Spirit & Life

Watch for the New Thing…. it is happening already

Isaiah 43:16-19
Long ago the Lord made a road through the sea,
    a path through the swirling waters.
 He led a mighty army to destruction,
    an army of chariots and horses.
Down they fell, never to rise,
    snuffed out like the flame of a lamp!
But the Lord says,
“Do not cling to events of the past
    or dwell on what happened long ago.
Watch for the new thing I am going to do.
    It is happening already—you can see it now!
I will make a road through the wilderness
    and give you streams of water there.”

Phillipians 3:12-14
I do not claim that I have already succeeded or have already become perfect. I keep striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won me to himself. Of course, my friends, I really do not think that I have already won it; the one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the life above.

 

Reflection
‘Clinging’ to the past or dwelling on what ‘used to happen’ in our churches, leads to grieving for what was then that cannot be now. Yesterday is a different space. People change by life experiences. Today brings new things before us. The Pandemic has changed things – but so has time. I wonder, if we assumed 2020 would be like 2017, that 2017 would be like 2014? While we cycle through the Church Calendar to recall, celebrate and renew our faith journey, do we prepare and participate in exactly the same way? Or is it nuanced for the present day and present people? God’s gift of memory is a wonder. God’s gift of hope for what is yet to be, is a delight. Learn from what has been, recall that which enables new beginnings, and that which nurtures growth to enrich life here.
Let us use God’s loving energy and courage to focus on the reality of now,
as we watch for the new thing God is doing now… as it is happening already

Prayer – New Things Now
God of constancy and newness,
you are beyond our understanding of time, of past, present and what is yet to come.
Our dreams offer insight into what faithful folk and Churches have learned.
Our visions, through you, offer hope for how your realm can be.

Yet, we lack courage to watch for the new thing you are doing now.
We are safe in practices that brings security.
We are afraid that change will lose the precious theology and practices
that has been developed since your people received your Word.
We hold on to what we have learnt and understood now
and hope the future will adopt what we love.

We forget,
You are constant.
You have not changed.
It is our understanding that continues to evolve.

Into your gracious care, we offer our Churches.
With your constancy, we gain courage to not cling to what we know.
We commit to travelling with you on your road through the wilderness,
accept being refreshed and baptized in your streams of living water,
to open our eyes to see the new thing you are going to do as it rises before us,
and open our hearts and minds to understand that it is happening now.
God of constancy and newness, fill us with your loving energy and courage. 

© Rev Anne Hewitt 30/03/2022
This reflection & prayer may be shared as long as the original writer is credited

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