The Downtown Presbyterian Church

Sermons

Courage for a New Thing

Is 43:1-2, 18-21; Joshua 1:1-9

Rev. Kenneth M. Locke

27^th Sunday of Ordinary Time

In every life there are events that fundamentally change our self-identity, that involve letting go of one self-image and creating a new self-image. We get our drivers license, we have a baby; we get to the point we can’t drive anymore, we’re told we can never have a baby – huge events causing us to rethink who we are.

Getting married and not getting into the PhD program at Seminary were that way for me. Saying goodbye to my single days and giving up my lifelong dream of being Dr. Locke involved letting go of one self-identity and embracing another. And both times I had to grieve the loss of the old.

Even when we’re glad to see the past go, when we’re glad to embrace the new identity, we have to mourn the past. It’s the healthy thing to do.

In the life of Ancient Israel there were two events of this magnitude. There was the liberation from slavery in Egypt and entry into the Promised Land. And there was the period of exile in Babylon. These two events caused the loss of an old self-identity and formation of a new self-identity.

Who were they if they weren’t slaves? Could they handle being free? Who were they if they weren’t worshipping at the temple in Jerusalem? Could they continue worshipping God in a foreign land?

With the new identity came a period of mourning the loss of the old. They had to let go of the certainties and surety of slavery before they could enjoy the gifts of freedom. They had to let go of their dependence on the Temple before they could embrace the gift of worshipping God in a foreign land. Certainly these were times of tremendous anxiety.

We know how they felt, don’t we? This year has been a time of huge change in our church. Guided by the congregation, the session has been rethinking our staffing and our structure. During the past 12 months one full-time position has been dissolved. One part-time position has been eliminated. One full-time position has been reduced to part-time.

All this has caused us, as a church, to fundamentally rethink who we are. Who are we if we don’t have two full-time pastors? Who are we if we don’t have a full-time secretary answering the phones, or a paid steward setting out our coffee on Sunday morning?

Just as with ancient Israel after their experiences in slavery and exile, just as with you and me when some huge change happens, we are in a period of mourning. Even those staunchly supporting the changes and who believe in them 110% are grieving because change of this magnitude necessarily involves grieving the identity of the past.

Now I’m sure some of us are convinced we have left slavery and are joyfully crossing into the Promised Land. And I’m sure some of us are convinced we have marched ourselves into a bitter exile.

But no matter what we believe the message of Scripture is the same: Be bold and courageous, for I the Lord and am with you. Behold, I am doing a new thing. Don’t dwell on the old things, let go of the past. Follow my law and follow me for I am with you.

The good news of the gospel, the good news that sustained this congregation when it’s first building burned down and its second building burned down and when 1^st Presbyterian split off, the good news that sustains you and me during the transforming times of our lives, the good news God is offering us this day and everyday is God is doing a new thing with us. In Jesus Christ, God is doing a new thing with us. In Jesus Christ, God is sustaining us and guiding us to a new place and a new identity.

I’ve shared this with many of you before, that when your faith is built on a man coming back from the dead it’s hard to be pessimistic. Pessimism simply is not part of that model. Our faith is built on the belief we can change, it’s built on the belief hard times can be overcome, it’s built on the belief that in Jesus Christ, God is always doing a new thing in us and through us and for us. Our faith is built on resurrection.

So let us mourn the past, whether we miss it or whether we are glad to see it go. Let us mourn the loss of our old identity, whether we liked it or not. Grieving the past is the proper and healthy thing to do.

But let us not fixate on the past. The God who was with us then is with us now. The God who guided us then is guiding us now and through God’s son Jesus Christ, God is doing a new thing in us and with us.

Friends, let us be bold and courageous, looking neither to the left nor to the right nor behind but ever onward and straight-ahead. For the God who loves us and is with us and will never leave us, that God is doing a new thing. Thanks be to God. Amen.