Something New

By Rev. Heidi L. Barham |  April 6, 2025

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Read Isaiah 43:16 – 21 (NIV)
 
It was back in the early 1960s that the Regional Church Planning Office of Cleveland made the recommendation that a Protestant church should be established in Russell Township. And in late 1964, Emerson Alexander contacted the Ohio Society of Christian Churches about starting a Disciples of Church congregation in this area… and that was the start of SOMETHING NEW back then which is now known as Ledgewood Christian Church.
 
And if we fast forward just a little bit to today... this is our opportunity to mark the 60th anniversary of the first service that was held on April 4, 1965.
 
Back in April of 1965, the church met in the gym at Westwood Elementary School on Caves Road. But it would just be a little over three years later, in September 1967, that SOMETHING NEW would happen with the groundbreaking for the church building that you are sitting in today.  And this is where services have been held since July 1968.
 
Now, as we consider the text this morning from the book of Isaiah, I want to invite us to take a few moments to consider if, 60 years later, there is SOMETHING NEW that we are being called to do as Ledgewood Christian Church.
 
As I was preparing for the sermon this morning, I looked at the commentary found in the Life Application Study Bible for this passage from Isaiah.  And the editor’s note there reads as follows:

This section pictures a new exodus for a people once again oppressed, as the Israelites had been as slaves in Egypt before the exodus.  They would cry to God, and again he would hear and deliver them.  A new exodus would take place through a new desert.  The past miracles were nothing compared to what God would do for his people in the future (LASB, 2005, p 1146).

I particularly like that last sentence, “The past miracles were nothing compared to what God would do for his people in the future.”
 
And that is the message of hope that I want us to hold on to today... We have been through hard times before but the same God who brought us through then has promised to bring us through again... and these words from the Prophet Isaiah encourage us that what God has done for us in the past is nothing compared to what He will do for us in the future. 
 
Now, it is no secret that we are living in times of uncertainty... and that uncertainty is exacerbated by the chaos and confusion we read about and see on the news on a daily basis. Whether it is the drastic drops in the stock market, the massive terminations of federal employees, the deportation of individuals without due process, or the defunding of programs that have been lifelines for millions of people across this country... there is an awful lot that can lead to any or all of us being filled with fear, dread, and anxiety.
 
But today, we can be encouraged that God can and will do SOMETHING NEW for us... just as He did for the Israelites way back then... and that SOMETHING NEW will be even better than anything we can ask or imagine.
 
What makes you say that, Pastor Heidi?  Well... I am glad you asked. 
 
Indulge me and listen to our text again... this time as it appears in the Message Paraphrase:

This is what God says, the God who builds a road right through the ocean, who carves a path through pounding waves, The God who summons horses and chariots and armies— they lie down and then can’t get up; they’re snuffed out like so many candles: “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history.  Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?  There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.  Wild animals will say ‘Thank you!’ —the coyotes and the buzzards— Because I provided water in the desert, rivers through the sunbaked earth, Drinking water for the people I chose, the people I made especially for myself, a people custom-made to praise me.

Isaiah was letting the children of Israel know that God was about to do something so amazing that even the coyotes and the buzzards would have to say, “Thank you, Lord!”
 
Now as you may recall from the sermon a couple of weeks ago, the book of Isaiah is structured similarly to the Bible with the first 39 chapters carrying a message of judgment for sin, like the 39 books of the Old Testament... and the remaining 27 chapters bringing a message of forgiveness, comfort and hope in the Messiah, like the 27 books of the New Testament.
 
And this passage that calls for our attention today from chapter 43 of the book of Isaiah does indeed bring a message of hope... reminding the Israelites that God has made a way out of no way before and rescued them in the past... and God has promised to do so in the future.
 
In fact, in the New Century Version of the Bible, this passage comes under the heading, “God Will Save His People Again.”
 
