All Things New (2)

Welcome

I want to tell you about one of the worst times in my life - it was spring of 2009. I had just lost my first church job (I was a youth pastor). I've shared about that experience before, but suffice to say it was a surprising, very painful process. And what made it even worse was that Amanda and I had set our wedding date for July 25 - just a few months from that day.

So yeah, it's pretty scary to be on the cusp of marriage and suddenly be unemployed (and I know it's not like this for every career, but in pastoring, it also put my whole vocation into question. Was I really supposed to be a pastor? Where would I go? What kind of pastoring job would I seek out?

There was a solid month, maybe more, where almost everything in my life was in flux, where all I had were questions (and again, not just me, but Amanda too).

It's awful, in those times. Losing sleep, constant anxiety, questions about an uncertain future. I know I'm far from the only one to experience these times in life. A loss of a job. The end of a relationship. A plan that didn't pan out.

I want to ask today what it means to confess God as our creator in these times. Because it's easy to have faith when things are good. But when life gets hard, when the things that made us feel stable and secure are stripped away, it's much harder to be faithful.

We'll see today, however, that when we say God is our creator, it's not a past-tense confession. We're not only talking about the origins of our life. We're not even mainly talking about past-tense. To say God is our creator is to insist God is continuing to create. God isn't interested in returning to the past. God isn't interested in maintaining the status quo. God is ahead of us, working all around us, continuing to create new goodness in the world and invite us into it.

What does that look like? Well, that's what we're going to explore today. But let's begin by celebrating this God who is with us, even in the darkest times!

Message

We're in the season of Epiphany! Following our Christmas celebration of God with us, Epiphany asks an important question: who is God? The answer we find in Epiphany is: God is who we meet in Jesus. Another way to say that is: If we want to know who God is, then our very best picture of God is Jesus.

This year, our Epiphany series is called "From A to Z". We're exploring some of the big themes of the Bible, themes that illustrate who God is. As you might expect from the title, we're going to see how these themes show up throughout Scripture. How they reach their fullness in Jesus. And how they help us live today as we anticipate Jesus' return.

In other words, this is a series about how Jesus shows us the God who has been at work from the beginning and will keep working to the very end.

We began with the origins of theology: the miracle of life. We saw that because we are relational creatures, we know God to be relational. In Jesus, we meet the God who created us on purpose, for a purpose. God desires us to live with God. Next, we saw that to confess God as creator means that God created us to be God's partners in moving the world toward loving harmony. Creation is invitation. We saw that evil's objective is to poison us, to sabotage God's good work in us. And last week, we saw how God rules - not by violence and coercion but through creative, gentle insistence on the way of love as more powerful than violence.

Today, we're looking more closely at this claim that God is truly on the throne of the universe. After all, when we look around at the state of the world, it's easy for us to see lots of evidence of the lack of God. Violence, pervasive lies, division and broken relationships. Unrest across the globe and in our own nation. A worsening climate crisis. The pandemic that continues to keep us separated and isolated.

If you're asking, "Where's God in all this?" then you're not crazy. That's not a bad question. That's a totally reasonable, normal and healthy reaction to the state of our world right now.

It's the same feeling Israel had leading up to, through, and for centuries after they were destroyed by the Babylonian Empire in the Exile. They were, after all, supposed to be God's chosen nation. God was supposed to be on their side, protect them from all enemies. But the Babylonian war machine marched to Jerusalem, laid siege to the city, destroyed its walls, looted and destroyed God's temple and deported anyone who was any sort of cultural leader to Babylon.

They annihilated God's people. And God… let it happen? Was powerless to stop it? Had forgotten about God's people?

These were the questions that plagued God's people for generations after the Exile. This wasn't a bad week, a bad year or a bad season. This was a fundamental shift in how God's people understood their relationship to God.

[Scripture Slide 1] We see that working out in the book of Isaiah. Scholars have identified three different sections of the book of Isaiah, sections that each have their own internal unity and logic. The passage we're exploring today is in what scholars call Third Isaiah - it's the last and latest part of the book, dating from several generations after the Exile. By reading it, we get to see how God's people looked back on the Exile, and on their existence in the intervening years.

No empire lasts forever - the Babylonians were conquered by the Persian Empire under the rule of Cyrus the Great. And Cyrus actually allows all those Jewish exiles to return to the Promised Land and rebuild Jerusalem (if they want - a bunch choose to stay in Babylon). You're going to see Cyrus mentioned a lot in this section, and I want you to remember when you see Cyrus that he is not Jewish. The Persians followed a religion called Zoroastrianism, and Cyrus had zero interest in Yahweh, the God of Israel. But you'll see here that, according to the prophet, Cyrus too is under Yahweh's rule.

