The River of Life

(texts: Isaiah 43:15-21 and I Corinthians 12:1-8)

 

Two young newlyweds were preparing to enjoy their first baked ham dinner in their new apartment. After unwrapping the meat and setting it on the cutting board, the wife chopped off both ends of the ham with a butcher knife, tossing the two small ends in the garbage can.

“Wait a minute,” said the mystified husband. “Why did you do that? Why did you just cut off the ends of the ham like that?”

“I don’t know. My mother always did,” answered the wife. “Maybe it helps bring out the flavor.”

Unsatisfied with this answer, the husband called his mother-in-law. “Can you tell me why you cut the two ends off of a ham before you cook it?”

“Well,” said the mother, “I’m not really sure why. That’s just the way my mother did it, and it was always delicious.”

As soon as he hung up he called his wife’s grandmother. “Grandma, we have an important question for you. Can you tell us why you cut the ends off of a ham before you cook it?”

“Oh my yes, dear,” answered Grandma in her quiet thin voice. “I cut off the ends of the ham because my baking pan was too small.”

            Do you know why you do the things that you do?  Do you know why you cut off the ends of your ham?  Our traditions, our habits and our assumptions shape our lives, but it’s important to know where they come from and why we do them. Otherwise they become stale and meaningless and our lives become stale and meaningless.  We become prisoners of our own making allowing the memory of our past to dull our alertness to our present reality and forfeiting the future God has set in motion.

The prophet Isaiah was concerned about the current reality of the Israelites living in exile in Babylon.  It is a message of salvation and freedom from Babylonian captivity; a message that recalls for them the traditional, central story of Moses and the Exodus.  Isaiah’s intention is to remind the Israelites about their traditions and background to demonstrate that their God is the God of history; just as God was with their ancestors in Egypt, so God is with them in the present time.  I’m sure hearing Isaiah say, “a way in the sea” and “a path through the mighty waters”, “chariot and horse, army and warrior” would be familiar enough to bring comfort and assurance to God’s people who live in a hostile world filled with unknown traditions, gods, customs and rulers.  The Israelites are dwelling in the past, talking about the good old days, reminiscing about the old times telling the stories of their past.

            It is easy to get caught up in the nostalgia of the good old days.  The days when life was simpler, less violent, moving at a slower pace, and less stressful.  I was reminiscing recently about the old time bakeries with the huge trays of cookies and donuts and cakes and loaves of bread behind the tall, glass counter.  I’m talking about places like Darryl’s in Glenside, The Dublin Bakery, and Weinrich’s in Willow Grove.  My dad would go out on Saturday morning to bring home fresh donuts for us to eat while watching our Saturday morning cartoons.  I’m glad some of these places are still around.

Or how about when we reminisce about the days when our church had three thousand members on the rolls, the days when there were over sixty students in the confirmation class in any given year, and the days when the youth fellowship groups numbered in the hundreds.  These are the days we nostalgically remember with fondness and affection.

They are the memories of the past that lead us to say, “I wish we could go back to the way things were”.  We want to retreat from the hostile unknowns of our world to the comforts of what is familiar and well-known.

            There is nothing wrong with this, especially if we are in need of spiritual renewal and healing.  But if we allow this to become a habit of our heart and mind, if we allow nostalgic flashbacks to become the way we cope with the current world on a permanent basis, then it’s nothing more than spiritual escapism.  We start living in the past ignoring our God-given vocation of service to God in present day.

            This is what Isaiah means when he says, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.”?  He’s saying to the Israelites keep alive the Exodus story as the core and basis of the history as God’s people, but don’t dwell so much on it that you withdraw from the present day.  God wants the Israelites to remember how their God delivered their ancestors from bondage in Egypt in order to authenticate and endorse God’s current activity in Babylon so they will see and know the unwavering faithfulness of the God of history; that the Israelites see that the images of the Exodus allude to the unfolding events taking place in Babylon during the Exile.  God is about to do a new thing, a New Exodus through the wilderness with rivers of life in the desert “to give drink to my chosen people”.(Isa. 43:20)  It is an exodus from Babylonian captivity.

            This holds true for us in the church.  The Bible shows us how the God who created the world and every living thing is the God of history actively participating in our present day.

            So we are not to dwell upon the former things or remember the days of old.  By doing so, we run the risk of transforming past events into timeless legend that distract us from exploring the “new things” God is doing today.  The words of the prophet, “I am about to do a new thing” is the poignant call for every believer to wake up and embrace ones faith.  This is a challenge to use our intelligence and imagination to discern how God is at work in worldly political events. 

            Because right now the world looks like a big mess; with the global economy on the mend but far from healthy; with the war on terrorism being fought in Afghanistan and Iraq and wherever it rears its ugly head; with widespread hunger, war and disease, including HIV/AIDS ravaging the African continent; and with natural disasters that kill hundreds of thousands of people like the massive earthquake in Haiti this past week.  It’s all too easy, in times of difficulty and distress, to throw up our hands saying it’s too much to handle.  It’s all too easy to be lulled into a spirit of lethargy and laziness focusing solely on our own little place in this world.  It’s all too easy to let ourselves be held captive by our fears and suspicions, by anxiety and nervousness.

I believe there is a New Exodus taking shape on the horizon.  We must be open to the possibility of change and receptive to the opportunity to new beginnings.  We must not give into apathy and indifference.  We must not surrender to pessimism and cynicism so prevalent in our current day.  We must not be lulled and distracted by the comforts of the familiar at the expense of the new thing God is doing in the present day.  We need to be on high alert to witness the hand of God at work all around us and in our church that will free us from bondage to sin, heal the sick and the dying, and restore to wholeness those things that are broken.

            There is a New Exodus coming where God will make a way where this is no way; where God will bring the river of life to desolate places; where God will bring new life where this is no life: old becomes new, the dead come to life, fear becomes faith, doubt becomes courage.  The Apostle Paul teaches us that each of us have been given spiritual gifts by the Holy Spirit for the common good for our present day as well as for the new day that is coming.

May you be become a spiritual beacon of light that stands tall in the crowd of despair. 

May you cherish the memories of the past but live in the present, the here and now, knowing why you cut off the ends of the ham before putting it in the pan. 

And may you discern your spiritual gifts and use them to serve the world as we await the New Exodus from the God of history: past, present and future.

(A sermon preached by the Reverend Scott D. Nowack on January 17, 2009 

at Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania.)