Reflection on ‘The Glorious New Creation’ Sunday 17th November Opoho Church

Readings:  Gospel Reading: Luke 21:5-6, Second Reading: Isaiah 65: 17-25

Reflection on ‘The Glorious New Creation’

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 for ever in what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. 

I don’t know if I have become more holy, more obedient, more prayerful over time – maybe I have a little bit but goodness it’s a struggle- in spite of all my efforts and the amazing vision I have before me of this wonderful new Jerusalem - I struggle.  But there are more people like me than I could imagine, feeling a bit inadequate at times, other times wanting to shout out with joy because we get a glimpse of this holy mountain that the prophet speaks of - in the kind words of a neighbour and the stranger’s hand reaching out to me.  There was that slightly unusual man one day when I was swimming – splashing (and I mean splashing) his way up my lane, greeting me by a different name each time (none of them mine of course), saying good morning lots of times and then do you know what he said – he stopped to let me go by and said – after you pretty girl!  I was smiling for the rest of the day.  God’s people are a delight – and this world is a joy!
I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. 

So here is the big one – I can pray all I like, do as much as I possibly can but still there is weeping and distress.  It seems like a blanket wrapping the earth sometimes – and we can’t find our way out from under.  There are disasters so big that we really cannot image them in our minds, there are intimate stories of tragedy with too much detail that just break our hearts.  There is that sense of helplessness that overwhelms and you sit quiet, seemingly unable to do anything.  You know though, Jesus didn’t get to solve the whole world’s pain by taking it away – he did something else, he joined in that pain, he came to be with us and to experience all the highs and lows that we have in our lives – and isn’t that something!  And he left us with a task – to carry on doing what we can to make the world a better place – to wipe the tears and comfort where there is distress.  So let’s just keep on being Jesus the best we can and God will rejoice and delight in us.
No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime;
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. 

Time is an interesting thing isn’t it? Too short sometimes, other times dragging out forever.  It seems different when you are young to when you are older, 8 hours of a working day seems twice the length of 8 hours of holiday, our children grow so quickly, our parents suddenly seem to get old, our tasks always seem more than the time we have to do them and some people are better at keeping time, or being on time, than others.  You know I have always admired those who spend their time wisely and with seeming total control. I have both of the bad habits – I am the queen of procrastination and I try to fit too many things into too little time – maybe the two are linked?  You know- here’s a theory - when we overplan and overbook our time, maybe it’s about us behaving as if there is a chance of increasing life by rolling several lives into one.  Maybe it means that we haven’t quite accepted our mortality – I am not sure I have.  I am still craving for life, not never-ending but good life for all, and I want to keep on contributing, I want to make a difference – but maybe I also just need to learn to trust that God is at work in this world too – and I don’t have to do it all by myself!
They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. 

I reckon God wants us to have a pretty solid work ethic for when we walk in the way of Jesus.  I don’t think we are expected to know everything that happens afterwards when we give or receive grace in Christ’s name – that is way bigger than we could ever imagine - but I do think we are expected to understand that everything we do and be bears a fruit – and sometimes we have to live with the consequences of our actions. A story from Iona:  “There was that time in Jesus Square in El Salvador – a beggar came up to me, a young woman actually, haggard, thin, maybe ill or on drugs.  She was aggressive – and a bit scary.  She wanted money for herself and the baby, twenty dollars it was and she cursed loudly when I only gave her five (you see I needed the rest to get a taxi back to the hotel).  Her face said it all – said that I had failed to love – so concerned about the taxi that I failed to see her humanity.  I gave the rest of the money to another beggar later – but that didn’t absolve me.  I still see her face, young, angry, needing my love.’

So maybe it’s not enough to write cheques, not enough pick and choose when we will respond, or have days off from being like Jesus – we live in this world and we plant and we eat the fruit – may the fruit be such that it gives hope and justice and peace to everyone.

They shall not labour in vain, or bear children for calamity;
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord— and their descendants as well.
Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain,

says the Lord. 

How wonderful it is to be loved – to be blessed with the love of God and of each other.  What would we do without community, each other, without the people we can count on and the friends we can rest in.  Because the going does get rough at times and the best thing we can do is to open ourselves to the care of others, to share our lives and look out for each other. Remember, each time that we meet together, every time we pray together, eat together and raise our voices in song together we are in the presence of God and surely that is where the holy mountain of God is to be found.