Text:Isaiah 43: 16-21 & This is my Song NCH #591
Hear anew the words of this morning’s text, from the Prophet Isaiah. Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. 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. The wild animals will honour 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.
I’d like to start us off today by asking you to participate in a small ritual of cleaning. We talked about ritual a little with the children, and I’d like to get us prepared in that same way. If you are comfortable, lift your arms above your head, and as you breathe out, let them fall quickly to your side. And again, this time slowly lowering your hands until they are at your side……………… Today we are talking about action, and I don’t think we can just talk about it, but must remember to partake of that action as well. Up front, there are several ritual stations from this past week’s Lenten reflection that acted as entry points to a place of awareness, that provide us with space to listen. In our community these few weeks, we have been rocked by hard times. Today, we welcome the holy breath of the Divine to fill our sails with new wind, and bind us together in support of each other.
What did you hear in the reading this morning? You’ve heard it many times so far this morning , and I haven’t even begun to preach yet! I’m sure you’ve created some ideas about the passage, and hopefully, how it might be relevant to your life. Did it complement the Music for Preparation? In our service today, we are talking about, and doing a new thing. One of those new things, is to change our order a little, to rearrange a few pieces. Change is what allows us to see our habits from another angle, enriching them with new meaning. By placing the music in the middle did it jar you a little? What did you hear in the music you might not have heard if it was before the reading?
This is my Song. A song of peace for lands afar and wide. The hymn we sang this morning, is one of my favorites. I first came across it, at a concert of the Indigo Girls. Their music has always spoken to me, but at this one concert, as they sang this piece, live, a capella with the members of their opening act, I was surprised by the connection and joy I felt in this beautiful song. But BOY was I surprised to hear it sung as a hymn in church a few weeks later. How had I gone 20 + years without hearing this song in church? There it is, in the hymnal I’ve sung from, and I hadn’t noticed it. We had not sung it before. From that point on, I became a sort of evangelist for this piece of music. I’ve used repeatedly in worship, at home and in conversation with others. The theology presented in these words is one of worldwide peace and community, two things I feel very strongly about. But it is also about being yourself. This hymn does not ask us to espouse a certain truth to claim our identity.
What we have in our hymnal, however, is not the full story of this piece. The original lyrics in Finnish were fiercely nationalistic, reflecting the country's struggle for its own identity during a time of oppression by Russia.
O, rise, Finland, you showed to the world
That you drove away the slavery,
And that you did not bend under oppression,
Your day is dawning, O land of birth.
Lloyd Stone, however, transformed it into a hymn of international understanding, a beautiful expression of patriotism which honors one's own country while honoring the pride of citizens of other lands. The third verse, which is not printed in our hymnal, goes like this,
May truth and freedom come to every nation
May peace abound where strife has raged so long;
That each may seek to love and build together,
A world united, righting every wrong.
A world united in its love for freedom,
Proclaiming peace together in one song.
What a different story that tells. The fierce superiority of the original hymn has been transformed by something new, a new way to see the world, or maybe a new world to be seen.
In our reading today, we are also told to see the new. To watch for it, wait for it… see it with our eyes. God will do a new thing. This text is a cornerstone piece for me. As a young person who has grown up in the church all my life, I continue to be a seeker of the new. But here, in this passage, it is not just about newness. It is about doing and it is about community. It is about a specific community hearing God’s call and recognizing the transcendent power of our Divine Creator who acts, who ACTS, in the world. Our text does not say God thought or God watched, but God is about to ACT. The Hebrew Bible and even the Hebrew language itself is in fact full of the embodied nature of God. Even creation begins with God’s action. God spoke, and God’s speech created the world in Genesis ch 1. In many places throughout the bible, God is told to be acting. Creating a flood with Noah, wrestling with Jacob, and according to Isaiah, God is still acting, notice he says I am about to.... there is more action to be done. How will we see God’s action? By being aware and responsive to God’s energy in our lives.
This Wednesday, at our second to last Lenten Wednesday reflection, we experimented with action. Around the room, were ritual stations, all set up so that we could partake of them in our own way. Stations of the elements of fire, water, earth and community were part of our circle. For us, in that space, it was a new experience to partake of the smelling of rosemary, the pouring of water, the touching of a piece of cloth as a ritual. We also participated in several methods of prayer which were created generations ago, and yet most there had not experienced them before. Ritual is one way we participate in God’s abundant energy and spirit. Up here on the altar, elements of those rituals are still with us today. The water and earth elements are open for those who would like to partake of them after service. The element of fire will be used during our prayers of the people today when you will be invited to light a candle as we bring our prayers to mind. Are these experiences new? Who were they new to? To generations of others, these same elements would have felt commonplace. So what really is new? What is the NEW action of God?
For me, that new action is about bringing peace. Just as the words of the Nationalistic Finnish hymn were made new by speaking about international cooperation, the new action of God is when we act as God’s hands and bring peace, love and healing to our neighbors, friends and family. And yet this is certainly not a new theme. It is an old message and yet repeated anew in every generation. It is in fact one of the oldest themes in my opinion, and the reason that we welcome a healing and loving God into our worship each week.
I do want to acknowledge a trouble spot that I have with the text, and that you might also have felt when you heard it this morning. To preface God’s continuing action, is the troubling phrase about forgetting the things of old. I can’t say I’m okay with that. In our call to worship, Jennifer and I used four different versions of the passage, all new at some point to some people, and possibly to you as well. And yet, they were all different ways of speaking words that have been spoken for centuries, millennia even. There is also a touch of irony here, because if we are to forget the past, we would not in fact be hearing this text this morning. If we are to forget our history, we will repeat hard lessons we as humanity have already learned. I do not want to forget, but to build upon. The histories of my ancestors are present in me, and while I may do something new, I will still be in relationship to their lives, and their experiences. Where I seek a spiritual message may be from a song that is written today, or it may be as old as this text from Isaiah. I do not want to forget but to reinterpret the message for each new generation, each new situation.
So have we come to any decision about what new is? Not really. Should we? Possibly newness, is in the mind of the beholder. The new work of God for me is one thing. What might that new work of the Divine be for you? What might YOUR NEW ACTION be?
