Isaiah 65:18 is a beautiful expression of something we all love ... the reset button. Last Sunday, as the panel of outlets that heat the coffee for the 1st service went out, I was hoping for that joy. Unfortunately, it didn't happen that way. The surge protector didn't have a reset button, and it took Steve Sasser's help to find the correct circuit breaker. A reset button is certainly a blessing.
In the book of Isaiah, the Hebrew people have lots of reasons for anxiety. The Northern Kingdom has been destroyed/disbursed (722 BC). The Southern kingdom will soon be in exile to the rising power of Babylon (597 or 586 BC depending on source). Bad choices, bad political alliances and just ignoring God's prophets has brought Israel to a place where they have no control except for history to play out. Isaiah warns the people, to no avail.
But, at the end of Isaiah's prophecy, God makes a statement that seems both beautiful and impossible. It is beautiful, because God's promise is that he will restore His people. It is impossible, because God uses some very specific wording to announce this joyful thing. "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight (Isaiah 65:18)." You might be saying, "If I read that right, God is 'creating' these people. How can that be?" Here's what I think!
First, we should be "glad and joyful" that we are smack in the middle of God's plan. We are the Ecclesia ... the Church ... the plan of God for the announcement of God's kingdom to the whole world. We have just joined with a rapidly-growing number of congregations that are heaven-bent on telling the world about the Good News of Jesus Christ. David Knapp thanked us Sunday for joining with Radical Life Ministries in Costa Rica as we tell people to follow Jesus and submit to God's plan spelled out in the authority of God's Word! We are doing the same as we feed school children every week (BFF), tell people that recovery is both possible and desired by God (Celebrate Recovery), show love by feeding people in our community (Reverse Advent Calendar/Food Pantry), invest in the lives of our Belize partners (Ed and Arita Lemas), and do what our new mission says ... worship passionately, love extravagantly and witness boldly. You should be joyful that God is using your church and that God wants to use you in the context of His Ecclesia.
Second, be amazed that God is not just shining up an old car that He has restored. God (it says it right here) is CREATING! "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17)." While I am satisfied with pushing the reset button, God is planning something bigger, better and beautiful ... God is creating something new. Twila Paris writes, "could it be that He is only waiting there to see, if I will learn to love the dreams, that He has dreamed for me?" "Behold, I am making all things new" Jesus says in Revelation 21:5. You can believe the negativity of the world, the anxiety of our culture, the negativity of our critical natures ... or you can believe God. I choose newness, because that is what I need to allow in my life. The joy of that little baby in the manger is that He makes us new!
Finally, do you read that God is making His people a delight?! That is the people of Israel and the people of the new Jerusalem (His Church). Are YOU part of this plan of God to change the world? Because all of this (and all of the above) is about becoming part of God's plan and leaving behind the small plans and petty dreams of the culture. Are you a delight? Are you more excited about your church than about the other things swirling around you? Is your focus on being new ... delightful ... engaged in your part of life in God's plan and God's Church? Is your engagement, passion and purposeful attention to God's plan to create you as a delight in the forefront of your mind?
God is creating something new, delightful, big, bold, good, wonderful and worthy. God's plan is a party and you are invited! In the midst of the devotion, hard work, and heavy-lifting, God promises His plan will happen. And that plan will end in forever-rejoicing, creation and a kingdom of delightful people. So ... if you don't have something more important, I am inviting you to this kingdom-party. Wanna come? Randy
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