Thus says the Lord,  who makes a way in the sea,  a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse,  army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise,  they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? (Isaiah 43:16-19)

The Lord says, “I am doing a new thing”.  This has been the most remarkable thing about our G-d throughout history – G-d has always looked to do the “new” and the “unexpected”. G-d used the flood to wash away the old, and give Noah and his family a new lease on life. G-d used slavery for the Israelites to achieve freedom. G-d called murderers (like Moses) and adulterers (like David) and double-crossers (like Joseph’s brothers) to be leaders and models for our living today. G-d allowed the Temple to be destroyed and the people to be taken into captivity so that they could return and make things new.

Why do we try to hold on to the old so much that we squeeze the living life out of it which distracts us from the new? This has been the battle within the church for a millennia. We do not want things to change, yet the mantra that G-d told the people from the beginning was that nothing remains the same – things are always changing.

If we look just at our worship experience in the Lutheran church, we must accept the truth that there have been multiple changes — some very subtle, and others rather jarring. And yet, with this truth right in front of us, many in the Lutheran church want to keep what we do in worship the same — and will go to their deathbeds trying to hold onto the old and stop the possibility of any and all new things. And yet, just like hair styles have changed, so has our responses to G-d’s love, mercy and Grace. 

If the pandemic has taught us one thing it is this: change is either going to come slowly, or it will try to knock us over – but change is coming. So, we should get used to change – some for the better and some for the worse. G-d is doing a new thing in your life and the life of the church — and sometimes we just need to hang on for the ride.

Pastor Dave