Isaiah 40:21-31

Isaiah 40:21-31&= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Have You Remembered?

Feb= . 1, 2009 &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; = By Rev. Kathy McDowell

There’s an old = Jewish folktale about two men who set out on a journey together.

They took a donkey to= carry their packs, a torch to light their way at night,

and a rooster, who wa= s a friend of the donkey.

The rooster sat on the donkey’s head during the journey.

One of these two men = was deeply faithful; the second was much more skeptical about matters of faith.

On the journey, they frequently spoke about God. <= o:p>

“In all things,= God is good,” said the first man, with utter faith and assurance.

“We will see if= your opinion bears out on the trip,” said the second man.

They set out on their= journey together, and towards the end of the day, shortly before dusk, <= /span>

the two men arrived i= n a small village where thy sought a place to sleep.

They asked around, bu= t no one offered them a night’s lodging.

Reluctantly they trav= eled a mile outside of town, where they decided to sleep.

“I thought you = said God is good,” the skeptic said sarcastically.

“God is always faithful, and God has decided this is the best place for us to sleep tonight,”

was the confident rep= ly of his friend.

They fixed their beds= beneath a large tree, just off the main road that led to the village,

and tethered the donk= ey a little ways from their camp. = But just as they lit their torch they heard a terrible noise.

A lion had attacked t= he donkey, killed it, and carried it off to eat it away from the two men.

Quickly, the companio= ns climbed the tree to stay away from the danger.

“You still say = God is good?” The skeptic, ask= ed with fear and anger.

“If the lion hadn’t eaten the donkey, he would have attacked us. God is good,” his friend dec= lared.

Yet moments later a c= ry from the rooster sent them further up the tree.=

From this new higher = vantage point they say a wildcat carrying off the rooster.

Before the skeptic co= uld say a thing, the man of faith declared, “The cry of the rooster has once again saved us. God is faithf= ul. God is good.” A few minutes = later, a strong wind arose and blew out the torch,

the only comfort of t= he men in the dark night. Now the sk= eptic sneered, “This is what you call a good God?”

This time, the man of= faith remained silent. <= /span>

The next morning the = two men walked back into the village to buy food and replace their donkey.

As they entered the t= own, they discovered that a large band of outlaws had swept through the previous night and robbed the entire village of all its possessions.

With this news the ma= n of faith turned to his companion.

“Finally it has= become clear. If we had stayed in the village last night, we too would have been robbed along with all the villagers. And if the wind ha= d not blown out our torch, those bandits would have seen us

and taken all our goo= ds, too. We may not have se= en clearly at the time, but we can trust that God is good!”[1]

Like the two men in t= his story, at times, it seems our faith is being tested. As we are enduring a loss, facing a challenge, or carrying a heavy burden, it can be difficult to see God, much less the goodness of God.

But more often than n= ot, we’re having trouble seeing God not because we’re skeptics, alt= hough doubt and skepticism are certainly part of the journey of faith. We have trouble seeing the goodness of God

because we’re theological amnesiacs= . = We simply forget how good God has bee= n to us.

The faithful man in t= his folktale could say with assurance “God is good” because he was = able to remember that God was relentlessly faithful. So today, together as God’s people, we are going to take some time to remember

how God is good right= here among us.

The Bible is full of = calls to remembrance. In Deuteronomy, the Israelites are told “Remember that y= ou were slaves in Egypt= and the Lord your God redeemed you from there.” (Deut 24:18) In the Psalms, the ps= almist prays: “I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.” Psalm 143:5 And = at the supper Jesus shared with his disciples the last night before he died, =

he told his followers= to do this - to share in the bread and the cup -

as often as they would, to remember= him.

Yet it must be part o= f our human nature to forget, for that seems to be the essential appeal made by t= he prophet Isaiah in today’s reading. “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The prophet wonders. <= /span>

“Have you remem= bered all that God has done for us?” And then the prophet goes on to remember God’s goodness in creation. God is all powerful= , all knowing, all present from the foundations of the earth
and the beginning of time. He looks over the earth= as if we were no bigger than grasshoppers.

He is the Holy One who governs the earth and rules the nations.&n= bsp;

God is the all-powerf= ul Holy One and the word for that is transcendent.

