Making Everything New (Isaiah 65:17-25)

Creator: CharlieAJA | Copyright: CharlieAJA

“Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth,
    and no one will even think about the old ones anymore.
Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation!
    And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness.
    Her people will be a source of joy.
I will rejoice over Jerusalem
    and delight in my people.
And the sound of weeping and crying
    will be heard in it no more.

“No longer will babies die when only a few days old.
    No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life.
No longer will people be considered old at one hundred!
    Only the cursed will die that young!
In those days people will live in the houses they build
    and eat the fruit of their own vineyards.
Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses
    and confiscate their vineyards.
For my people will live as long as trees,
    and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains.
They will not work in vain,
    and their children will not be doomed to misfortune.
For they are people blessed by the Lord,
    and their children, too, will be blessed.
I will answer them before they even call to me.
    While they are still talking about their needs,
    I will go ahead and answer their prayers!
The wolf and the lamb will feed together.
    The lion will eat hay like a cow.
    But the snakes will eat dust.
In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!” (New Living Translation)

I long for better days. Perhaps you do, as well. Day after day I see the physical and emotional suffering of others. I hear of the many needs of people in my community and around the world. And I face my own personal experiences of loss, grief, disease, death, limitations, etc. We all do. We inhabit a planet full of people in want, families in crisis, communities in pain, institutions in decline, and nations in conflict.

Yet, thank God, it won’t be like this forever. There are days coming which many people could never even dream or conceive of – days of unimaginable blessing, peace, and rest. This is anticipatory joy.

The coming newness will be as large and capacious as God is. Although the old heavens have had controversy and rebellion, and the old earth is burned over with violence, the new realm of God shall be free of sin, death, and evil. It will be governed with unending peace, justice, righteousness, and faithfulness.

Stability and order will oversee long life. No more will there be waking up to mass shootings, overnight murders, theft, brutality, coups, wars, and unrest. Life itself shall thrive, and will not be continually at risk. Quality of life will be the rule, not the exception.

Economic security will be ensconced with no fear of losing jobs or being taken advantage of – no phishing emails, no scam artists, no religious manipulators – a person shall reap the full harvest of their labor. The land and its people will experience continual blessing, and no longer live under a curse. The threat of disaster won’t hang over everyone’s head.

Children will be protected and free from harm. Whereas they are vulnerable to a host of the world’s evils, in God’s new heaven and earth, every year is the year of the child. They will neither be exploited nor expected to be adults before their time.

In short, the coming newness will be a true egalitarian society in which everyone possesses what they need and contributes fully to the community and common good of all. It’s more than individual blessing; its public practices and policies of blessing for the entire community.

Civil peace and protection, economic viability and development, and social stability and security need more than human ingenuity and attention – they need God’s providential care and pure holiness to be realized on a real and practical level.

Accessibility to God is a must. Otherwise, we’re just building structures that will fall and programs which shall fizzle and be forgotten. According to the New Testament, such access has been granted.

For he [Christ] is our peace; in his flesh he has made both into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us, abolishing the law with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. (Ephesians 2:14-18, NRSV)

And so,

Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16, NRSV)

Present circumstances may be difficult; current situations might be hard; a sense of being overwhelmed could be our experience, right now – yet our present difficulties and current realities cannot overwhelm God’s new and upcoming heaven and earth. Our daring faith sees beyond the now to what will be.

For our slight, momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure.
2 Corinthians 4:17, NRSV

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,

“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them and be their God;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”

And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:1-5, NRSV)

Amen.

Faith Helps Us Take the Long View of Life (Hebrews 11:23-28)

Moses is saved from the water by Pharaoh’s daughter, by Marc Chagall, 1966

It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command.

It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward. It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons. (New Living Translation)

Sometimes we can’t see beyond the end of our nose. We get lost in the here-and-now worries of the moment. We need a better view.

Taking a long view of life happens whenever we place our faith in permanent and ultimate realities, and not merely live by what feels good or drives our anxiety in the temporal moment.

To have faith is to possess an indefatigable and unflagging trust in someone’s ability to achieve a desired outcome. The author of Hebrews describes it this way:

No one can please God without faith, for whoever comes to God must have faith that God exists and rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 11:6, GNT

Faith looks ahead and sees as clearly as whatever is right now in front of your face. People of faith have the ability to take the long view of life, knowing that God has their backs. The mature person of faith can set aside temporary pleasure to attain a future hope.

