Spiritual guides nowadays tell us to live in the present
moment;
but each
moment contains both memory and anticipation.
Each moment is a thin slice of time
set between a past and a
future.
What happened yesterday shapes today’s experience;
Our past can be a blessing or a curse.
It’s hard not to get stuck in memories.
Good memories capture us in nostalgia,
longing for a
past that can never be recovered
precisely
because it is the past.
We refuse to move on into the future because we know
it could
never be as good as the good old days.
Bad memories capture us in despair.
We identify with our old wounds.
I am the one who suffered this or suffered that.
There is a sticky quality to old wounds
that traps us
like flypaper.
The power of the past over the present depends
entirely on
what we think of the future.
We live each moment with an expectation.
The natural human condition is to be expectant,
to scan the
horizon.
We are all always watching for something.
But we rarely watch neutrally.
We watch with preformed expectations.
We live in dread or hope, faith or fear.
Nothing is more fundamental to our way of being in the
world
than
our attitude toward the future.
God uses prophesy is put a thumb on the s scale
In favor of hope.
God breaks up the stony soil of pessimism
with the plow
of a promise.
Judah had endured a long, hard time.
For decades, they had been in exile,
writing songs
of lament.
By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
as we remembered Zion.
Before they were vanquished by Babylon,
Judah was
occupied by Assyria.
Before that they had been a vassal state of Egypt.
Before that they had been besieged by Aram.
No living Jew could remember peace and prosperity.
Their plight raises a question for us:
is it
possible to hope for something we cannot remember?
Is it possible to anticipate something
we have not experienced yet?
I often ask churches, “what are you hoping for?”
Is it possible to hope for something we cannot remember?
For humans, probably not.
But with God all things are possible.
Judah could not even remember happiness,
but God spoke
to his prophet, Isaiah, saying,
Comfort, O comfort my people . . ..
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and cry to her
that she has served her term
that her penalty is paid.
Can you hear God saying that to you?
Can you see the old habitual sorrows of your life
as a time of
exile, and hear God say
You have served your term; it’s over?
The Jewish exiles had lost a lot – the temple, homes,
families.
We all lose what is dear to us.
Then we live in the loss; abide in the sorrow.
Isaiah acknowledges the loss, but then reminds us
there is something we have not lost and can
never lose.
He writes,
All
people are grass . . ..
The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand
forever.
The word of our God that stands forever is good news.
It is gospel. The Bible says:
Get up to a high mountain O Zion,
herald
of good tidings.
Lift
up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem,
herald
of good tidings.
Herald
of good tidings.
Can you imagine not only hearing God’s promise
that you will
be peaceful and at ease,
that you will
be happy
– but can you imagine that you not only hear
that good
news for yourself;
but that you
are, this day, appointed as God’s messenger
to
tell God’s good news to other people.
Whatever your identity has been up to now,
you have a new
one – herald of good tidings –
tidings beyond anything we have experienced
This good news is beyond the capacity of human language
to
express directly.
So, Isaiah uses metaphors:
Say to the cities of Judah, here is your God
. . ..
He will feed his flock like a shepherd.
He will carry the lambs in his arms
and carry them in his bosom
and gently lead the mother
sheep.
Can you imagine living in expectation
of a serene
joy that you have never felt before?
If you can, then you will experience right now
a hope you
have never felt before.
Even in the midst of the trials and hardships of today,
you will
carry in your heart a warm ember of consolation
already
glowing.
The quality of this present moment will be transformed by hope.
I invite you each to hear this promise for you personally.
It’s from another prophet speaking in a hard, dark time.
Jeremiah delivered this message from God:
I know the plans I have for you;
plans to prosper you and not harm you,
plans to give you a hope and a future.
God promises to do a new thing in you,
to make
Christ more real to you.
Jesus is going to play a larger part in each of your days
than ever before.
I invite you to hear that promise also for this
congregation.
In Christian spirituality, the transformation of the
individual
and the
transformation of the community
are
intimately connected.
You cannot change without changing those around you
and if this
congregation changes it will change you.
So, I invite you to imagine,
that Trinity
will matter to you in a larger way;
and that this
congregation will do in Reno
what
no congregation has done before
–that this congregation will become a center of spiritual
renewal;
that you will
be a herald of good tidings
for
the lost children on our streets,
the
faltering schools of our community,
a herald of good tidings for social
transformation,
for
art, culture, and justice in the public square.
If you live in that hope, you will invest in it.
You will prepare the way for your own transformation
though disciplines
of prayer, study, and service.
You will, at the same time, prepare for the transformation
of this congregation.
You will support it now with your labor, your money,
and your prayers.
You are on the brink of becoming something new
– not just a
gathering place for mutual support
but
a herald of good tidings for all
people.
With this promise, comes a challenge
– to invest
the labor, the money, and the prayer
to
make room for miracle.
The Lord said to those who were to receive his promise.
In the wilderness prepare the way of the
Lord.
Make straight in the desert –
this desert
--a highway for our
God.
Every valley shall be lifted up . . .
Then the glory of the Lord shall appear
and all the people shall see
it together
for the mouth of the Lord has
spoken.
