God’s New Thing—Lectionary Reflection for Lent 5C (Isaiah 43:16-21)
Isaiah
43:16-21 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
16 Thus says the Lord,
who makes a way in the sea,
a path in the mighty waters,
17 who brings out chariot and horse,
army and warrior;
they lie down; they cannot rise;
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:
18 Do not remember the former things
or consider the things of old.
19 I am about to do 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.
20 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,
21 the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.
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We are
creatures of nostalgia. As we age, we often look back to what we consider the
“good old days.” Those days often took place during our childhoods, which was
when we were blissfully unaware of what was going on in the world. I grew up
during the tumultuous 1960s and early 1970s. I went about my day without paying
much attention to what was happening out there in the real world. Perhaps that
is why my generation looks back to the 1950s and 1960s, without recognizing
that this was a time of great change and disruption. The assassinations of John
F. Kennedy, his brother Robert, and Martin Luther King, Jr., along with the
Vietnam War, together with the battles over Civil Rights took place back then.
Now we’re seeing much of the advancements of that period undone as the regnant
party pushes back on what is perceived as “wokeness.” In fact, we are witnessing efforts to rewrite
history so that white folks needn’t feel guilty about such things as slavery,
Jim Crow, the Trail of Tears, or placing Japanese Americans in concentration
camps (one of which sat just a few miles from my hometown). Now, as a
historian, I am interested in the past, but we can’t live there.
As we
continue our Lenten Journey, at a time when the political establishment seems
intent on returning the nation to the 1950s by way of the 1890s, we have reached
the penultimate Sunday before we celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry into
Jerusalem (Palm Sunday). The first reading for the day comes from Isaiah 43. This
passage is found in a section of Isaiah attributed to Second Isaiah, a prophet
who spoke to the exilic community living in Babylon. This was a community that
wondered what the future would look like since their nation had lost everything
during the Babylonian invasion. They would have wondered if the God they
worshipped existed or cared about them. Perhaps Yahweh didn’t have any
influence in Babylon, such that they were on their own. This is a question that
leads to the development of theodicies (defense of God in the face of evil). Is
God powerless? Does God not care? Is God busy doing something else? Or, perhaps
God doesn’t exist. That is a more modern response, but perhaps some felt that
way.
The
prophet we call Second Isaiah addresses these questions. Isaiah 43 offers a
message of restoration and protection. While our reading begins in verse 16, it
is worth taking note of the opening verse of the chapter, where Isaiah offers
this word from God to the exiles in Babylon:
“But now says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you,
O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you
are mine (Is. 43:1). Yes, I have redeemed you because you are mine! That is a
restatement of the covenant relationship. God had made a covenant with Israel
and despite the current situation, the covenant remains in force. So, don’t
give up hope.
In this
word from God to the exiles, we hear a reminder of God’s past actions on behalf
of God’s people. Our attention is pointed back to the time of the Exodus when
God made a path through the sea so that the people of God could escape the
bondage of their slavery in Egypt. There is even a reference to God’s
protective action, as chariot and horse, army and warrior lay down and were
extinguished. That would be a reference to the fate of Pharaoh’s army as it
chased the Israelites into the sea only to see their own demise when the waters
of the sea returned to their former place, exterminating the pursuing troops.
The message here is a reminder that Yahweh’s reach is not landlocked. Yahweh is
not merely a tribal deity who is tied down to the land of Israel. Nevertheless,
don’t get lost in nostalgia. That was then, but now there is something new on
the horizon. That is where you need to focus.
Verse
19 provides the key verse for the day: “I am about to do a new thing.” That
could (should) be our mantra. If God is doing something new, shouldn’t we be
attentive to what God might be doing in our midst? Might we want to join with
God in this new project rather than getting caught up in the past? It is a
common meme of church leadership, and generally the bane of clergy who want to
lead congregations into change: “We haven’t done it that way before.” Or that
other meme: “We tried it once before, but it didn’t work.” Now, I have read
enough of Andy Root’s books to know that innovation isn’t the answer to every
problem. So, the issue here is not the challenge of chasing the ever-changing
social realities, because we will never catch up. Nevertheless, Isaiah wants us
to remember that the past is not the answer. The question is, will we perceive
the new thing God is doing?
Water
is an important element in the story told in Isaiah 43. God is always making
pathways through water. God opened a pathway in the sea so that Israel could
leave Egypt. God then opened a pathway through the Jordan so that the people
could make their way into the Promised Land. Now that they were in Babylon,
there would be another river to cross if they were going to return home. That
pathway will lead through the desert. God will provide water for the wild
animals, who honor God, as well as God’s people. Yes, God will provide water to
drink as God’s chosen people make their way through the desert once more.
The
expected response from this people whom God had made for Godself (through the
covenant) is one of praise. Worship is the expected response when it comes to
God’s actions. That might be the expected response, but before we respond with
words of praise we’ll need to perceive this new thing God is doing in our
midst.
For the
audience hearing this word for the first time, the new thing would be a return
home from Babylon. That would require a trip through the desert. But God had
led the people out of bondage before. Surely God could do it again. Thus, as Ron Allen and Clark Williamson put it:
“God is never simply the God of the past; God is the One who ever and again
beckons God’s covenant partners to live forward in hope toward a future that
will be a source of light and blessing” [Preaching the Old Testament, p.
137]. As we ponder an uncertain future, such that the details of the future
have yet to be revealed, the question is whether we will put our trust in the
God who promises to do a new thing. This future may involve time spent in the
wilderness, but there is also the promise that God will provide drink for the
ones who take this journey. Then, when we arrive at our destination, we will
have the opportunity to declare our praise to the God who leads us through the
desert. While we should not dwell on the past, there is evidence that God has
been there, leading the way. It is this promise that offers us hope as we take
this Lenten Journey in the presence of God’s Spirit.
With
that promise we can sing with Brian Wren:
This
is a day of new beginnings,
Time to remember and move on,
Time to believe what love is bringing,
Laying to rest the pain that’s gone.
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