God's new thing

A sermon preached at Faith Episcopal Church on February 19, 2006

“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?” Well, in all honesty, I’d have to say “I’m not sure.” It’s hard to see through all of the hype and spin of this week’s events to figure out if God is at work or was are just continuing on our merry destructive ways. There are some things that I perceive that I hope might be a new thing about to happen. When these words from the book of Isaiah were written, the people were in exile, but time known as the Babylonian captivity was about to come to an end. The “new things” spoken of were the release from this time of slavery and the return home. The tool that Yahweh would use to bring about this deliverance was Cyrus, King of Persia. It was he who would overthrow the Babylonian empire and send the Jews home, cash in hand, to rebuilt Jerusalem and the Temple. The return from Babylon is understood as a rephrasing of the first exodus from slavery in Egypt. It is a restatement of God’s power and desire to deliver the beloved people from a condition that keeps them from being all that they are meant to be.

We know what the “new things” were back then. When God restored the Jews to their homeland, they reconnected to their roots, their spiritual center, their identity. What are the new things today? What is the spiritual center and home to which we need to be returned? Might it be the state of original oneness of humanity? Long before borders and governments existed, humanity was united in its difference from God’s other creatures. Our receiving of the gift of divine image made us one – it was our foundation to use as God would have us use it. However, the more developed we have become, the more we have found ways to separate ourselves, foment suspicion and take aim at each other.

The Jews have long understood the time in Babylon as punishment for their unjust behavior toward their neighbors and their own. The prophets have always warned about God displeasure when the poor and weak are abused and when hospitality is not extended. The prophets are also universally ignored but God will not be. God is patient and will continue to send opportunities for learning and growth our way. It is in that idea that I think I see the “new things” that God is doing right now. We are being given the chance to leave our self-imposed prison of differences and seek the spiritual home of a respectful and united humanity.

Rabbi Marc Gellman column on the riots over the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad is worth more than a cursory quote. I’d like to read a significant portion because I think it’s the best thing that I’ve found so far on the subject. It really gets at our ability to see the seeds of something hopeful in a dreadful circumstance.

(Rabbi Gellman's "Can't We All Just Get Along?")

The truth is that with God’s help, we can get along. It will take courage, kindness, stamina and a willingness to do what Jesus taught us – know real power by giving up power. The good new in this week’s bad news is that God’s love is infinitely larger than our inability to hear one another. God’s love is grander than our pursuit of grandeur and our need to be right. God’s love for each and every one of us is lying dormant in every moment of discord just waiting to be expressed as respect, mutual affection and a genuine desire to see our brothers and sisters thrive and live in prosperity and peace. God’s love is new thing always ready to happen.