But our God is also o= ur God with us and the word for that is immanent.=

When we are tempted t= o wonder if God even knows or cares what we’re up to,

the prophet Isaiah as= ks again “Have you not known? Have you not heard?

Have you remembered t= hat the Lord is the everlasting God?

Have you remembered h= ow God has been relentlessly faithful with you?

God is the one who gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.

Those who wait for th= e Lord, those who trust in God, 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.

In this beautiful, po= etic language, we who trust in God are = promised power and strength.

In case we’re w= ondering if this message still has any relevance today, I’m going to read part= of this same passage

from a contemporary B= ible translation called The Message = (Eugene Peterson). =

“Why would you = ever complain,
   or, whine, saying,
‘God has lost track of me.
   He doesn't care what happens to me’?
Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?
God doesn't come and go. God lasts.”

And that is the good news I want to emphasize with you today as we look bac= k . . . and look ahead right here= at PCCC.

A friend of mine who = has served in several churches, is currently the pastor of a church which is celebrating its 100^th anniversary. She tells me that one of the diffe= rences she has noticed between churches

that have been around= awhile and newer churches is that the older churches take the long view.

They have seen God at= work for a century or more, right there in their midst.

They have trusted tha= t God is with them, in good times and in bad. =

They know God doesn&#= 8217;t come and go.   They know = God lasts.

Here at PCCC, we’re one of those younger churches. <= /p>
We look back, and our= history only goes back to 1986. =

But whether young or = old, it is the task of every faithful community to learn to tell their stories, to remember.

Because when we let m= emory fail, the faith of the community fails with it.

The truth is that our Christian faith is always within one generation of becoming extinct. <= /o:p>

One of the ways we re= member is through our Bible studies together.&nbs= p;

In this way we rememb= er God’s story, and weave our stories in, too.

It is the church̵= 7;s responsibility to pass on the stories of what God has done and is doing in history.

Some of the stories w= e pass on are the stories of the Bible. But we also remember and pass along our own stories of faith - and that b= ecomes part of our Christian witness, too.

To help us remember, = we have a little handout in your bulletin today, a report on the goals our church m= et in 2008.

We used this at our a= ll church retreat yesterday, but I thought it was important enough to share wi= th you too.
If you look at it for= just a few moments you can see that we are strongly in ministry here at Peachtree Corners Christian Church.

But as you take a loo= k at it, let’s be sure that we don’t let ourselves slip into believing t= hat we’ve done this all on our own. Because nothing could be further from the truth. <= /p>
I have been with you = as your pastor for two years now (as of today) and we all know we have been working hard.

We have sometimes gro= wn weary; we have sometimes felt powerless; we have sometimes not understood h= ow we’re going to get to the next step. But God’s understanding is unsearchable, God’s power is infinite,

and God gets the cred= it for anything we have been able to do here in this church.

God is strongly working through us at PCCC.

And so we’re go= ing to remember that right now. We’re going to talk with each other, just for a few minutes.

I invite you to turn = to one or two people sitting near you and discuss:

What are 3 things we have done as a church this = past year

where you’ve seen God working through us? =

And if you’re n= ew to the church, or visiting, you can offer your perspectives if you like -

share what you think = is important for churches to be doing - or if you’d rather, you can just listen in.

Then we’re goin= g to share together for just a few minutes.

SHARE

We’ve got a sho= rt history, here at PCCC, but we’re part of God’s history which is so much longer than just o= ur history.   At times, in o= ur short history, we may have wondered where we’re headed.

We may have wondered = if we’re going to make it even. We may have whined and complained.

We may have worried a= bout where we are going to get the resources - time, talent, treasure - to follow God’s leading and to do God’s work.

But when we remember = all that God has done for us - right here at PCCC -

we come to know once = again the promise that God doesn’t= come and go, God lasts.

The Message translates the rest of those ancient promises from Isaiah this way:

  He's Crea= tor of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.
   And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
   gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
   young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fr= esh strength.
   They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don't get tired,
   they walk and don't lag behind.

God is good. God is relentlessly faithful. God doesn’t come and go. God lasts.

Those are promises we= can count on as a church,

as we continue to fol= low God’s leading in 2009 and in the years ahead. Amen.