New Normal: Letting Go

New Normal   •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Intro

new sermon series

strange times that we are in

Starting my new normal

I had lots of stuff acquired throughout the years
Much of it was hidden away for most of my life and when I was getting ready to move I realized that I didn’t need much of it
So I tried something really basic I was starting with a completely blank canvas nothing was in the place that I was in, and I told the people that were helping to move me in, that most of the stuff that I have we are just going to put it in the garage
Then over time if I needed an item I would go to the garage and find it and then bring it into the house
It was a new start and a situation that I leveraged to help me clear out some of the stuff that I don’t use
There were somethings that I just had to move in
my bed I had to sleep somewhere
Toothbrush
some furniture items
But there were things that I left too
I left the T.V. in the garage
most of my cooking supplies in the garage
Transitions are a great time to change habits
I was transitioning from living in Urbandale to living in Ankeny
It would have been a huge hassle if I lived somewhere and I just moved all of the things I owned to the garage, that would have involved several more step

We are facing a new normal

Many of us are just coming off of a series of rapid transitions, into a space of a new normal
Parents that learning the new normal of juggling working from home and now having their kids and sometimes their partner at home
Us adjusting to the new normal of worshiping in our living rooms instead of in the church building
Graduates facing the new normal of a socially distanced graduations
New normals in weddings and funerals
New normals in so many ways
this has become a buzzword
We as pastors tend to plan our sermon series ahead, but this one we planned just recently probably close to a month ago and since then I have been realizing the many times I have heard this phrase new normal used
Getting out of quarantine whenever that happens will likely be just as much of a transition as getting into quarantine was
Not everything will probably be the same as it was before.
If gathered together in worship anytime soon and followed the guidelines that our conference has set out for us church would not look nearly the same
We would probably only have a capacity of around 80 people in this building, we would probably have to all wear masks, we probably wouldn’t even be able to sing
We are facing a new normal as a church
Our world right now is crying out that things would change in the systems in inequality and injustice that harm particularly black and brown members of our communities
We are facing a new normal in the way that we police and in the way that our voices are heard. particularly in whose voices we choose to listen to
This is a time of transition personally, this is a time of transition for our church, this is a time of transition Ankeny Iowa (the community that our church is situated in) we know that many people are worshiping with us right now from cities across the U.S. and we know it is a time of transition in whatever city you are in, and for sure it is a time of transition in our world.

We desire a new normal

I hope that we individually don’t let this transition go by the wayside
I hope that we are able to utilize this time of transition to offer up to God and to listen sincerely to the voice of God and to say God what do you want our new normal to look like

Isaiah

We start out this series reading from Isaiah
I think this is one of those moments where it is important for us to remember that the Bible is a collection of books that was written by many different authors
There are all sorts of theories about how we understand scripture
If and how scripture is divinely inspired, but one thing is for sure that the Authors of scripture matter
their cultural context matters
Who they were as people matters,
We are about to read out of the Book of Isaiah in a moment and before we do I want to read a passage from the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible just to help us get an idea of what type of person that Isaiah was
Isaiah worked to reform social and political wrongs. Even the highest members of society did not escape his censure. He berated soothsayers and denounced wealthy, influential people who ignored the responsibilities of their position. He exhorted the masses to be obedient rather than indifferent to God’s covenant. He rebuked kings for their willfulness and lack of concern.
Isaiah’s writings express a deep awareness of God’s majesty and holiness. The prophet denounced not only Canaanite idolatry, but also the religious observances of his own people that were external ceremonies only and lacking in sincerity (1:10–17; 29:13). He preached impending judgment on the idolatrous Judeans, declaring that only a righteous remnant would be saved (6:13).
I think when I hear the word prophet my mind can quickly confuse that with the idea of someone who can see into the future. Prophets certainly told of things that eventually came true, but part of the role of prophets particularly in the Bible was to tell stories of a future that was better than the present
Part of the vocation of prophets was to talk about what the new normal looked like for them and their people
Isaiah was a prophet and what he was writing was literarily closer to poetry perhaps even comparable to spoken word poetry of his day

Isaiah 43:15-21

Isaiah 43:15–21 NRSV
I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior; they lie down, they cannot rise, they are extinguished, quenched like a wick: Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. 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. The wild animals will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself so that they might declare my praise.

Letting go is a part of the new normal

Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
Philippians 3:13–14 NRSV
Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.
Before we are able to think about all of the things that will be a part of our new normal we have to let go of the successes and the failures that have brought us to this time
That doesn’t mean we forget about them
That doesn’t mean we forget about all of the things that God has done through us, that means that we can’t limit our future by the standard that the past has set
Historical background
Exodus 14
The Israelites were slaves
They became freed
They escaped their captors in Egypt and fled to a new land where they were safe
Isaiah references that emancipation
And says don’t dwell on that
In business world we might say past performance is not a predictor of future success
Personal
There are things sins in my parts that continue to carry with me
There are huge turning points in my faith that I celebrate, but if I continue to hold those so tightly they will lead to my downfall
It’s okay to remember, so long as we are not holding on to
As a church universal and locally
We have made some mistakes
we have created a lot of good
As the same is true
I think it would be an injustice if we weren’t able to say from this stage that the death of George Floyd and Brianna Taylor and many more that I don’t even know the names of are reminders that there are things in our recent and distant past that we might not be proud of as a nation
What theologians might call systemic sins or systemic injustices that continue to cause harm in our world
And there are also turning points in our world that we can’t dwell on because it won’t lead to any further progress
Each week we are introducing and inviting you to be a part of an activity
Talk about the calendar page

Calendar Page

Is is important to listen to what God is doing in our midst

The prophet Isaiah says:
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.
It can be easy for me to think that it is me that is a part of this new normal
That it is my work that contributes to that
Just like with Isaiah it is God that is doing a new thing in our midst
It is God that is making a way in our wilderness not us

Wilderness

The thing about wilderness is that there isn’t a clear path forward
The future comes at us like a wilderness and when confronted with wilderness it can be easy to think I just need to form my own path
I just need to figure out a way through this myself
We may not perceive the new work that God is doing in our midst and in our heart if we are not listening intensely to God
Did you know that part of prayer, in fact most of prayer is about listening to God
I have to confess that I am a pastor and sometimes I forget sometimes
I try to list everything off in prayer and I beat myself up if there is a name of someone that I forget to pray for,
But will not be able to see and hear about the newness that God offers us if we are not willing to listen

Letting go is necessary to listen

As we begin to think about our new normal after covid
As we learn continue to wrestle with many injustices in our world
As we continue to accept the grace that God has for us in the midst of personal sins and personal temptations the very first step is to let go
And to listen to the still small voice of God in our midst
To listen to what God’s path in the wilderness might look like and to let go of
Our expectations
the way things are
the status quoe
the things that you and I continue to wrestle with
To let go of the thought that I haven’t been able to overcome this barrier in the past so I might as well not try
To let go of thinking we can figure this all out our own
and to listen to God doing something new right in front of our eyes

Transition to Communion

In a moment we will transfer to a celebration of communion
An outward of God’s inward Grace for you
A time where we celebrate a new normal a new way of being connected to God through Jesus Christ
A way of partaking the body and blood of Christ so that we may be the body of redeemed by his blood.
Whatever you are carrying to this table
Whatever you did or didn’t do this week or this year
Whatever ways you were complicit in harm
Whatever good you did
This is an opportunity to experience God’s grace right here right
An opportunity for newness
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