The words of God in our Old Testament lesson, "See, I am doing a new thing!" really resonate with me. I feel that the Lord has indeed been doing a new thing. For example, I have seen it in the life of my sister who finally got married in January. When she announced the wedding plans, I knew I had to be there to see this new thing that God was bringing about in her life. My sister had spent 7 years in Macau in the south of China as a missionary. I had never had the time or felt I could spare the money to make the long trip to visit her. But with her wedding I knew that this was the time for me to go.
So, off to Macau I went. There I witnessed the new thing God was doing. Wayne, her new husband, was a new Christian. During the wedding reception he spoke about the new thing God was doing in his life. There he gave his first public testimony before his family, friends and colleagues who had gathered to celebrate his marriage. That evening, as we talked to his relatives at our table, we saw hearts that were open and glad to hear this good news; hearts that were thirsting for spiritual water. Indeed, I saw that God was doing a new thing!
But the new things God was doing did not just happen. They came after long and difficult times. For years my sister and her family and friends prayed for a suitable marriage partner. There were times when we thought that it might never happen. For what man would marry a missionary? The missionary task of sharing the Gospel in another culture is also not easy. You must learn a new language and new culture. And only after you have built some good relationships can you begin to share the Gospel. Even then, you must be patient for the word that is planted to grow and bear fruit.
God describes the new things he does: "I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise." (Isaiah 43:20) According to these words, where do we find the water that refreshes the soul and the streams that bring joy to life? We find them in the deserts and wastelands of life.
I find that there are times I feel unsatisfied with my life, with the way my career is going, with my relationships with people, with my spiritual life. At times I feel that my life is quite dry, even parched. How about you? Do you ever feel your life lacks direction, zest, or joy? Or what about our church? Last week after the service we discussed the condition of our church in terms of its awareness of our mission and vision for the future. We all agreed that our church has little mission vision of where we are going. We realised that we are stuck in a "maintenance mentality." Even our church is in dry times.
Such dry times are not necessarily bad. I believe that God lets us go through such times to draw us closer to himself. In order for us to profit from this experience, we must acknowledge the reasons why we are unsatisfied. God tells his people: "You have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel. … But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offences." We have not been faithful to our Lord. We have pursued our own dreams while neglecting His design for us. Instead of struggling in prayer to determine God's will for us, we only struggle to obtain what we want for ourselves. Even as we are lazy in our daily life, we are even more lazy when in comes to our spiritual life. Is it any wonder that God seems so far off from us? That our lives feel spiritually dry and without direction? That we feel ineffective and powerless when it comes to spiritual matters?
Spiritually we are like the paralytic in our Gospel lesson who is brought to Jesus. In many ways this man is a picture of us all. He can represent to us our spiritual condition. Crippled by sin, we are rendered helpless. For sin takes a person who is meant to live for the Lord and makes that person helpless to do so. It takes a person whose life is intended to be noble and beautiful and good and makes it impossible for that person to live the kind of life that he could have lived. Even as Christians, we are disabled by our complacency towards God's word and about sin in our lives.
For example, what is your reaction to the mission our Lord gave us: "Go and make disciples of all nations…"? (Matthew 28:16) Is it not often: "Whatever." And when we hear about the need to reach out to our community, isn't our response usually, "Whatever"? And when we hear that millions die each day without ever hearing the Gospel, is it not also, "Whatever"? If that is the case with us, then we are really out of touch with God. We really are paralysed spiritually and living in a spiritual wasteland.
Thankfully, God is gracious to us, his children, even though we may be disobedient and unfaithful. For he promises us: "See, I am making a new thing." He sends us his Son to pour out his love upon us. We are cleansed in the waters of Baptism and he continues to forgive our sins and make his home with us as he comes to us in his Holy Supper. God knows we are but little children when it comes to spiritual matters and so he teaches us by concrete examples. Perhaps his love will eventually turn our complacent hearts of stone that can only say "whatever" into living hearts of flesh that eagerly respond: "Whatever it takes!"
Whatever it takes! Jesus gave up his life to free us from the sin that paralyses us and to open to us the gates of an everlasting opportunity of joy. Now what will we do to share that joy with those who do not have it? Whatever it takes! It can only be: "Whatever it takes." For nothing less will do.
What did the friends who carried the paralysed man to the house where Jesus was, do when they realised that they would not be able to reach Jesus? Did they give up? Did they say, "Sorry friend, we tried our best. There's just no way we can get you to Jesus today"? What did they do? They tore a hole into the roof of the house. Can you imagine that? They didn't care that they might get arrested or sued by the home owner. They only knew they had to do "whatever it takes" to bring their friend to Jesus. You see, they had a faith that wasn't going to take "no" for an answer. They had faith in Jesus. They believed that his word to them would be "Yes". Their faith in Jesus was demonstrated clearly by their determination.
Paul encourages us, "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ." (2 Corinthians 1:20) If Jesus gives us the mission to make disciples of all nations, do you think he will let us down if we decide to actually do what he tells us to do? Of course not. For he promises us: "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18).
As a congregation, I believe we must be willing to do whatever it takes to seek God's will for us and to struggle in prayer until we realise his plans for us. We must not be afraid to make holes, to break down barriers, to ruffle feathers. We must be prepared to do whatever it takes to bring the lost to Jesus. And trust me. If we are passionate about our Lord, then we shall see God doing a new thing among us.
I am excited about that. I feel like the time when I was a child; when before Christmas I saw the presents beneath the tree, but it wasn't yet time to open them. I could only guess by the size and shape what might be inside. Then I might sneak over and pick up the presents to see how heavy they were and shake them to see if they made a sound that might give me a clue to what was inside. Well, that is kind of what it is like for us as we prepare ourselves for God to do a new thing.
As you may know, a couple of weeks ago, I attended a church planting conference. What I learned there will help us to recognise and see the new thing that God is doing among us. We still have a lot of work to do. We first need to renew ourselves spiritually; to study God's word and to pray. There will be times when we will need to step out in faith, when we will need to make sacrifices and take risks. There will also be dry times, when things do not work out as we had hoped or all we can do is wait patiently. But eventually, the new thing God is doing will take shape and become reality. Our God is a creative God! Let him begin a new thing in your life, in your relationships and in your church. Amen.