Moses, held up by the writer of Hebrews as an example of such faith, refused to identify himself as the daughter of Pharaoh. He chose to be mistreated in solidarity with his fellow Israelites, instead of having a good time with his high position in the most powerful empire of its day. Moses knew that the treasures of Egypt were not as wonderful as what he would receive from suffering for the sake of Messiah, and he looked forward to his reward.

It’s an understatement to say that our contemporary society embraces instant gratification. We want to feel good, and we want it now. Impulse control may just be one of the best life skills that kids (and adults!) need to learn in society. And one of the most effective ways to distract ourselves from a tempting pleasure we don’t want to indulge, is by focusing on another pleasure.

For the Christian who desires to follow Jesus in all things, looking ahead to better days is a confidence booster, namely because Jesus is better and superior to all things. This isn’t some wistful fanciful notion of positive thinking; this faith is based in the person and work of Christ. Spiritual endurance and perseverance through difficulty will have a reward – and it will be shared along with all of God’s people.

But if we only consider today and what’s in it for me right now, there are scant resources for responding to the temptations and fluctuations of life. We must put some planning and energy into clarifying and embracing our most cherished values. Then, those values shall inform everything we do, or not do. In the scope of eternity, suffering a bit now is nothing compared to what Christ has yet in store for his people.

Deferred gratification causes us to live differently. In a twist of irony, folks who orient themselves toward the unseen world to come are able to effectively impact and change the visible world they currently reside within – whereas those who focus solely on this present world find themselves falling woefully short with their truncated view of life. We need the wisdom which faith provides us:

We are always confident, because we know that while we are living in the body, we are away from our home with the Lord. We live by faith and not by sight. We are confident, and we would prefer to leave the body and to be at home with the Lord. So, our goal is to be acceptable to him, whether we are at home or away from home. We all must appear before Christ in court so that each person can be paid back for the things that were done while in the body, whether they were good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:6-10, CEB)

Future hope, fueled by faith, gives shape to how we live today. It enables us to live in solidarity with those who suffer and are mistreated. It ennobles us to live above short-sighted desires and act on behalf of the common good of all persons in the here-and-now.

Lord God Almighty, the One who is and was and is to come, may we, along with your servant Moses, see the plight of all those who suffer in our midst. Give us courage and compassion to live in solidarity with the poor, the oppressed, the forgotten, and all who live with misfortune and misery. May our hearts, burning with love, bear the burdens of all in our care. And may our loving example ignite the hearts of others to accompany the vulnerable in their affliction. We ask this in the gracious name of Jesus through the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.

Messages of Hope (Zechariah 8:1-17)

On December 14, 2022November 16, 2022 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

A 14th century tapestry of the Apostle John’s vision of the New Jerusalem

The word of the Lord Almighty came to me.

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her.”

This is what the Lord says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the Faithful City, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.”

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Once again men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each of them with cane in hand because of their age. The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.”

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time, but will it seem marvelous to me?” declares the Lord Almighty.

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “I will save my people from the countries of the east and the west. I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.”

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Now hear these words, ‘Let your hands be strong so that the temple may be built.’ This is also what the prophets said who were present when the foundation was laid for the house of the Lord Almighty. Before that time there were no wages for people or hire for animals. No one could go about their business safely because of their enemies since I had turned everyone against their neighbor. But now I will not deal with the remnant of this people as I did in the past,” declares the Lord Almighty.

“The seed will grow well, the vine will yield its fruit, the ground will produce its crops, and the heavens will drop their dew. I will give all these things as an inheritance to the remnant of this people. Just as you, Judah and Israel, have been a curse among the nations, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid, but let your hands be strong.”

This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Just as I had determined to bring disaster on you and showed no pity when your ancestors angered me,” says the Lord Almighty, “so now I have determined to do good again to Jerusalem and Judah. Do not be afraid. These are the things you are to do: Speak the truth to each other and render true and sound judgment in your courts; do not plot evil against each other, and do not love to swear falsely. I hate all this,” declares the Lord. (New International Version)

The name “Zechariah” means “Yahweh remembers.” The Lord indeed remembers the divine covenant which was established. And God will fulfill all promises made.

The Lord is determined to do good – not really because people so much deserve it but because it is God’s character to be good, and thus, do good, even when there is little goodness on the earth to be found.

