Something new

Isaiah 42:5-9New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Thus says God, the Lord,
    who created the heavens and stretched them out,
    who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people upon it
    and spirit to those who walk in it:
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,
    I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people,
    a light to the nations,
    to open the eyes that are blind,
to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,
    from the prison those who sit in darkness.
I am the Lord, that is my name;
    my glory I give to no other,
    nor my praise to idols.
See, the former things have come to pass,
    and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
    I tell you of them.

God is always doing something new.

Let me repeat that.

God is always doing something new.

If you get nothing at all from the whole arc of Scripture, let it be that: that God is always doing something new.  God is always creating and re-creating. Renewing.

Resurrecting.

Rebuilding.

Redeeming.

Making the dead alive again.

Turning outcasts into princes.

Healing the sick.

Bringing to life the dead.

Freeing the captive.

Releasing the prisoner.

Just when we think things are comfortable.

Easy.

That we understand it.  That it makes sense. 

God will upend your plans and surprise you.

God is always doing something new.

If you can banish any sentence from your life, let it be this: "We've always done it that way."

Because God is always doing something new.

The church is changing. 

My church, your church, THE church...

It's becoming something new. 

Rejoice and be glad in that.

It means our creative, redeeming, loving Lord is causing life to spring forth where there was none before.

Lord of life, help me to be part of your creative process. Amen.