So watch for Cyrus. And watch also for creation language. Remember, this is all about God as creator, and helping us see who God is. Let's begin at the end of chapter 44:

This is what the LORD says—

your Redeemer and Creator:

“I am the LORD, who made all things.

I alone stretched out the heavens.

Who was with me

when I made the earth?

I expose the false prophets as liars

and make fools of fortune-tellers.

I cause the wise to give bad advice,

thus proving them to be fools.

But I carry out the predictions of my prophets!

By them I say to Jerusalem, ‘People will live here again,’

and to the towns of Judah, ‘You will be rebuilt;

I will restore all your ruins!’

When I speak to the rivers and say, ‘Dry up!’

they will be dry.

When I say of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,’

he will certainly do as I say.

He will command, ‘Rebuild Jerusalem’;

he will say, ‘Restore the Temple.’ ” -- Isaiah 44:24-28

God is Israel's redeemer and creator. God both began their life and God takes responsibility for redeeming them - bringing them out of slavery and conquest. And then God calls Cyrus God's shepherd. That's right - Cyrus works for God. Why? It's not because Cyrus is a faithful Jew. Far from it. Listen to what God says as the prophet continues:

This is what the LORD says to Cyrus, his anointed one, whose right hand he will empower. Before him, mighty kings will be paralyzed with fear. Their fortress gates will be opened, never to shut again.

This is what the LORD says: “I will go before you, Cyrus, and level the mountains. I will smash down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness— secret riches. I will do this so you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by name.

“And why have I called you for this work? Why did I call you by name when you did not know me? It is for the sake of Jacob my servant, Israel my chosen one. I am the LORD; there is no other God. I have equipped you for battle, though you don’t even know me, so all the world from east to west will know there is no other God. I am the LORD, and there is no other. I create the light and make the darkness. I send good times and bad times. I, the LORD, am the one who does these things. -- 45:1-6

Cyrus doesn't know Yahweh as God, but Yahweh is using Cyrus on the world stage for the sake of Israel. God takes credit here for Cyrus' strength, his conquest of Babylon, which enabled Israel to return to the lands God promised them.

This is an astounding claim - that God has been working behind the scenes, orchestrating world events. In other words, God is God not only of Israel, but of Persia and Babylon and… well, everyone.

If we could return to our contemporary situation for a moment: it's typical to hear "God is in control" or "God is on the throne" in times of political chaos, especially from well-meaning Christians.

Too often, "God is in control" is a way of pacifying anxiety - something happens that makes us feel sad or unsafe or anxious so we say, "God is in control" in order to allow ourselves to stop thinking about it.

It'd be easy to see that here: God's people are in exile, and now the Empire that conquered them has in turn been conquered by a fearsome new empire, the Persians, led by Cyrus the Great. Like Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Cyrus of Persia neither knows the God of Israel nor cares about him. In this time of turbulent political upheaval, we can imagine faithful rabbis assuring their congregations: God is in control. Don't worry!

But that's not what's happening in this text. When the prophet declares that God has anointed Cyrus, that in fact God is commanding Cyrus even though Cyrus doesn't realize it, he is making a powerful statement about who God is and how God creates:

To say God is in Control is to insist that, no matter what is happening in the world, God is still at work, creating, bringing about new things.

God created. God creates. God will create.

That doesn't mean we should just brush off what's happening in the world. It doesn't mean we're not allowed to be afraid or anxious or sad. But these times are a call for faith, not apathy or withdrawal. Listen to what the prophet goes on to say:

“What sorrow awaits those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you’re doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be?’

How terrible it would be if a newborn baby said to its father, ‘Why was I born?’ or if it said to its mother, ‘Why did you make me this way?’ ”

This is what the LORD says— the Holy One of Israel and your Creator: “Do you question what I do for my children? Do you give me orders about the work of my hands? I am the one who made the earth and created people to live on it. With my hands I stretched out the heavens. All the stars are at my command. I will raise up Cyrus to fulfill my righteous purpose, and I will guide his actions. He will restore my city and free my captive people— without seeking a reward! I, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!” -- 45:9-13

Asking, "Why" is always going to frustrate us. And here I would again caution us. It's easy to read these and think, "Wow God doesn't like us asking questions. JR. just said it was okay to question and doubt and be sad, but here it sure sounds like God calls that attitude faithless."

