Decisions, Decisions

Isaiah 43:1-7
Rev. Drew Henry
January 7 2007

 

Our second reading today brings us powerful words from the prophet Isaiah. These are words of promise and commitment to God’s people that we heard echoed in the words from heaven spoken to Jesus at his baptism. As you listen to this reading, I invite you to listen to the verbs – listen to what God has done, is doing now and will continue to do in the future. Notice how you and we are spoken to directly here, and pay attention to how God defines God’s own self in relation to God’s people. I will be reading today from Eugene Peterson’s translation of Scripture, The Message.

 

But now, God’s Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob, the One who got you started, Israel: “Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end – because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you: all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That’s how much you mean to me! That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you. So don’t be afraid: I’m with you. I’ll round up all your scattered children, pull them in from east and west. I’ll send orders north and south: ‘Send them back. Return my sons from distant lands, my daughters from faraway places. I want them back, every last one who bears my name, every man, woman and child whom I created for my glory, yes, personally formed and made each one.’”

(Isaiah 43:1-7 – The Message)

 

As we begin a New Year together, I can think of no words more powerful than these to communicate the assurance of God’s guiding presence with us.  This time of year is a time when we look back at the year that has past and look forward to the year ahead of us. Most of us make promises – whether in the form of resolutions or not – about things we would like to do or be in the New Year.

For a just few moments I want to invite you to free yourself from the weight of making any promises of your own. I invite you instead to listen to and savor the promises that God has already made. Whether your life right now allows you to fully lean into and believe these promises, know that the One “who made you in the first place, the One who got you started” keeps his promises.

“Don’t be afraid, I have redeemed you, I have called your name. You are mine...I will be there for you…I am God, your personal God…your Savior. I paid a huge price for you… That’s how much you mean to me! That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you. So don’t be afraid: I’m with you.”

These are the very same promises that we celebrate in baptism. These are the very same promises we celebrate each week in our assurance of pardon. These are the promises that make us who we are as Christians. First and foremost it’s not so much about what we do. It is about what God is doing. I guess that’s one of my hang-ups with New Year’s resolutions. It’s seems to always be about us deciding what we can do or what we are going to do in the coming year.

How about let’s try focusing on what God is doing. How can we be more attentive to and acknowledge how God is already engaged and active in our lives and in our world?

You know there is kind of a trick question that runs rampant in our part of the world. It takes on many different forms. “Got God?” “Have you invited Jesus into your life?” “What are you doing to get good with God?” The problem here is that these kind of questions presume that our decisions actually hold the power to bring God into or keep God out of our lives. Yet that power is not our own. It is only God’s.

When I hear these words from Isaiah, I am reminded that God is the One who got us going, the One who personally formed and shaped each one of us. I hear God saying to us, “I am there with you no matter what. I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called you by name. You’re mine.”

It seems to me as we begin this New Year, given this God-infused reality, that our only decision is to live into this wonderful Truth. To let the abundant grace and love of this God rain down upon us. To remember, especially when it is hard to, that God is with us at all times. When we’re in over our heads, when we’re in rough waters, when we’re between a rock and a hard place, it doesn’t matter. God is there!

Today we are going to celebrate and give thanks to God for almost 22 years of faithful service that Shirley Narkates has given to this church as its secretary. Many of you have come to love Shirley, just as I have. For the past four years I’ve had the joy of working right across the hall from Shirley, and we’ve come to share a mutual respect and care for each other.

I’ve heard Shirley say any number of times that what she most values about being a part of this church is the spiritual depth you as a congregation have given to her life. Shirley calls them “layers.” You’ve taught her many things about God and Christian community, and over the years many of us have also learned significant things from Shirley about our own spiritual lives.

As I’ve watched Shirley over the past weeks “clean out her nest”, I’ve also watched an excitement build within her about what new things God may have in store for her life from this point forward. I think that’s an appropriate attitude for all of us to take into this New Year. While many of us may not have the joy of retiring, we too can look with anticipation to what new things is God is going to do in our lives this year – in our lives as individuals, as families, as a church, as a city, as a nation and as a world.

So free yourself for a moment today from having to make so many decisions. Take these words from Isaiah as a New Year’s gift to you (43:1-7). Read them often. Realize and give thanks that God has already made the decision to be with and for us. God has shaped and formed us from the very beginning, and God continues to shape and form us even now. How does that knowledge shape the decisions with which you are faced in your own life?

 “Don’t be afraid…God has called your name…God is there with you…God paid a huge price for you…That’s how much you mean to God! That’s how much God loves you! So don’t be afraid: God is with you!” This, my friends, is the Good News. With this knowledge and truth, go out into the world and spread the Word.

To God be the glory.

Alleluia and Amen.