Isaiah 43: 16-21... 5th S. in Lent...Year C...
(For JN 12: 1-8 scroll on site)
NOTES:
1] Always
read the Hebrew Bible in the light
of our understanding of God in the New Testament.
2] The
un-named Prophet who wrote this is often referred to as Deutero (2nd)
IS. Eugene Peterson calls him 'Isaiah of the Exile'. He wrote
Ch.40-55 about the mid 500's BC. 3] We're dealing with poetry again
here. 4] This whole
passage is built on v.15.
5] vv.16-18 refer
back to the Exodus. Soon, there will be a new Exodus,
from Babylon this time, for the Jews.
WARMING
UP: Do we think of water as a friendly element, dangerous,
or neutral?
TREASURES OLD & NEW:
Identify God at work in anything this week?
ENTERING INTO THE STORY:
16-17 Do we
think of God in such active terms as IS & the Hebrews do here? If
we do, do we have the same kind of expectations of him as IS wants the
Hebrews to have? How high are
our expectations of God? How much are our expectations of God, or lack
of them, based on God's power - or lack of it? Can we see, do we
experience God's mighty acts on the kind of scale IS recounts here? If
we can't, does that mean God isn't really an issue any more? Or is it a
matter of God's power being shown, or being understood, in different
ways from IS's day / since Jesus' day?
18-19 When IS
bids the people, "Don't remember....don't consider....." does he seem
to us to be actually wanting them to forget their past, or is it more a
matter of him seeing their 'remembering' & 'considering' a
barrier to their moving on into a new future? How much does our own
looking back prevent our moving into a new future in matters of faith /
church / traditions/ etc...? How much is being able to move on a matter
of being secure enough in our 'past' to leave it behind, or at least
take it forward with us, rather than always looking back to other &
better days? Does a lot of this hinge on our expectations of God, our
belief in God's power, as we discussed them in vv.16-17?
Are we anxious
about 'new things', God's or anyone else's? Is that why we often resist
them? What about those who grasp at every new thing? How aware are we
of God doing any 'new thing(s)' right now, or is our hope in God more a
hope in a God of the future rather than the present? Are we conscious
of any 'new thing' of God
'springing forth - from anyone / anywhere right now? Can we discern God
'making a way' in any of today's wildernesses? Making 'rivers in the
desert'? If we take 'wildernesses', broadly speaking, as hindrances to
living, & 'rivers' as sources of life along the way, can we discern
God making any ways in the former, providing any of the latter for our
journeying? Have actual wildernesses & rivers become too much the
preserve of greedy developers & untrustworthy governments for us to
have any confidence in God providing for us in either case? If, as v.15
says, God is 'Lord, Holy One, Creator (of Israel) & King' what role
are we assigning God in any of today's issues such as land & water?
Or are we simply consigning
him somewhere?
20-21 Are there
people we think of as 'wild animals'? 'Jackals'? 'Ostriches'? Do we
feel they honour us, let alone God? What kind of 'water', 'rivers' do
we need?What 'water', 'rivers' do we see these others needing? Who is
going to provide them - for us / for them? If God 'formed us for himself', how come we think we are
at the centre of our world? If we're formed 'to declare God's praise'
how well are we performing our duty? In deed? In word?
What connections can we see between
this IS passage & today's Gospel (JN 12: 1-8)?
