March 25, 2007, Lent 5

Isaiah 43:16-21; Psalm 126; Philippians 3:4b-14; John 12:1-8

Do You Not Perceive?

History has never been my strong point. If I had my way, we would start from today and simply look forward to the future, regardless of what the past has been. But too often I don’t get my own way, and this is one of them. History is important, not only in our world today, but it was important to the Israelites.

Deut 6:4-9 tells us how important remembering the history was. Listen - Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one… These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. NIV

All of the festivals that the Israelites celebrated were designed to help them remember the past – the Passover, the festival of tabernacles. Recalling the past was what kept the faith of Israel alive. It was a sin to forget.

In today's lesson, Isaiah reminds us of what happened at the Red Sea... the parting of the water, the crossing on dry land, the destruction of the Pharaoh's army... and then turns around and says... "Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old." The quotes seem to contradict each other - incompatible at best.

I can wrap up this sermon in two sentences... "Remember that God has the ability and the desire to save you. But don't expect him to do it the same way that he did the last time he saved you."

Isaiah is talking to those in exile in Babylon. He's saying, "Remember that God saved our people enslaved in Egypt - hope in the Lord for He will save you, too." Although they were living in a fertile land, there was nothing but desert between them and where their hearts were. In exile, they celebrated the Passover - probably waiting for and hoping for God to do the same thing here that he did in Egypt. They're waiting for another Moses to come along and lead them back to the promise land. And Isaiah is telling them that it isn't going to happen - at least not that way.

Isaiah is a prophet and this portion of Isaiah is filled with hope and promise - the promise that God is going to work in the lives of his people once again - the hope for a better future.

But the people kept waiting for a new Moses to rise up in their midst and it just didn't happen. They repeated the story of Passover year after year - and it became so ingrained that they couldn't conceive of any other way for God to work. But God tells them, "I am about to do a new thing;" and the new thing is Cyrus, the Persian king.

The savior who comes along is not one of them, but is a gentile – Cyrus, the Persian, overthrew the Babylonians. And Cyrus does something totally unheard of - he tells them they are not captives anymore - they can go home if they want to.

"I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" Not everyone chose to go back. Some of them had intermarried with the Babylonians, many of them had successful business dealings and by this time they had become complacent. They chose to stay with what had grown familiar rather than to strike out on an uncertain journey.

But three different groups did go back. One group led by Ezra the priest, and another led by Nehemiah the governor. They did not wander in the desert for 40 years. They did not eat manna from heaven. They did not struggle in the same way that the original returnees struggled. God did not act in the same way. They carried letters from the king giving them safe passage and providing them with the supplies and materials they needed. They rebuilt the temple, they rebuilt the city. -- not without opposition - but they accomplished their task with the help of God.

am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" A few years ago you started hearing people use the phrase, "yada, yada, yada." It seemed to be a nonsense phrase that implied, "more of the same", when a person didn't want to actually repeat all the details of whatever. As near as I can tell it started on the Seinfeld show. Did you know that "yada" is actually a Hebrew word? It means "see, or perceive, or to understand through experience." So the Jews were given the opportunity to understand - "Yada" - through experience that God was doing a new thing in their midst.

"I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" Once again in the first century, God was doing a new thing. The people were oppressed and they were looking for deliverance. They were looking for a Joshua, or a Goliath, or a David to lead them in revolution – to win back the land. Once again God was rescuing his people from oppression. But he didn't use a Moses, and he didn't use a Cyrus to set them free. There were no Ezras or Nehemiahs to lead the people back - they were already in the land of promise. So once again God did something totally new.

He sent his Son - to live among them - to teach them of God's love. He sent his Son - to heal them in body and mind and spirit. But there were people who couldn't perceive that God was working in their midst in a new way. They were so ingrained in their traditions that they couldn't see the new thing God was doing in their midst.

God sent his Son - to suffer and to die on the cross. He sent his Son - to conquer death by rising to new life. Jesus died because some people couldn't see the new thing God was doing. In today's gospel, Mary seems to be the only person who understood what was happening.

"I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" God is always doing a new thing and just as in Isaiah's time, and just as in Jesus' time - God is still doing a new thing. Too often we try to limit God to our understanding - and God refuses to stay within that box we try to draw around him. If we insist on placing limits on God, we will never see the new thing he is doing in our midst.

We find ourselves in a very difficult time. We've found out that we are not immune to the kind of terror going on in Israel and other parts of the world. And we find ourselves in the middle of an on-gong war in Iraq and Afghanistan. And we are very aware that people die violent deaths there on a daily basis. And even here in the greatest country in the world, we find struggles and violence and illnesses. And still we would try to limit God and tell him how we think he should handle each situation, or solve each problem.

Even here at Redeemer, God worked powerfully at one time. There were thousands of people who came to know Christ because of what God did in this place. Many of you were here when that happened and some of you lament the passing of that era, but once again Isaiah is saying to us, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.” Those things have passed away. God is now telling us, “I am about to do a new thing; do you not perceive it?"

I want you to look at what Mary did in today’s gospel lesson. Only two gospel writers tell us about the sisters Mary and Martha. In Luke, we have seen Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus and now we see Mary pouring sweet perfume, the oil of burial, over his feet and wiping them with her hair. Mary has moved from sitting to kneeling, from listening to doing, from passive to active. We see God doing a new thing in Mary.

Think about how God is working here in this place now. It is not the same way he worked before. I’ve heard you say, “people came and we brought them into our households.” But you don’t have households now – so how do you bring in new people without a household? Just as God finds new ways to act in the world, so Redeemer has to find new ways to act in this place – new ways to reach out to those God brings in.

You have to find new ways to share the Gospel with those who come in – you can’t wait for someone else to do it. You can’t remain in your little groups lamenting the passing of an era – or congratulating yourselves for having been here when God broke forth the first time.

If God is doing a new thing here at Redeemer, he is doing it through the remnant that is left. In Ezra 9:8 we read, "The Lord our God has been gracious in leaving us a remnant and giving us a firm place in his sanctuary, and so our God gives light to our eyes…” It is up to us to let that light shine and to spread it to all who pass by. You are the remnant, and

God is doing in a new thing in your midst, do you not perceive it?

Amen.

Please feel free to email me with comments at nan@doerrworks.com