Present-Tense Faith
Isa 43:16-21; Ps 126[1]
We are creatures of
habit. We like things to remain stable,
predictable, under control.
Unfortunately, life doesn’t work that way. It’s anything but predictable. And anybody who’s ever tried to control the
events and circumstances of their life can tell you that it’s a prescription
for insanity! One of the ways that we
deal with the ever-changing quality of life is by living life in the past
tense. By that I mean we look back to a
time when everything was just like we wanted it. We hold onto that ideal image as a comfort
when life in the present gets overwhelming.
Of course, if we really went back to that time, we’d realize that not
everything was just like we wanted it. But
in retrospect, it’s easy to see the past with rose-colored glasses.
The same thing is true of our
faith. We can get stuck in the past when
it comes to our faith. It may be a past
part of our life, or it may be a distant past, like biblical times. Either way, we tend to idealize the past,
thinking that it must have been easier to have faith in that time. When we do that, I wonder if our faith
doesn’t get stuck in the past. I wonder
if we have a hard time really bringing our faith into the present time with all
its challenges.
I think that was at least
part of what was going on in the people of Israel in our lessons for
today. The people addressed by the
prophet Isaiah may have been on their way back from exile in Babylon, which was
a long and dangerous journey through a desolate wilderness. These days, we can romanticize the idea of
going “into the wild,” but in biblical times the wilderness was a place that
was feared. It was a place of unknown
dangers and scarce food and water. You
could die in the wilderness.[2] The prophet called them to take their faith
in the God who brought the people of the past safely out of Egypt and bring
that faith with them on their present journey through the wilderness. The same God who made “a way in the sea, a
path in the mighty waters” (Isa 43:16) promised to do something brand new: he would make a “way in the wilderness” (Isa
43:19). God promised to bring them
safely through their dangerous journey, and the prophet called them to bring
their faith in the God of the past into the present situation that they feared
so much.[3]
It’s also possible that the
prophet was addressing people who had already made the journey back to
Jerusalem, and instead of finding the home they remembered and loved, what they
found was an abandoned city in ruins.
Having made their dangerous journey, they found themselves in even more
danger. The stories of Ezra and Nehemiah
tell us how dangerous it was for the people who worked to rebuild the ruined
city. Rather than the safety of home,
they found themselves under attack from enemies who had taken control of the
land in their absence. At one point,
Nehemiah had to have everybody working on the project carry their swords with
them as they worked (Neh. 4:17-18)!
It’s possible that this was
the context for our Psalm for today.
It’s true that the Psalmist speaks of their return from exile as a dream
come true.[4] But we know from the historical accounts that
the dream took some time to realize in its full perspective.[5]
They may have come home, but they had all kinds of challenges to face. Not only did they have to fend off their
enemies, but they also had to find a way to establish a reliable supply of food
and water. They had their work cut out
for them. And so they prayed that God
would continue to “restore their fortunes” (Ps. 126:4).[6]
In fact, they prayed that God
would work in such a way that those who went out to sow their seeds in tears
would come back rejoicing in the harvest.
I can imagine that those who were sowing seeds in tears may have been like
farmers who have endured several bad years, and they’re planting the last of
their seed stock.[7] If they don’t get enough rain to provide a
good harvest this year, they might be finished.
And so they prayed, “Restore our fortunes, O LORD, like the watercourses
in the Negeb” (Ps. 126:4). Now, the
Negeb is a desert in the southern part of Israel, where there are gullies that
are dry throughout most of the year. During
the rainy season they fill up with water that the farmers used to make their
crops flourish. Essentially, they’re
looking at their situation, one that seemed difficult at best and dangerous at
worst, and they’re putting their faith in God to provide for their needs. They were doing exactly what the prophet
Isaiah was trying to encourage: taking their faith in God from the past and
bringing it into the present, regardless of how hopeless or desperate their
situation seemed.[8]
I think that may be one of
the most difficult lessons to learn when it comes to trusting God. For most of us, it’s relatively easy to
believe in a God who worked in the past.
But when it comes to trusting God to do something new in our present
circumstances, that can be a completely different matter. That seems to be one of the hardest
challenges when it comes to faith—bringing it into present, with all its
frightening changes and uncertainties.
But that’s where the water hits the wheel when it comes to faith.[9] We have to trust not only in the God who “has
done great things” in the past, but also in the God who always promises to do “a
new thing” in our lives.[10]
We have to learn to trust in God right here and right now.
[1] © 2013
Alan Brehm. A sermon preached by Rev.
Dr. Alan Brehm on 3/17/2013.
[2] Cf. Paul
D. Hanson, Isaiah 40-66, 73.
[3] Cf.
Hanson, Isaiah 40-66, 72, where he
warns that a “retreat from the hostile unknown to the comfort of the familiar,”
if it becomes a “permanent posture, becomes spiritual escapism.”
[4] cf.
Patrick Miller, “In Praise and Thanksgiving,” in Theology Today 45 ( July 1988): 180, where he says that Israel’s
songs of praise “are fundamental indicators that wonders have not ceased, that
possibilities not yet dreamt of will happen, and that hope is an authentic
stance
[5] Cf. H.
-J. Kraus, Psalms 60-150, 449, where
he points out that the Psalm reflects “the unique tension in which the
community found itself in reorganizing after the return”; although they had
experienced “a wonderful liberation,” the “actual realization of the prophetic
promise was long in coming.”
[6] cf.
James L. Mays, Psalms, 400: he sees
this as one of the “pilgrim Psalms,” songs sung by those who were en route to
Jerusalem for the observance of a feast day.
[7] Cf. J.
Clinton McCann, “The Book of Psalms,” New
Interpreters Bible IV:1195. Although
some see the tears as a ritual mourning for the fertility god, he points out
that the tears in this case “may simply emphasize the urgency of the need
already articulated.”
[8] Cf.
Artur Weiser, Psalms, 763, in the
metaphor of sowing and harvesting, the Psalmist sees the “mysterious power of
God which creates new life out of death.”
[9] cf.
Miller, “In Praise and Thanksgiving,” 180: “the countless hymns of praise, from
the song of Miriam and Moses at the Exodus to the hallelujah chorus at the end
of the Book of Revelation, arise out of the structure of faith in the dialogue
with God.”
[10] Cf. Christopher
R. Seitz, “The Book of Isaiah 40-66,” New
Interpreters Bible VI:382, where he reminds us that one’s present
relationship with God “consists of more than a memory of past faithfulness,
decisive though that be in certain contexts.”
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