Do You Not Perceive It?
Sermon
My grandmother, who died way back in 1960, used to listen to "The Archers" on the radio. Not only did she listen, but she was rather proud of the fact that she had heard every episode of "The Archers" since it began. That was quite a record, but even more amazing is the fact that "The Archers" is still continuing to this day and still has its devotees who wouldn't miss an episode.
But of course, this everyday story of countryfolk isn't exactly the same as it was when my grandmother listened. Over the years it has changed and developed as society and culture have changed and developed, and perhaps this is part of the secret of its success. It has a good record of tackling difficult and topical subjects in an accessible way so that what is going on all around us, especially in the countryside but also in the whole country and in the world, is usually reflected in some way in "The Archers".
Since its beginning, it has had new scriptwriters, new actors, new characters and new plots, but it's still recognisable as "The Archers" and even in these days of sophisticated television, it still has a large band of devoted fans.
From time to time in "The Archers", events happen which cause shock and outrage amongst the fans, especially when a beloved character dies. I seem to remember that in the relatively early days, when Grace Archer died, there was a public outcry and almost a public outpouring of grief. But eventually the shock and the grief subsided, the fans coped with it and went on listening and "The Archers" continued.
Most radio and television programmes come and go. They come for a season, are highly popular, may be repeated for another season or two, then they're axed. They're axed either because the script writers have run out of ideas, or because the programme is so firmly based around one particular character that if that character should die, the programme loses all meaning. Programmes that survive over many years are exceptional.
And this is all inevitable, because life moves on and anything that doesn't move on with it, is doomed to an early grave. It doesn't matter how good things have been in the past, unless they change with the times, they will not survive. The best programmes often cease on a high note, when they're at the peak. When they finish they leave a sense of loss, a sense of regret that something so good has ended. But it seems much better to finish that way than to drag on with disappointing scripts and unbelievable plots which leave a sense of being let down by the programme as the audience figures slump.
The Ancient Israelites always looked back to the days of the Exodus as a golden era. Before that time, God had interacted with certain people who became known as the patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - but God hadn't interacted with the whole race. When, under the leadership of Moses, God led the people out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land of the fertile coastal plains of Canaan, he became their God and they became his people.
God wandered with the people in the wilderness. God dwelt with them, in the Ark of the Covenant which was built for him and which was carried with them on poles, wherever they went. God spoke to them through Moses their leader and responded to their needs by making sure they were always fed and watered and protected from the worst dangers.
But after the Ancient Israelites settled, their relationship with God suffered and he was never quite so close to them again. The people therefore yearned for the return of the golden days of the wanderings in the wilderness and often sang longingly about those days. Some of those songs remain in the book of Psalms.
But in today's reading from the book of Isaiah, God warns them against constantly looking back. "Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? " says God.
God himself sees the danger of living in the past, of constantly harking back to the golden days when things were so much better. That's counterproductive, says God, you must move on. But God doesn't leave people floundering, not knowing how to move on or which way to turn.
"I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert," continues God in this passage. "The wild animals will honor me, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise."
Whatever happens in society, however much God is spurned and the things of God are ignored or ridiculed, God will never leave human beings. God will always be there for them, providing for their needs. The most basic need of human beings is for water. We can live for quite a time without food, but we cannot survive for more than a few days without water, so God has promised that he will provide water for us however dry and sterile society might be.
The Christian Church will survive. But it may not survive in the form which we know and love, unless we are able to allow God to do a new thing. If we constantly resist all attempts to update the church, to make it relevant and meaningful for today's people, it will die. It will be like those programmes which lose the plot and cause the audience to switch off. It needs to be like "The Archers", tackling difficult and topical subjects and allowing parts of itself to die at the right time, no matter what the public grief and the public outcry.
The Church must be responsible to God and allow God to lead it forward. It cannot allow itself to be held back in a past age, no matter how golden that age might have been. If it remains frozen in the past, new expressions of God's Spirit will spring up within society and will bypass the church, which will become old and sad, but worst of all, will cease to have anything to do with God. God will be in society, doing a new thing and leading his people forward by making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
So does this mean turning our back on all aspects of the church as we know it and changing everything? Not at all. But it does mean being aware when we cease to nourish the majority of the population, being aware when we are so far distant from the needs of society that we're regarded as an irrelevance, being aware when people turn away from the church and to other less savoury forms of so-called "spirituality" such as tarot cards and witchcraft because they're unable to connect with the Church.