New Jerusalem by Sister Gertrude Morgan (1900-1980)

God’s judgment is but for a moment; but the Lord’s promise, salvation, and peace shall endure forever. God’s wrath is quite real and certain, yet it is a brief extension of the Lord’s steadfast love. Rebellion and judgment are never the last words; forgiveness and grace are:

Many times he [Yahweh] delivered them [the Israelites],
    but they were rebellious in their purposes
    and were brought low through their iniquity.
Nevertheless, he regarded their distress
    when he heard their cry.
For their sake he remembered his covenant
    and showed compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
He caused them to be pitied
    by all who held them captive. (Psalm 106:43-46, NRSV)

All of the Old Testament prophets end their message of impending judgment with the final note of hope. That is, it won’t always be this way. There are better days ahead. The Lord’s coming is not all wrath; it’s mercy and hope. Notice the five brief messages of hope which Zechariah gives the people:

1. Yahweh burns with jealousy for Zion

Throughout the Bible, God likens the relationship to the Israelites much like a lover – as if the Lord were married to them. God’s covenant relationship with people is at the heart of understanding the whole of Scripture. Whenever they stray from divine promises, Yahweh is offended and hurt.

God is an emotional Being, which is why we have emotions as people created in his image. Early humanity strayed so far from God that it hurt:

The Lord saw that humanity had become thoroughly evil on the earth and that every idea their minds thought up was always completely evil. The Lord regretted making human beings on the earth, and he was heartbroken. (Genesis 6:5-6, CEB)

Yet, God was gracious, sparing Noah and his family. The Lord took a group of Noah’s descendants, Abraham’s family, and set godly covenant affection on them. Through the Israelites, God hoped to lead the entire world to right relations. Yet, they, too, came to fail the gracious covenant made and set their affections on others.

Like a jilted lover, God longed for Israel to remain faithful, and, at the same time, was hurt and angry. Just as the prophet Hosea did not give up on his wife, even though she was brazenly unfaithful, so God looked at Israel as a spouse and could not bear to give her up.

2. Yahweh returns to Zion

Jerusalem will be known as a faithful city and a holy mountain. The presence of God is what makes that happen. Because even though people can be fickle, inconsistent, complacent, and unfaithful, Yahweh remains true to the divine character of steadfast and immovable love for people.

You will never again be called ‘The People God Left.’
    Your land will never again be called ‘The Land God Destroyed.’
You will be called ‘The People God Loves.’
    Your land will be called ‘God’s Bride,’
because the Lord loves you,
    and your land will be his. (Isaiah 62:4, ERV)

3. The streets of Jerusalem will be full of children playing

The elderly will be sitting there watching the kids play, full of delight at the scene. Much too often we Westerners measure both the significance and success of our cities by its industry, businesses, buildings, wealth, and culture.

Methinks we may be misguided with such measurements. Instead, I suggest, along with the prophet, that we gage our cities by their effect on both the old and the young – because long life and children are signs of blessing from God.

4. Nothing is impossible with Yahweh

Is anything too hard for God? That, my friends, is a rhetorical question. If the Lord can cause old women to bear children (Genesis 18:10-14) and large armies to evaporate (Judges 7:1-25) then there is nothing more preposterous than to always view everything from our puny human perspective. Mary gained such a vantage and believed. We, too, have such an Advent hope within us.

“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” (Luke 1:31-38, NIV)

5. Yahweh renews and restores

Separation, diaspora, and disconnection will become a thing of the past. The Lord sets all things right again, brings people together, and heals, so that everything exists as it is meant to exist.

Deliverance from sin, death, and hell is the means of bringing renewal to the earth and its people. Salvation belongs to God. Righteousness and justice will characterize the future.

For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. (Psalm 33:4-5, NRSV)

Hope is fully realized when people put their trust in God and do their part by having strong hands and faithful hearts. We must be truthful and gracious whenever we speak. The Lord expects us to do the right thing by one another, both personally and publicly. We are to never cook up plans to take unfair advantage of others. Instead, we need to keep our lives simple and honest.

The promise of blessing is assured by God. However, the timing of that blessing is conditioned by our response. And there is no better time than the Christian season of Advent to recall what the Lord will do, as well as what God wants us to do.

May we be people of hope and let hope live in our hearts now and always, to the glory of God. Amen.

Future Hope (Isaiah 29:17-24)

On December 12, 2022November 14, 2022 By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment

Soon the forest of Lebanon
will become a field with crops,
    thick as a forest.
The deaf will be able to hear
    whatever is read to them;
the blind will be freed
    from a life of darkness.
The poor and the needy
    will celebrate and shout
because of the Lord,
    the holy God of Israel.

All who are cruel and arrogant
    will be gone forever.
Those who live by crime
    will disappear,
together with everyone
    who tells lies in court
and keeps innocent people
    from getting a fair trial.