Now as we read this text, it is helpful to keep in mind that the prophet Isaiah was speaking on behalf of God... who after reminding the Israelites about what happened during the exodus... then told them to forget about all that.
 
But aren’t we supposed to remember our history so that we aren’t doomed to repeat it?  Aren’t we supposed to rise up against the efforts to delete history from libraries, textbooks, and websites? 
 
Why in the world would the Scripture say to “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history.”
 
Let me suggest that what the Scriptures are calling us to do is to refrain from getting so stuck and mired in the past that we miss the fact that God is getting ready to do SOMETHING NEW.
 
For all that God has brought us through in the past... wars and conflicts... depressions and recessions... trials and tribulations... heartaches and hardships... God can and will make a way to bring us through yet again. 
 
The reality is that none of what we are seeing play out in real time today has caught God by surprise.
 
It reminds me of what we read in Ecclesiastes, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”  
 
Sure, there are some changes that have taken place in the ways some things may operate or function... but underneath it all... there is really nothing new that we are doing that is remotely shocking to God.
 
When we think about how fear and jealousy can cause people to inflict hurt and harm upon other people... we need look no further than the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, where we find the story of Cain murdering his brother, Abel, after God finds Abel’s sacrifice more acceptable than Cain’s.  Or 2 Samuel where we find the story of David and Bathsheba.  A story with a twisted plotline that has David sending Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah the Hittite, out to the frontlines to be killed... just so David can claim Bathsheba as his own wife (see 2 Samuel 11).
 
When we consider how rulers have taken advantage of and asserted undue influence over the people... we can find several examples within the books of the Old Testament like Saul, Ahab, and Nebuchadnezzar... along with Herod, Pilate, and Caiaphas in the New Testament... and we cannot forget how Jesus denounced the Pharisees and the Sadducees even calling them “a brood of vipers...” (see Matthew 3:7, 12:34, 23:33.
 
And when we think about what it means to mistreat strangers, neglect the needs of those who are less fortunate, and ignore the command to love our neighbors... well... Jesus had a LOT to say about that throughout the Gospels... and Paul and James added their own commentary about that as well.
 
But do not despair.  Although the writer of Ecclesiastes might have joined with Katherine and Bing Crosby in singing the song, “Everything old is new again...” we have a God who specializes in doing SOMETHING NEW for His beloved children.
 
First and foremost, by giving us His Son as our Savior, God has wiped our slates clean and given us a brand-new lease on life.  As Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”
 
Now, I want to invite us to listen to that verse in its broader context ... looking at the expanded passage, 2 Corinthians 5:16 – 21, as it found in the Message Paraphrase where we read:

Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.  How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.

These are some powerful words that I truly believe speak to us just as much today as they did to the Corinthians back then...
 
God is calling us to settle our relationships with each other... and to drop our differences and enter into God’s way of making things right between us...
 
And for those who may be wondering how that is even possible... in the words of Jesus, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).
 
In this moment, God is calling us, both individually and collectively, to do what might feel like SOMETHING NEW... and that is to see one another the way that God sees us...
 
Not as us and them... not as insiders and outsiders... not as the haves and the have nots... not even as left and right, Republicans and Democrats or Libertarians and Independents... but as beloved children of God... children that God loves so much that willingly gave His Son to be our Savior (see John 3:16) ... children that Jesus loves so much that He was willing to lay down His life for us (see John 15:13) ...children that are loved so much just like the Prodigal Son that the Loving Father waits to welcome home.
 
The words from Isaiah point us to the hope and promise that we have in the Messiah... the One who calls us softly and tenderly to SOMETHING NEW... to what the Apostle John describes in Revelation 21, where we read:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”   He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

So today, as we remember and celebrate our 60 years here as Ledgewood Christian Church... we can rest in the blessed assurance that the Lord really is doing SOMETHING NEW...
 
Amen.
 
Hymn of Discipleship: Softly and Tenderly #340
 

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