PROPER 5C - 1 Kings 17:17-24; Psalm 30: 1-6, 12-13; Galatians 1:11-24; Luke 7:11-17 -

10 June 2007 - A sermon preached by The Rev. Peter A. Munson for St. Ambrose Episcopal Church, Boulder, Colorado

 

New Life in God

 

INTRODUCTION - Advertising

 

I’m not an expert in marketing or advertising, but I’ve seen a few million ads during my lifetime. There is one word that is always big with advertisers, one word that they never seen to get sick of, one word that never gets old. And that word, of course, is “new”. They might combine it with other words, as in “the all new ___________” or “new and improved” or “brand new” or “totally new”, but that word “new” is never too far from our ears, our eyes, and our consciousness. So much so that for pre-teens and teenagers, an “old” song means a song from a year ago, or maybe just three or four months ago, and an old computer, to some folks, means one that you have had for two or three years. What’s the new thing, meaning the very latest thing? Our culture is big on what is new.

 

Lest we forget, “new” is not a new word coined by Madison Avenue. It’s a very old word, in fact. Before it was ever a big word in our culture, it was a big word in the Bible. I guess people have probably always been fascinated with what is new. When humans starting walking upright, when man discovered how to make fire, when man invented the wheel or figured out how to craft the first spear or bow and arrow, when man invented alphabets or God parted the waters of the Red Sea - whatever it has been - the word has traveled quickly and made headlines. What is new became “news”. What’s new? Hey, did you hear the news?

 

We want to know what’s new; we are fascinated with the new - so much so that at times we seem to have an utter disdain for history, for anything that happened or was composed or invented or written about in previous generations. “Man, that’s old news!” As in, why would I want to waste my time with that?

 

GOD AND THE NEW

 

Fortunately for us, God seems to be just as enraptured with the new as we are. Maybe it fits in with his creative side. It certainly fits in with the part of God that is all about life - creating life, renewing life, bringing back life.

 

Our readings for today are all about new life. Not just life, but new life.

 

During a drought in Israel, one that Elijah predicted, by the way, Elijah found hospitality with a widow in Zarephath, south of Sidon (in modern-day Lebanon). And while Elijah was living in this widow’s home, her son fell ill and died. And you heard the rest of the story: how Elijah stretched himself out upon the child three times, and cried out to God. And God heard the voice of Elijah, and the widow’s son came back to life.

 

In the reading from Galatians 1, Paul shares part of his conversion story. He writes about how “he was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it.” (Verse 13) He adds that “God... was pleased to reveal his Son to me...” - yeah, by striking him blind on the road to Damascus! - so that Paul might proclaim that Son to the Gentiles. In other words, Paul was given a whole new direction and a whole new life, thanks to God.

 

And in today’s passage from Luke, we have a story rather similar to the widow of Zarephath story. This widow’s only son dies, and Jesus stops the group that is carrying the dead man out of the town in a funeral procession, and spoke to the dead man. Jesus spoke words of life into him, and his life was given back to him. New life.

 

Did you hear the news about God coming up with a new plan to send his only Son, so that the people of God might experience God in the flesh, God with us? Did you hear the news about how he was born, how he lived, what he taught, how he died, and how after he died, God gave him his life back again?

 

This is a God who is just as fascinated with the new as you are! Listen:

 

“See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.” (Isaiah 42:9)

 

“I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19)

 

“For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight.” (Isaiah 65:17-18)

 

“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you... you shall be my people, and I will be your God.” (Ezekiel 36:26-28)

 

“And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’” (Luke 22:20)

 

“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” (John 13:34)

 

“I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband... And the one who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’” (Revelation 21:2, 5)

 

Or how about this one?

 

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning....” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

 

BACK IN TIME; NEW THINGS

 

I sort of went back in time this past week. But in the process, I discovered new things.

 

I had been to New York City once before, when I was around 13. As I was on the edge of Chinatown a few days ago, I had a flashback to the street vendors and the hustle and bustle that made a big impression on me when I was 13. But there were new things this time around. Sharing it with Zach, for one thing, along with my in-laws and my niece and nephew. When we took the cab from LaGuardia Airport to uptown Manhattan, to the apartment where Julia’s brother and sister-in-law live, and Zach said, “Dad, look at that skyline. It makes Denver look...” and he paused. And I said, “Like a cow town?”

 

When we walked along the streets last Tuesday and suddenly found ourselves at our destination - right next to where the World Trade Center used to be - and we stopped, amid the noise and the people and the new construction, and walked up the fence where they have the names of all those who died, and a time line of what happened on September 11, 2001, and a description of the new building that is going to be built, and a memorial, with the names of all those who died. We stopped, amid all the noise and people, and paused and reflected. When we walked into the two Episcopal churches nearby - sister churches - Trinity, Wall Street and St. Paul’s Chapel, and read about how those congregations had reached out to the rescue workers and all those who were looking for loved ones in the days and months after 9/11 - people of all different faiths and backgrounds... when we took the subway all over Manhattan and into Queens for the Mets game, and took the Staten Island Ferry past the Statue of Liberty, and walked through Central Park and Times Square and saw the resiliency of all those New Yorkers... yes, it was “New” York at one time... well, I had a whole new experience this time, compared to my last time in New York. Do I want to move to New York? You’re kidding, right?

 

And yesterday, when my niece got married at St. Bartholomew’s in Estes Park... the same church that I belonged to before I went to seminary, the same church where Julia and I got married, the same church where I spoke at my dad’s funeral and my mom’s funeral, and where both of them are buried in the columbarium behind the church, the same church where my sister and brother-in-law are now members (one serving on the Vestry and one serving as the Treasurer), and I thought of all that history, of how important this church continues to be in my family, of how much I wished my parents could have been physically present at Kari and Ryan’s wedding. I thought of all these things from the past, and yet, it was a new day. Do I want to move back to Estes Park? Only once in a great while.

 

CONCLUSION

 

All I know is that traveling - seeing new places, learning new things - and seeing a man and a woman become husband and wife, and make those amazing vows to each other... there is something of God in these things. For God is all about new life.

 

What is new in your life? To put it another way: What is God up to in your life? What new things are emerging? And what new things are in store for us at St. Ambrose? What new people? What new ministries? What new directions?

 

No, the advertising folks don’t have anything on our God when it comes to telling about the new thing, the latest thing. As Paul wrote to the Galatians, “... the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin.”

 

The Good News - the new and amazing message of who God is, proclaimed by you and me - is not of human origin.

 

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.”