The Lord who rescued Abraham
has this to say
    about Jacob’s descendants:
“They will no longer
    be ashamed and disgraced.
When they see how great
    I have made their nation,
they will praise and honor me,
    the holy God of Israel.
Everyone who is confused
    will understand,
and all who have complained
    will obey my teaching.” (Contemporary English Version)

We, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.
Romans 8:23-25, NIV

There are better days ahead. And it is this hope which is to help sustain us in present – because the current reality for many people is hard and unforgiving. Malevolent and heartless people exist, and they wreak physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual havoc on those around them.

When in the throes of difficulty, it is good to be reminded that basic human kindness will once again be exalted and valued. Yet, meanwhile, we must endure the evil of dehumanizing behavior. Until then, we must do our best to connect heaven and earth by rehumanizing every space and place within our sphere on influence. We are to be agents of hope for ourselves and for others.

Every person (and I do mean every person) on planet earth is created in the image and likeness of God. Each individual human being is worthy of basic human kindness and deserving of respect.

Unfortunately, people do and say terrible things every day. Yet this never means that God’s image has left or has taken a vacation, or that someone deserves a pejorative label which stigmatizes and ostracizes them from the human family.

For the Christian, the supreme ethic of life is love. We hold to the Great Commandment: Love God and neighbor; all other commands of Holy Scripture hang on these two bedrock commands, upheld by Jesus himself.

Therefore we must all ask ourselves if we are living our lives and loving others in this world as intended by our Creator and Redeemer. Hate speech, unsafe working conditions, political gerrymandering, apathy toward another’s injustice, a lack of empathy, and vilifying particular people groups are just a few examples of dehumanizing behavior.

If ever we move down the path of claiming to know whom God judges or ought to judge, then we have gone the way of extreme hubris and are germinating the seeds of a future holocaust of killing, not a future hope of peace and goodness.

There is no biblical precedent or place to dehumanize another person or group of people, period. Instead, we must actively build relationships with a broad spectrum of groups and individuals – especially with the ones we least know and understand.

The injustice of dehumanization will not always be with us. Confusion and complaints will give way to clarity, understanding, humility, and obedience. Darkness and deafness, poverty and petulance shall melt away. In its place, love and grace will forever be ensconced upon a new earth, free from crime and shame. Hope will be realized.

Our future hope is a living hope.

We typically use the term “hope” in the wishful thinking sort of way. That’s because we aren’t quite sure if things will shake-out like we want. Biblical hope is not wishful thinking but a confident expectation that knows what is coming.

Hope is like anticipating the seasons. In the dead of winter when it’s bitter cold with little sunshine, we hopefor Spring. It’s not wishful thinking. We know it’s coming. It might come in early March, maybe in late April. But it’s coming, and you can bet the farm on it. The trees will bud, the grass will turn green, and the temps will warm.

Hope in the Bible is a sure thing. Because of the person and work of Jesus Christ, there is hope, the confident expectation that deliverance from sin, death, and hell will be fully realized.

Hope, inheritance, and salvation are all words that describe nearly the same thing. They all point to Jesus. We are saved from the slavery of sin through the cross and resurrection of Christ. We are delivered into an inheritance which can never perish, spoil, or fade. But an inheritance isn’t activated until death. Someday, when this present life of earthly brokenness is over, we have the hope, the confident expectation, of a permanent inheritance with Jesus forever. (1 Peter 1:3-9)

Outwardly, we suffer in all kinds of earthly grief from others who don’t understand us. Inwardly, we have the silent pain and terrible wrestling of wanting to forgive but desiring revenge; of seeking to be gracious but seething with anger; of looking to express kind words but having hate speech blurt out instead.

But it won’t always be this way. We have a future living hope. In this season of Advent, we are reminded that God shall break into this fallen world with all of its dehumanizing behaviors and hate speech. The hopes and fears of all the years are met in a humble feeding trough, in a little baby.

Hope is as real as anything you’ll ever know this side of heaven. You might not always find what you’re looking for in this life; but in the next life, you can find the life that is truly life. For Jesus Christ is our hope.

God of hope, we seek you. During this holy season of Advent, help us to see you in all whom we encounter. We seek you in the crude manger, a child born to save the world. May your hope be a comfort to all who long for justice; and may that hope overflow in our hearts and grace our lips so that we might reflect your hope for all the world. Amen.

Rev. Tim Ehrhardt

Tag: future hope

Making Everything New (Isaiah 65:17-25)

Faith Helps Us Take the Long View of Life (Hebrews 11:23-28)