Something New

Are you frightened or excited when God promises something new? You'd think that the answer would be "excited," but maybe not. After all, "something new" means change; and we don't always like that! This sermon considers some things to remember when God calls us to change. Maybe some of them will be helpful to you!

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. It’s a secret that only we pastors know; so please don’t tell anyone that I told you. That scripture reading that we just heard – the one from Isaiah? (Isaiah 43:16-21) we hear it all the time. We hear it at denominational gatherings and at clergy training. We read it in inspirational emails and in devotional books. Sometimes, when we open the Bible, it even falls open to this text in Isaiah! But that text makes our blood run cold. It scares us out of our wits. It makes us want to jump in bed and pull the covers up over our heads!

You are probably wondering why this text is so frightening. There’s a simple answer. It says that God is going to change things. Change things! Now, believe it or not, we pastors don’t like change. Change is OK if it’s our idea. Change is fine if it’s what we want when we want it. But change that’s God’s idea, the change that God wants when God decides it’s time for it… that kind of change is scarier than a Freddie Krueger movie! And that’s exactly the kind of change that God is talking about here in Isaiah. “Forget about the past!” God is saying to us. “I’m doing something new! Look – it’s all around! Can’t you see it?” And if we clergy are honest with ourselves, we can see it. But we’d much rather just close our eyes and pretend that it’s not happening. After all, we’re all comfortable with all the stuff that we learned in seminary: how to preach and how to teach and how to lead a committee. We like the way that things have always been. And now, God is telling us that we might have to do something new? Why, the nerve of God!

I imagine that most of you feel pretty much the same way that we pastors do. We may love to read these verses from Isaiah and imagine what delightful surprises God has in store for us, but we don’t want to change so that we can enjoy those surprises. We like doing things the way that we’ve always done them. You’ve all heard the joke that asks “How many people does it take to change a light bulb?” Well, here’s the church version of that joke. “How many church members does it take to change a light bulb? Change?!?!?” Now, I have to be absolutely honest. Our congregation doesn’t mind changing light bulbs. In fact, during the last few months, we have changed all of our old light bulbs and replaced them with high-efficiency, low-cost lights. So, see – we’re happy to change light bulbs! Beyond that… Well, we’re not so sure. But God keeps pestering us, tapping us on our shoulders and whispering in our ears that things are changing.

And we all know that. Why, just look at the neighborhood around us. All kinds of people are living there now, not just farmers like the ones who built this church from the ground up. Lots of fancy new homes now stand on fields where corn used to grow. Instead of complaining that things have changed, maybe we should get to know those people around us and ask them what they need. We could even reach out to them, and invite them to join us in reaching out to others. Actually, I think that’s exactly what God is calling us to do; and it isn’t something new, at all. It’s really just doing what we’ve always done – reaching out in mission to the people around us. But we will have to do that in new ways, because the days that we grew up in are long gone. All of us will have to change – you and me both!

The New Beginnings program is going to help us to do just that. Over the next six weeks, small groups will meet in homes to discuss who we are as a church, what our gifts and talents are, and what we’re passionate about. We’ll find out who is living in the area around us, courtesy of the high-tech marketing research that helps advertisers encourage us to buy their products. That same research is going to help us figure out what their spiritual needs are, so that we can reach out to them in mission. And then, we’ll match our congregation to that mission field – and we will decide what adjustments we need to make in order to meet the needs of the folks around us. Maybe we’ll only have to change some light bulbs. But maybe we’ll have to change a little more than that.

Now, I have a confession to make. Over the last month or so, I have been preaching sermons that will help us start thinking about the changes that God is calling us to make. You might remember some of those sermons. I encouraged you to remember that that God wants only the best for us; and that God wants to partner with us as we discern how to move ahead. I reminded you that God is much greater than we even imagine; and that God can accomplish things that we could never even dream of doing. I talked about the kinds of people who help the church move ahead – clear-eyed prophets who can envision the future, cheerleaders who encourage us to keep going when it’s difficult, and comforters who hold our hands when we’re afraid. And I suggested that we might have to adjust our glasses every now and then as we reevaluate what we always thought we knew. Those are important things to remember as we plan for the future as a faithful congregation of Jesus Christ.

But what if you’re not participating in the New Beginnings program here at Nashville. What if you can’t join in one of the conversation groups for one reason or another? Does this text from Isaiah have anything to say to you? Oh, my, yes, it certainly does. I’ll bet that something in your life has changed recently. Let’s face it, things change all the time, whether we want them to change or not. And that change might not be the kind of change that you wanted. In fact, that change might be downright threatening. Maybe you’re dealing with an unexpected illness – yours or that of a loved one. Maybe a close relationship has come to an end. Or maybe your job situation has changed. I want to remind you of the very same things that I just touched on a minute ago. God wants only the best for you; and God is waiting for you to ask for his help as you figure out how to move ahead. God is greater than you can imagine; and God can accomplish things that we could never even dream of doing! People in your life will help you as you decide where to go from here. Some will comfort you when you are discouraged. Others will encourage you when life is tough. And still others will see possibilities that you didn’t see. They’re all there for you. And as you move ahead, you might have to adjust your glasses a little bit. Sometimes, what we’ve always believed isn’t true at all. The path ahead is much easier when we can see clearly what’s on it.

Oh, yes, change is coming. In fact, change is here already! “Don’t dwell on the past!” says God. “I am doing a new thing! Don’t you see it?” The good news is that God is ready to guide us, to comfort us, to inspire us, and to encourage us as we meet the challenges – and the blessings – that those new things are already bringing to us. And that is good news, indeed!