Renewal or Novelty: a sermon (Isaiah 43:16–21)

I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

You know, I’m sure that many – if not most – of you really began to groan inwardly when I quoted that verse from the book of Isaiah: 

I am about to do a new thing … do you not perceive it?

And I’m also sure that many of those who were groaning inwardly were very close to groaning outwardly as well.  For you see, in many churches, any reference to “do[ing] a new thing” frequently leads to a suggestion of adopting some sort of novelty or gimmick in worship, those things that, in recent years, have been called “fresh expressions”. 

For many worshippers today, if not most, these novelties, gimmicks, and “fresh expressions” frequently lead to a feeling that the church’s worship has become that much less sacred, … that much less holy, … that much less worshipful, … that much less special.

Thus, the “fresh expressions” that have become part of worship in so many churches have led to a sense of “novelty fatigue” on the part of many worshippers today, if not most. 

So when we hear:

I am about to do a new thing … do you not perceive it?

many of us think,

Here we go again.  What are they going to ask us to do now?  We’ve done “family services”.  We’ve done “Hillsong”.  We’ve done “café services”.  What now?  Can’t we just do “church”?  Can’t we just do “normal church”?

And yet we still hear:

I am about to do a new thing … do you not perceive it?

And, let me say, I believe this statement from scripture has nothing to do with the worship gimmicks that have been the source of conflict, contention, and strife in congregation after congregation.  This quote has nothing to do with the worship novelties that have led many people of deep Christian faith to decide nevertheless that Sunday morning is a far better time for sleeping in, playing golf, or taking their kids to netball than it is for attending church.

I am about to do a new thing …do you not perceive it?

This is much less about “fresh expressions” in our worship than it is about the on-going renewal of our faith.  I know that most of us approach worship that is “normal” with great joy, and (as well) many of us approach the various “fresh expressions” with a sense of grim duty.  (And I willingly include myself in that description.)  Still, this statement is as relevant for us as it is for the trendy congregations that always seek to be first with the latest “fresh expressions”.

I am about to do a new thing … do you not perceive it?

This statement isn’t really about “fresh expressions” or gimmicks.  It is about an authentic renewal of our faith.  I believe this statement is about our commitment to continually renew our thinking about our faith, and to be up-front with our neighbours about the way our faith is being renewed. 

In this regard, I believe that there are some things that worshipping Christians today need to say to our neighbours about the way our beliefs have evolved, things that most of us have heard from the pulpit for years, but which many members of the broader public have no idea about.

For example, we’ve heard for years that there are better ways to interpret the Bible than in a strictly literal way.  We can take the Bible seriously without taking all of it literally.  To give one particular example, mainstream Christians today (particularly those of us whose label says “Uniting” or “Anglican” or “Catholic”) know that there is no real conflict between Christian faith and a belief in evolution.  In contrast, so many people out there in the wider community think we’re all creationists.  We need to correct that understanding.

As well, we need to be up-front about the fact that over the past fifty years or so, there’s been something going on called the Ecumenical Movement.  The prejudice that used to exist between Protestants and Catholics back in the “bad old days” now exists principally in the minds of people for whom there’s been at least a generation – if not more – since there’s been an active worshipper of any sort in their families.  We need to let our neighbours know about our new ecumenical reality (even if it’s really not so new anymore).

As well, there are other things we need to be saying to our neighbours about what we believe today:

• We need to tell our neighbours that many Christians today believe that there are far better ways to understand the crucifixion of Jesus than as a substitutionary blood sacrifice.
• We need to tell our neighbours that many Christians today believe that there are better ways to understand salvation than those understandings that lead us to think that God will condemn people to be fuel for an eternal BBQ on the basis of their beliefs.
• We need to tell our neighbours that many Christians today are actively developing far less arrogant attitudes toward Jews, Muslims, and members of other faiths.
• We need to tell our neighbours that many Christians today are also actively developing far less arrogant attitudes toward unwed mothers, unmarried couples, and same-sex couples.

You know all this stuff.  You’ve heard it from me, from previous occupants of this pulpit, and from previous occupants of other pulpits.  But many of our neighbours haven’t heard it.

And I believe it is urgent that we tell them. 

For years, mainstream churches have agonised over those who left mainstream churches to go to evangelical churches because mainstream churches were not narrow enough in our beliefs (or sufficiently “showbiz” in our worship) to suit them. 

Over that same period, the same mainstream churches did little – if anything - to address the issue of the much larger group of people who left the same mainstream churches – and went nowhere - because they believed the churches were too narrow in our beliefs.  They believed that we are far narrower than most of us really are.

Look around you.  Notice the empty seats. 

• I know some empty seats represent people who are worshipping elsewhere because they believe that we are not narrow enough in our beliefs.  (I can name some of the people.  I take personal responsibility for some of those empty seats.) 
• However, other empty seats – far more of the empty seats – I believe at least three times as many if not more - represent people who are worshipping nowhere because they believe that we are more narrow in our beliefs than we really are.  (These seats were empty well before my time.  Many were empty for decades.  I can’t name any of these names, but I’m sure that you can.)

And this situation is not anything that I – or any other minister or priest – can solve.  The people who have left churches like ourselves because they believe we are more narrow than we really are are not the sort of people who talk to clergy types like me if they can avoid it. 

It is urgent for the future of this congregation that the message gets out:  churches like ourselves are far less narrow in our beliefs now than we were even a few decades ago.  The people who need to hear this message won’t believe it from me.  They may believe it from you.

I am about to do a new thing … do you not perceive it?

This statement isn’t really about novelties, gimmicks, and “fresh expressions” in our worship.  It is about an authentic renewal of our faith.  It is about our commitment to continually renew our thinking about our faith, and to be up-front with our neighbours about the way our faith is being renewed.

I am about to do a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?