No. 38. >> Isaiah 43 speaks strongly about the hope of the future. In fact, 43:16 through 21 is a reading for the Fifth Sunday of Lent. How does Isaiah's hope for the future speak also to the modern people of God? >>DR. DANIEL L. GARD: Let's take a look at Isaiah 43:16 through 21. Again, permit me to read that text and follow along in your Bibles with me. This is what the Lord says: He who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reenforcements together. And they lay there never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick. Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. The wild animals honor me. And jackals -- the jackals and the owls because I provide water in the desert. And streams in the wasteland. To give drink to my people, my chosen. The people I formed for myself. That they may proclaim my praise. That's Isaiah speaking for the Lord. In fact, introducing this with that very familiar prophetic introduction: This is what the Lord says. We find this not only in Isaiah but the other prophets, as well. And when that's said, it reminds us, especially in an emphatic way, that these words are finally not the words of the prophet. But the words of God. And it's important to preachers always because it's kind of a principle there that when you preach from the Word of God, can you say to those who hear that sermon that day that: This is what the Lord says. And I would simply urge you as a fellow preacher that if you can't make that statement, that this is what the Lord says, then perhaps you might want to delete that particular part of your sermon. I'll spend many happy days with any of you, hours, perhaps even over a cold Lutheran beverage, in talking about different things and hearing your opinion. But when you preach, I want to hear what God says. And your people need to hear what God says. And interestingly, here we have an example of Isaiah, the great prophet, now speaking and reminding the people that what he's about to say isn't his. And they are not to hear it as if it were Isaiah. But rather, this is what the Lord says. And you notice how Isaiah directs them back to God's ancient deeds of the past. By talking about the exodus. Events that had happened to their ancestors. And God's great salvation as they passed through the sea. And the chariots and the horses that followed were drowned. That God had been there. And he had protected them. The concept of time, past, present and future, is one that we must all deal with in some fashion. For some, time is a frightening thing. The past with its failures and guilt can weigh pretty heavily on us. The future seems so uncontrollable. And in fact, is uncontrollable. In fact, unknown to us. It's an unknown entity. And sometimes the future seems immensely difficult to comprehend. In the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, however, that one of whom Isaiah speaks, both the past and the future take on different images. The past for the Christian is one that's under the blood of Christ. The future is in the hands of one who controls the days to come. In that way, ancient Israel and modern Israel, the church, are freed from the bonds of the past. Given an opportunity to live in the present because we know that the future belongs to God. So often as Isaiah knew, Israel wanted to live in the past. Isaiah spoke to people who were in real danger. Their infidelity to God, their relegating him to a secondary place in their lives, all of that endangered the very lives they thought they were protecting. Looking into future, Isaiah told the people that their cruelness towards God would result in some pretty terrible problems. The message was one of that future captivity. And in fact, the destruction of their nation. Now, that presented a real problem for those who heard Isaiah. Had not God acted mightly for them in their past? Were they not his people, his chosen ones? Their preference was probably, as I think mine would have been, to hear the mighty acts of God in the past. And to ignore the present infidelity and its future repercussions. Isaiah had to speak to people in this mindset. And warn them not to dwell on the past. The condition of Israel really does speak to the universal condition of God's people. It's tempting to live in that past, as well. We want to hear only the great truth of the past. Sin is forgiven. What God has done for us in the past. We don't always want to hear about our present challenge by God's presence, and a future that's known only to him. That danger is magnified in the Christian congregation. We can remember God's blessings of the past. We remember his faithfulness to past generations based on God's Word and sacrament. And we're pretty comfortable with relying on that. We don't always want to deal with our own current responsibility for our relationship to God. And our failure to live up to that -- and what our failure to live up to that responsibility will have in the future for us. We like the past. And really don't want or at least don't seem to want God to be too involved himself in our very comfortable present. Lutherans I think are particularly subject to that come October 31st each year in our great Reformation celebrations. Important to have, yes. Something not to be forgotten, true. But by focusing only on the past, we lose the present and the future. Isaiah comes to people who wanted to focus on the past. Even looking back to those great salvific moments of God's involvement at the exodus and many other times in the history of Israel where God had reached into history to save his people. And it's to people like us that Isaiah's message is delivered. He recalled God's great deliverance of Israel. In fact, in that exodus from Egyptian bondage. Yet, he says something. He says: Forget the former things. Do not dwell on the past. Learn from the past, yes. But don't let it override your sense of the present. You know, Jesus also spoke of this, didn't he? Why worry about tomorrow? You can't change tomorrow. Why look at the past and fret about the past? It's gone. You don't have the past. You've left that behind. You don't have the future. Only God does. What God gives you is each present moment. And it's this moment in which he calls us to live. It's this moment that Isaiah called Israel to live. And in living in that moment to understand that even though the future is cloudy and mysterious to us because we're human and fallen and we can't see beyond the present moment, yet it's all known to God. And that God now speaks to them of that future. And they are called to look to the future. And to see what God will do. For Israel this meant that they would be led into captivity. Once again. And this because of their sin. Yet, the time -- spend time in a far away land called Babylon. And yet, God will hear their cries of repentance. And will have mercy and deliver them. The future is exciting not only because we cannot always foresee it. But also because we know just as Israel was to have known that God will be there with us and for us. Should we then dwell on the past? We should remember it. We said that before. We must remember are, in fact, what God has done for us. Each year the church faces a week called Holy Week. A week in which we concentrate on remembering the historical past. Especially God's tremendous act in Christ on our behalf. During that week, we remember the suffering and death of Jesus. Of God becoming the sacrifice for us. We remember his coming to us in our lives through Word and sacrament. And for that, we're grateful. But we also examine our present lives. And in examining find them wanting. And this is what Isaiah wanted Judah to do. Yeah, not to forget the past. But to look at where they were at at that moment. We remember that God is always doing something new for us. Just as he delivered Israel from bondage, so he continues to deliver his Christian Church. He daily makes us new creatures in Christ. Forgiving us richly daily of our sins and daily granting us eternal life. The days to come belong to him. We don't need to fear them. God who always keeps his promises will be there to grant us new life. He will always be there to make himself known to us. So while this is always true that we can't redo the past, although how often we would like to do that, it's also true that we don't control the future. But we do have this present moment. And this present moment is made bearable in all things, even in the worst present moment in which one might go through, because we have the promise of God's own future. We have his promise that we found in that great Easter message again: That though this life lead us to a grave, yet, that is not the end. One has been to that grave. And has emerged from it alive. And those who belong to him by baptism also emerge alive. That's his future.