Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

new sermon series

strange times that we are in

Starting my new normal

I had lots of stuff acquired throughout the years

Much of it was hidden away for most of my life and when I was getting ready to move I realized that I didn’t need much of it

So I tried something really basic I was starting with a completely blank canvas nothing was in the place that I was in, and I told the people that were helping to move me in, that most of the stuff that I have we are just going to put it in the garage

Then over time if I needed an item I would go to the garage and find it and then bring it into the house

It was a new start and a situation that I leveraged to help me clear out some of the stuff that I don’t use

There were somethings that I just had to move in

my bed I had to sleep somewhere

Toothbrush

some furniture items

But there were things that I left too

I left the T.V. in the garage

most of my cooking supplies in the garage

Transitions are a great time to change habits

I was transitioning from living in Urbandale to living in Ankeny

It would have been a huge hassle if I lived somewhere and I just moved all of the things I owned to the garage, that would have involved several more step

We are facing a new normal

Many of us are just coming off of a series of rapid transitions, into a space of a new normal

Parents that learning the new normal of juggling working from home and now having their kids and sometimes their partner at home

Us adjusting to the new normal of worshiping in our living rooms instead of in the church building

Graduates facing the new normal of a socially distanced graduations

New normals in weddings and funerals

New normals in so many ways

this has become a buzzword

We as pastors tend to plan our sermon series ahead, but this one we planned just recently probably close to a month ago and since then I have been realizing the many times I have heard this phrase new normal used

Getting out of quarantine whenever that happens will likely be just as much of a transition as getting into quarantine was

Not everything will probably be the same as it was before.

If gathered together in worship anytime soon and followed the guidelines that our conference has set out for us church would not look nearly the same

We would probably only have a capacity of around 80 people in this building, we would probably have to all wear masks, we probably wouldn’t even be able to sing

We are facing a new normal as a church

Our world right now is crying out that things would change in the systems in inequality and injustice that harm particularly black and brown members of our communities

We are facing a new normal in the way that we police and in the way that our voices are heard.

particularly in whose voices we choose to listen to

This is a time of transition personally, this is a time of transition for our church, this is a time of transition Ankeny Iowa (the community that our church is situated in) we know that many people are worshiping with us right now from cities across the U.S. and we know it is a time of transition in whatever city you are in, and for sure it is a time of transition in our world.

We desire a new normal

I hope that we individually don’t let this transition go by the wayside

I hope that we are able to utilize this time of transition to offer up to God and to listen sincerely to the voice of God and to say God what do you want our new normal to look like

Isaiah

We start out this series reading from Isaiah

I think this is one of those moments where it is important for us to remember that the Bible is a collection of books that was written by many different authors

There are all sorts of theories about how we understand scripture

If and how scripture is divinely inspired, but one thing is for sure that the Authors of scripture matter

their cultural context matters

Who they were as people matters,

We are about to read out of the Book of Isaiah in a moment and before we do I want to read a passage from the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible just to help us get an idea of what type of person that Isaiah was

Isaiah worked to reform social and political wrongs.

Even the highest members of society did not escape his censure.

He berated soothsayers and denounced wealthy, influential people who ignored the responsibilities of their position.

He exhorted the masses to be obedient rather than indifferent to God’s covenant.

He rebuked kings for their willfulness and lack of concern.

Isaiah’s writings express a deep awareness of God’s majesty and holiness.

The prophet denounced not only Canaanite idolatry, but also the religious observances of his own people that were external ceremonies only and lacking in sincerity (1:10–17; 29:13).

He preached impending judgment on the idolatrous Judeans, declaring that only a righteous remnant would be saved (6:13).

I think when I hear the word prophet my mind can quickly confuse that with the idea of someone who can see into the future.

Prophets certainly told of things that eventually came true, but part of the role of prophets particularly in the Bible was to tell stories of a future that was better than the present

Part of the vocation of prophets was to talk about what the new normal looked like for them and their people

Isaiah was a prophet and what he was writing was literarily closer to poetry perhaps even comparable to spoken word poetry of his day

Isaiah 43:15-21

Letting go is a part of the new normal

Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.

Before we are able to think about all of the things that will be a part of our new normal we have to let go of the successes and the failures that have brought us to this time

That doesn’t mean we forget about them

That doesn’t mean we forget about all of the things that God has done through us, that means that we can’t limit our future by the standard that the past has set

Historical background

Exodus 14

The Israelites were slaves

They became freed

They escaped their captors in Egypt and fled to a new land where they were safe

Isaiah references that emancipation

And says don’t dwell on that

In business world we might say past performance is not a predictor of future success

Personal

There are things sins in my parts that continue to carry with me

There are huge turning points in my faith that I celebrate, but if I continue to hold those so tightly they will lead to my downfall

It’s okay to remember, so long as we are not holding on to

As a church universal and locally

We have made some mistakes

we have created a lot of good

As the same is true

I think it would be an injustice if we weren’t able to say from this stage that the death of George Floyd and Brianna Taylor and many more that I don’t even know the names of are reminders that there are things in our recent and distant past that we might not be proud of as a nation

What theologians might call systemic sins or systemic injustices that continue to cause harm in our world

And there are also turning points in our world that we can’t dwell on because it won’t lead to any further progress

Each week we are introducing and inviting you to be a part of an activity

Talk about the calendar page

Calendar Page

Is is important to listen to what God is doing in our midst

The prophet Isaiah says:

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.

It can be easy for me to think that it is me that is a part of this new normal

That it is my work that contributes to that

Just like with Isaiah it is God that is doing a new thing in our midst

It is God that is making a way in our wilderness not us

Wilderness

The thing about wilderness is that there isn’t a clear path forward

The future comes at us like a wilderness and when confronted with wilderness it can be easy to think I just need to form my own path

I just need to figure out a way through this myself