Have you ever been in a place
where the sun won’t shine? Have you ever been bombarded with the sounds of
conflict- the screams, the sobs- that never seem to stop? Do you know a place
where peace is temporary, if it comes at all? Have you ever been in the grips
of something that drags you down and won’t ever let you go? Have you ever been
part of a relationship that is terribly shattered?Born of despair, pain, and
disappointment, you or I, or someone we love, comes to believe that there is nothing
to get excited about anymore, nothing to work toward, nothing to celebrate,
nothing to believe in. Or an entire community suffers so deeply and so
completely that they all live empty and hopeless lives. American slaves come to
mind. They lived their entire lives knowing that they would be treated as if
they weren’t even human, let alone children of God. The Jews who filled death
camps throughout Germany, who were dehumanized and murdered at will, come to
mind. It
is easy enough to lose hope. People leave us; they walk away; loved ones don’t get well;
people won’t forgive us; suddenly we’re all alone; we wake up and see that we’re
old; there’s no way that we can do what we had hoped to do; it’s the same old
thing every day and there are too many hills. We’ve become jaded and cynical.
Nothing is ever going to change.
It’s
easy enough to lose hope, but here’s the good news-the really, really good news:
God is doing a new thing! When the
Israelis returned to their homeland, after their time in exile, they
encountered a land that they hardly knew. Oh, the Temple was still where it
used to be, but it was in ruins, and they were facing resistant as they tried
to rebuild it. The houses that they once lived in were destroyed, the vineyards
they had planted were barren, and things looked broken for as far as the eye
could see. No one would have blamed them if they had given in to a feeling of
hopelessness… but God said (Isa, 65:1ff): “I am
about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be
remembered or come to mind.” It’s
not a matter of perspective, regret, or coming to grips with what was, the
former things will not come to mind… because God is the God of life and
tomorrow is God’s time. “Be glad… ; for I’m
about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight.” There’s a
day coming where joy, not wealth, will be on everyone’s mind. “No more shall the sound of weeping be heard
in it, or the cry of distress. No more
shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who
does not live out a lifetime…” No more infant deaths, no more shortened
lives. Death, it seems, was never God’s plan and his future will be about life!
“My people shall build houses and inhabit
them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit” They will be neither
exiles nor wanderers, but instead, stable and secure. “Before they call I will answer… and the wolf and the lamb shall feed
together…”
God is NOT done with me yet, or with you, or
with anyone else, or even this world. God is creating a radically new order in
which people with see the Imago Dei (the Image of God) in each other… before
they see anything else. God is creating a new order in which life- it’s length
and quality- will be valued by everyone. God has written his law on our hearts…
so that we can love one another and work for justice in his name, even it
causes us discomfort… and clothe him, feed him, and visit him, whenever we see
him naked, hungry, or in prison.God is doing a new
thing… and we are called to participate in his re-creation, in ways big and
small.
It is my prayer that each morning, we not only take stock in all that
we’re grateful for, but that we also embrace ways in which we can be a new
creation in Christ. Maybe we can pray for someone whom we don’t want to pray
for; maybe we can visit someone whom we already know will be difficult; maybe
we can put another bill in the kettle or the plate; maybe we can add our
voices, even if it’s just around our tables, to those voices who are
challenging the way things are regarding … discrimination (in all of its forms),
health, income, violence, opportunity, and more. Throughout the day we can look
for moments when we can brighten someone else’s day, lighten someone’s burden
(if only a little), let someone know that he or she is somebody worth loving,
and even spread the news that God is creating a new order in which we will find
joy in living together… and be a delight to him at the same time! Amen!
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