The past age of Church was indeed a glorious age, and we need to build on its strengths. But let us stay alive, filled with God's Spirit. Let us allow God to move us forward, to make a way for us in the wilderness of modern life, to make rivers in the desert of society.
But of course, this everyday story of countryfolk isn't exactly the same as it was when my grandmother listened. Over the years it has changed and developed as society and culture have changed and developed, and perhaps this is part of the secret of its success. It has a good record of tackling difficult and topical subjects in an accessible way so that what is going on all around us, especially in the countryside but also in the whole country and in the world, is usually reflected in some way in "The Archers".
Since its beginning, it has had new scriptwriters, new actors, new characters and new plots, but it's still recognisable as "The Archers" and even in these days of sophisticated television, it still has a large band of devoted fans.
From time to time in "The Archers", events happen which cause shock and outrage amongst the fans, especially when a beloved character dies. I seem to remember that in the relatively early days, when Grace Archer died, there was a public outcry and almost a public outpouring of grief. But eventually the shock and the grief subsided, the fans coped with it and went on listening and "The Archers" continued.
Most radio and television programmes come and go. They come for a season, are highly popular, may be repeated for another season or two, then they're axed. They're axed either because the script writers have run out of ideas, or because the programme is so firmly based around one particular character that if that character should die, the programme loses all meaning. Programmes that survive over many years are exceptional.
And this is all inevitable, because life moves on and anything that doesn't move on with it, is doomed to an early grave. It doesn't matter how good things have been in the past, unless they change with the times, they will not survive. The best programmes often cease on a high note, when they're at the peak. When they finish they leave a sense of loss, a sense of regret that something so good has ended. But it seems much better to finish that way than to drag on with disappointing scripts and unbelievable plots which leave a sense of being let down by the programme as the audience figures slump.
The Ancient Israelites always looked back to the days of the Exodus as a golden era. Before that time, God had interacted with certain people who became known as the patriarchs - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - but God hadn't interacted with the whole race. When, under the leadership of Moses, God led the people out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land of the fertile coastal plains of Canaan, he became their God and they became his people.
God wandered with the people in the wilderness. God dwelt with them, in the Ark of the Covenant which was built for him and which was carried with them on poles, wherever they went. God spoke to them through Moses their leader and responded to their needs by making sure they were always fed and watered and protected from the worst dangers.
But after the Ancient Israelites settled, their relationship with God suffered and he was never quite so close to them again. The people therefore yearned for the return of the golden days of the wanderings in the wilderness and often sang longingly about those days. Some of those songs remain in the book of Psalms.
But in today's reading from the book of Isaiah, God warns them against constantly looking back. "Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? " says God.
God himself sees the danger of living in the past, of constantly harking back to the golden days when things were so much better. That's counterproductive, says God, you must move on. But God doesn't leave people floundering, not knowing how to move on or which way to turn.
"I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert," continues God in this passage. "The wild animals will honor me, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise."
Whatever happens in society, however much God is spurned and the things of God are ignored or ridiculed, God will never leave human beings. God will always be there for them, providing for their needs. The most basic need of human beings is for water. We can live for quite a time without food, but we cannot survive for more than a few days without water, so God has promised that he will provide water for us however dry and sterile society might be.
The Christian Church will survive. But it may not survive in the form which we know and love, unless we are able to allow God to do a new thing. If we constantly resist all attempts to update the church, to make it relevant and meaningful for today's people, it will die. It will be like those programmes which lose the plot and cause the audience to switch off. It needs to be like "The Archers", tackling difficult and topical subjects and allowing parts of itself to die at the right time, no matter what the public grief and the public outcry.
The Church must be responsible to God and allow God to lead it forward. It cannot allow itself to be held back in a past age, no matter how golden that age might have been. If it remains frozen in the past, new expressions of God's Spirit will spring up within society and will bypass the church, which will become old and sad, but worst of all, will cease to have anything to do with God. God will be in society, doing a new thing and leading his people forward by making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
So does this mean turning our back on all aspects of the church as we know it and changing everything? Not at all. But it does mean being aware when we cease to nourish the majority of the population, being aware when we are so far distant from the needs of society that we're regarded as an irrelevance, being aware when people turn away from the church and to other less savoury forms of so-called "spirituality" such as tarot cards and witchcraft because they're unable to connect with the Church.
The past age of Church was indeed a glorious age, and we need to build on its strengths. But let us stay alive, filled with God's Spirit. Let us allow God to move us forward, to make a way for us in the wilderness of modern life, to make rivers in the desert of society.
