“A New Heaven and a New Earth”
Isaiah 65:17-25 and Colossians 3:12-13
Allen Huff
Jonesborough Presbyterian Church
11/12/23
17 Look! I’m creating a new heaven and a new earth:
past events won’t be remembered;
they won’t come to mind.
18 Be glad and rejoice forever
in what I’m creating,
because I’m creating Jerusalem as a joy
and her people as a source of gladness.
19 I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad about my people.
No one will ever hear the sound of weeping or crying in it again.
20 No more will babies live only a few days,
or the old fail to live out their days.
The one who dies at a hundred will be like a young person,
and the one falling short of a hundred will seem cursed.
21 They will build houses and live in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 They won’t build for others to live in,
nor plant for others to eat.
Like the days of a tree will be the days of my people;
my chosen will make full use of their handiwork.
23 They won’t labor in vain,
nor bear children to a world of horrors,
because they will be people blessed by the Lord,
they along with their descendants.
24 Before they call, I will answer;
while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25 Wolf and lamb will graze together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
but the snake—its food will be dust.
They won’t hurt or destroy at any place on my holy mountain,
says the Lord. (CEB)
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (CEB)
Most of Isaiah’s audience knows nothing but exile. Then again, for those Hebrews born and raised in Babylon, distinguishing between exile life and “normal” life is probably splitting hairs because Babylonians manage to be relatively progressive captors. After defeating and dispersing a weaker nation, the Babylonians offer the vanquished the chance to maintain some semblance of self—at least they do for those whom they bring home to Babylon. Instead of treating the Hebrews like Pharaoh did in Egypt, the Babylonians allow the Hebrews to practice their faith and, to some extent, flourish.
So the Hebrew’s stories remain. Stories about Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Stories about Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and David. Stories about Hebron and Jerusalem. These are stories about providence, redemption, and belonging.
Then there’s the flip side of the situation. While things could be worse for the Israelites, Isaiah’s prophetic job in Babylon is to make the Hebrews long for Israel. So, when he paints a picture of a “new heaven and a new earth” in which suffering yields to joy, gladness, fruitful vineyards, and homes of their own, Isaiah is acknowledging the fact that the people’s situation in Babylon includes more than enough sadness, servitude, and a deep and haunting homesickness.
As a prophet of hope, Isaiah not only describes a new future, he declares that God is already at work bringing it about. “Before they call, I will answer,” says God. God is already creating something new in the midst of all that is diminishing and disheartening.
Isaiah’s prophecy flies in the face of Solomon’s much earlier, conditional prophecy that has been so revered by revivalists: “If my people…pray, [if they] seek my face, and [if they] turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear…forgive...and heal.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
No ifs, says Isaiah. By grace, God is already redeeming Israel. God has already filled out, signed, and turned in a pledge card on behalf of the Israelites. And, because that one nation serves as a symbol for all that God has made and loves, God is acting on behalf of the entire Creation.
As encouraging as that proclamation may be, for the Israelites and for us, Isaiah’s beautiful day prophecy meets some sharp skepticism. What appears real doesn’t look new and promising.
Consider our own context: Poverty. Addiction. Natural disasters, many of which are the result of an out-of-kilter climate. Wars, and not just rumors of wars, but overt threats of escalated conflict. The relentless tyranny of guns and gun violence oppressing us with suspicion and fear. And political rhetoric that crosses the line into hate speech—speech aimed at the very neighbors Jesus calls us to love.
Like ancient Israel, we, too, could use “a new heaven and a new earth.” And given the immediacy and the magnitude of our concerns, it’s a new earth that most of us want. Don’t many of us crave an experience of God’s vision for the future in this moment?
God’s vision declares shalom, that is wholeness and well-being for all. In God’s vision, you and I are aware of, in love with, and eager to celebrate God’s grace by choosing, each day, to live in harmony with our neighbors and the earth.
According to Luke, in Jesus’ first sermon, he reads from Isaiah saying, “‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because [God] has anointed me to bring good news to the poor…to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’” Then Jesus lays down the scroll and says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:18-19, 21) That’s what I want—God’s promises fulfilled today.
But that just makes me lazy. I say that because isn’t it specifically the work of Jesus-followers to embody in the world God’s vision for the world, today?
In his book Growing Churh Leaders, Dr. Bob Ramey said, “Whatever our denomination…I am convinced [that] we share a common call: [we are] a people called by God to be a sign, a foretaste, and an instrument of the [household] of God.”1 Dr. Ramey then quoted Walter Bruggeman who said, “The purpose of [our] call is to fashion an alternative community in creation gone awry, to embody in human history the power of the blessing. It is the hope of God that in this new family all human history can be brought to the unity and harmony intended by the one who calls.”2 Ramey and Bruggeman are describing God’s new heaven and new earth.
As the Church, we are called to make room for moments in which God’s vision of redemption and reconciliation burst through. It’s our call to embody the promises of God in our own lives. That’s a tall order because we don’t make those moments happen through individual effort. We humble ourselves, empty ourselves, offer ourselves to the Spirit saying, like Isaiah said when he was called, “Here I am. Send me.” (Isaiah 6:8b) From there, God’s Spirit works through us for the sake of others, undeterred by our lapses into selfishness and idolatry.
So, our lives—our hearts, minds, bodies, and spirits—are the most crucial offerings, the most important pledges, we make to God. For in offering ourselves completely, in faith, hope, and love, we give more than resources. We give to ourselves the best chance to experience God’s new heaven and new earth right here, right now.
While we can receive gifts of grace, when we offer ourselves to God by offering ourselves to others in love, we can experience in far deeper and more transforming ways the holy power and presence of the living God. Sure, it’s good to receive a gift. And sometimes they save us. It’s an even higher thing to experience God loving others through us.
If you haven’t already, I hope you will make a pledge to support the mission of Jonesborough Presbyterian Church. I challenge all of us to commit ourselves to God’s vision for a whole and holy creation. The relational, hands-on mission to which God calls us is more important than ever right now.
Writing to the Colossians, Paul reminds us that our collective witness depends on how gratefully and fearlessly we, “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe [ourselves] with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience…[and how we] bear with one another and…forgive each other.” (Colossians 3:12-13)
This morning, we consecrate far more than money.
We consecrate ourselves.
1Robert H. Ramey, Growing Church Leaders, CTS Press, 1995, p. 13.
2Ramey, p. 35, (Ramey is quoting Walter Brueggemann).
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