they held my baby.” That’s what she knew and that’s what mattered to her. Through the words and actions of her Christian neighbor, she had experienced the love of Jesus. This is just one of the many ways that we declare God’s praise before others.
Silas, a Christian pastor in West Africa, wanted to be a witness to his neighbors who were Muslims. But when he tried preaching in a nearby village, the residents attacked him and ran him out of town. Instead of giving up, Silas decided to take a different approach. He enrolled in a local Islamic school. While studying the Muslim faith, he began building relationships with the other students.
Silas then took on all the chores the other students didn’t want to do, the dirtiest and the hardest tasks. Silas’ church cut off his support because they disagreed with his methods. His wife questioned why he would stoop so low and agree to do the jobs the other students wouldn’t. But Silas’ acts of service among the students caused them to listen respectfully when Silas shared about his faith in Jesus Christ. Now Silas is a graduate of an Islamic school. That means that, in his community, he is free to speak in Muslim mosques. And he takes the opportunity to tell his neighbors about Jesus.
His Neighbors who previously rejected his message are now coming to Christ because they have been moved by Silas’ servant attitude. How do we declare God’s praise? We show our neighbors the love of Jesus. And there’s one more blessing of being chosen by God; once chosen, God never lets us go. Like the two brothers in Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son, it’s all but impossible for God to give up on us. Even when we wander away, God is not only waiting for our return, He will go out and meet us on our way back.
Jesus taught us that God is like that, and that God, in Christ, is constantly at work reconciling us to Himself. You and I are part of God’s chosen people. We have been selected to declare God’s praise by showing our neighbors and the world God’s love made known in Jesus Christ. Each day, as we remember all God has done for us in baptism, we are refreshed and made anew. Is God doing something new? No, what God is doing is revealing to us the next part of His plan which all centers in us being reconciled to Him in Jesus Christ.
Amen