Rather, I would point at the metaphor - clay doesn't know how to be pottery on its own. Clay only knows how to be clay. If it were up to the clay, it would never reach its potential as beautiful sculpture or vessels. Babies are similar - they're not known for the philosophical treatises on life's deep meaning they publish. For a newborn, the meaning of life is food and sleep. How could a mother or father possibly explain to their newborn the why of their existence?

So too, the prophet asks us to imagine God with us. God is at work all around us, continuing to invite the world to flourish, continuing to invite us to join in.

But we're not God. We're creatures, not the creator. Why won't God just tell us what's going on? The prophet says: how could we possibly understand God's work? God is so far beyond us!

Which is an invitation to faith. We trust God is at work. And we look for how we can join in.

Turn with me to Mark 4. This is one of the more famous stories about Jesus, and I want to revisit it as an example of this kind of faithfulness we're called to. One of the big features of Mark's gospel is what scholars call the "Messianic Secret". Basically Jesus keeps telling people not to tell anyone he's the Messiah. And the disciples really struggle throughout the whole Gospel to get Jesus (which hopefully makes you think of Isaiah's clay and newborns thing). This is still pretty early in Jesus' ministry, and it's the first "big" miracle they're seeing. So far, it's been healings and preaching - neither of which was unusual for rabbis in Jesus' day. And as far as Jesus' disciples knew, that's what he was - a new rabbi who was maybe a better preacher than most.

But remember in the last few weeks when we talked about creation as battle against chaos? And how in other cultures like Babylon and Canaan, chaos is embodied in a giant sea dragon? Well, the 'big' miracle here is Jesus showing control over the seas. He essentially acts out the creation story in Genesis 1, inviting the storms to stop. Unlike healing and preaching, this is not something rabbis were known for. This was something only God was known for. So you can watch them, in this story, struggle to wrap their brains around this wholly new and unprecedented thing they're experiencing:

As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s cross to the other side of the lake.” So they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind (although other boats followed). But soon a fierce storm came up. High waves were breaking into the boat, and it began to fill with water.

Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. The disciples woke him up, shouting, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown?”

When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Silence! Be still!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm. Then he asked them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

The disciples were absolutely terrified. “Who is this man?” they asked each other. “Even the wind and waves obey him!” -- Mark 4:35-41

For us with 2,000 years of knowing Jesus = God, we're like, "What's the problem with these guys?" But God-as-human was a completely new concept for them. David, the great king and ancestor of the Messiah was just a human. Cyrus the Great, the first guy to be called a Messiah, who allowed God's people to return and rebuild, was just a human. And the disciples thought Jesus was just another pretty great human like David and Cyrus. Until he woke up, demonstrated his mastery over the waters of chaos, and then rebuked them for not having faith.

I feel for the disciples here because I know how it feels to be in the middle of a storm and forget who's in the boat with me. To see those waves, feel the winds and be sure that this is what sinks me.

That's very much how I felt in those months leading up to our wedding. I had a whole vision of our life together - we would continue to pastor and work together, surrounded by friends and church family we'd spent six years cultivating. And suddenly, that was all gone.

What were we supposed to do? We spent several months in uncertainty, feeling those waves and wind. But during that time, we weren't doing nothing. We didn't shrug and say, "God's in control." We had long conversations about our future, and we decided we'd try to find a church somewhere outside of our city. And we did - we ended up at a wonderful church in Dayton, OH - the church through which we would get connected to Catalyst some years later.

We chose to do what we knew was right in the next moment. We had no idea then that God would lead us to Texas, to pastor the best church. We had no idea that we would even land in Ohio. We just knew that God was still calling us to be faithful, to do the next thing that seemed right.

And trust - trust that God was still at work, that we couldn't understand what God was up to and that we didn't have to. God doesn't require understanding. God invites trust.

So as we turn to respond today, Catalyst, I want to invite you to reflect on your faith. Do you trust that God is still at work during this pandemic?

It's okay if you say, I have no idea what that looks like. Do you trust?

Do you trust that God is still at work during this new political season? It's okay if you don't know exactly what that looks like. Do you trust?

Do you trust God is still at work in your life, right now?

It's okay if you have no idea what that looks like. Do you trust?

If we can say that we trust, or even that we want to trust, then how will we respond? What is the next thing that seems right for us to do to be faithful? Where does the world need some joy? How can we make peace? Is this an opportunity to be kind or generous?

Faithfulness can be internal, too. How many of us, in times of stress or crisis turn to coping behaviors? Is this a time for that fruit of self-control? A time to sit with those things we're feeling so we can take them to God in prayer, rather than numb, medicate or avoid?

How do we respond in faith?

Communion + Examen

[Communion Slide] Our first response is to join Jesus at his table.

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Assignment + Blessing

Silence + Examen