Thought for Today
Ecclesiastes 1:9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It has already been, in the ages before us.
Isaiah 43:19 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.
Mark 1:27 They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new teaching-- with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him."
Matthew 9:17 Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved."
Are we obsessed with “new and improved?” When we see a product advertised as new and improved, do we automatically assume that it is now better? Or, conversely, are we stuck in the past, fondly (and falsely?) remembering a past that never was? Even more, who was correct, the prophet of Ecclesiastes or the prophet Isaiah? Has nothing changed for us since Genesis 1:1. Or, has God truly done a new thing?
If things do seem to change, how well do we handle the change? There are times in my own life when Jesus’ words about new and old wineskins seem very apropos. Although I read a lot of science fiction in my youth, a lot of which dealt with what we now call AI, I still find myself struggling to cope with all of the modern technology. One of my most oft-repeated tropes is, “You never live in the world in which you were raised.” I believe that is a truism every adult must live with. The world of the 21st century did evolve from the 20th century, but it is not identical to the 20th century.
Stop right now and try to remember the world of your youth. If, like me, you are ‘of an age,’ computers only existed between the pages of science fiction novels. That was a world without calculators, without cell phones, much less smart phones. Most automobiles had manual transmissions and did not have power-assisted braking systems. Dairy products (and sometimes eggs) were delivered to your home by the milkman. Doctors made house calls. Hard as it is to believe, gasoline was not rapidly approaching $5 per gallon and was less than $0.50 per gallon.
Do you ever have one of those days where you feel like an old wineskin? A day where the ‘new and improved’ seems to be overwhelming? Thank goodness we have biblical precedents! The world of scripture is not obsessed with technology and does not seem to particularly treasure ‘new and improved.’ But, our ancestors-in-the-faith did understand ‘a new thing.’ Sometimes they even anticipated the arrival of ‘a new thing,’ and celebrated its impending arrival.
Just as some days we are thunderstruck by the obvious realization that the world in which we live is not Eden, so too were they. The prophet of Ecclesiastes does seem to be a bit world weary. But, Isaiah recognized that our Creator God has not condemned us to living in the shadow of the past. However you understand the story of Cain and Abel, we are not in a continuous ‘do loop’ of endlessly repeating their conflict and its resulting death and tragedy. We are not rigidly fixed in a world of repetitive conflict, greed, licentiousness and sin.
Isaiah understood God’s promise of “a new thing.” Admittedly, for Isaiah, that new thing was far in the future; but, God did ultimately “make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Mark deliberately began his gospel with the promise of John the Baptist: “1:2 As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, ‘See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; 3 the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,'"
And when the One of whom John spoke did arrive, those who heard him “were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, "What is this? A new teaching-- with authority!”
The next time you feel like an old wineskin about to burst with all of the ‘new wine’ of our modern technology, think about Jesus, about the truth of John 3:16-17 and of God’s love. The true ‘new thing’ in the world is our realization of God and of God’s love. It is the truth of the One who came incarnate to show us the way to eternity with God. It is the One who still speaks to us “with authority.”
Stay safe, listen to Jesus, trust God,
Pastor Ray