Village Shepherd

According to some research undertaken in 2000, in the last twenty years or so there has been a sea change in people's attitudes towards God and spirituality. In 1987, 29% of people questioned believed that there was some sort of pattern to their lives. In 2000, a whopping 55% believed that there was a pattern to their lives. In 1987, 16% were aware of a sacred presence in nature. In 2000, 29% were aware of such a presence. And so it goes on. Formerly 27% were aware of the presence of God, now 38%. Formerly 25% were aware of prayer being answered, now 37%, and so on. The cumulative total for all the positive answers about spirituality in 1987 was 48%, but in 2000 was 76% (Research by David Hay and Kate Hunt, the Adults' Spirituality Project, University of Nottingham, 2000.)

It seems that far from living in a secular age, we in the UK are now in a much more spiritual age than perhaps we realise. But sadly, very little of this spirituality is identified with organised church. People are reaching out to gurus, to New Age spirituality, to Paganism (which is apparently the fastest growing religion in this country) and to all sorts of quite dubious supernatural activities. Yet none of these so-called "new" spiritualities offer anything that can't be found in Christianity.

Other researchers have identified six main spiritual questions which members of the general public ask. They are: Does God exist? Is there life after death? How can a God of love allow suffering? What's the purpose of life? What about the supernatural? Is the universe an accident or designed by a higher power?

The answer to the last question, is the universe an accident or designed by some higher power, is clearly given in today's reading from the book of Isaiah.

The first part of Isaiah chapter 40 is a prologue, explaining the themes of the succeeding chapters. It comes immediately after a historical summary, telling of the time from the first Isaiah to the time of the exile in Babylon, during which second or Deutero-Isaiah presents his poetry.

After the introduction, the rest of chapter 40 praises God the Creator. It finishes by asking, Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, "My way is hidden from the Lord, and my right is disregarded by my God?" Deutero-Isaiah answers the question himself: Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Even though the people are in exile and therefore suffering, says Deutero-Isaiah, they only have to look to see God's power all around within creation.

Most scholars date Deutero-Isaiah's work to the late 540s B.C.E, some two and half thousand years ago. Yet the questions being asked by the people were quite similar to some of the questions being asked today. Is there a God? Does my life have purpose?

Look around you, says the prophet. Look at the amazing sights within the natural world. How can they possibly be accidental? God, the Holy One to whom human beings are no bigger than grasshoppers, has ordered the world. God breathes breath into human nostrils and God decides when breath should be withdrawn. Human power is nothing beside the power of the Almighty who constantly creates and recreates the universe.

In these scientific days we might question whether the Creation happened as in the Genesis account. We might consider the Genesis account of the creation of the world to be a myth, a story with many important meanings and truths hidden in it. But if we look around and really observe our universe, we might well agree that it has been brilliantly designed by some form of higher intelligence and is not merely an accident.

Whether or not the universe started with a big bang, it certainly seems to have been magnificently designed in the minutest detail. Christians would call that higher intelligence, God, the eternal God, God the Creator. The early Israelites in the time of Deutero-Isaiah were well aware of God the Creator, but even they needed to be reminded of his power in their own lives.

No wonder the percentage of people believing in and experiencing God in our own century is increasing. Human beings are beginning to open their eyes and see and marvel at the hand of God the Creator. Deutero-Isaiah knew the importance of extolling God's creation, to remind the people that God was always present and always caring for them. Maybe we in the mainstream churches should begin to do the same.