A Reason to Give Thanks

A Reason to Give Thanks
Isaiah 65:17–25
November 18, 2007
University Christian Church, Seattle, WA
Rev. Sandy Messick

What do Easter and Thanksgiving have in common?

On the surface: not much. In my family at least one means ham and the other means turkey. One is a “religious” holiday while the other is a “national” holiday, although admittedly the lines get blurred a little bit. One marks the end of the sacrificial season of Lent, while the other marks the beginning of the free for all frenzy of shopping, eating and partying that leads up to Christmas. So, on the surface they don’t have much in common.
Except this year. At least for those of us preachers who use the Lectionary, the 3-year cycle of Readings. We are finishing up Year C. And in Year C both this Sunday which happens to be the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and Easter Sunday share the same scripture: this passage from Isaiah 65:17-25. What were those lectionary writers thinking?
Now I know it’s not that they had run out of scriptures and had to start repeating some. There’re lots of scriptures in the Bible that never show up in the lectionary at all. So that committee that put together the lectionary must have had some reason for using this passage twice. There must be some common theme…

So let’s look a bit at this passage from Isaiah.

Chapter 65 is part of the section known as Third Isaiah. Scholars now believe that the chapters of Isaiah actually reflect at least 2 and perhaps 3 different periods in history. The beginning of the book seems to have been written before the exile to Babylon. The second section, around Chapter 40 and following, seems to be from a time when the people were in exile, separated from their homeland. But here in Third Isaiah, it appears that the people were back home. Sometime around 400-500 B.C. The temple was being rebuilt. Life was something like approaching normal. But cynicism and pessimism were still the norm, not the exception. People were still discouraged. It wasn’t like it was before, if anyone could even remember what it was before. Life wasn’t easy. The kingdom still hadn’t come on earth. And people were beginning to wonder, “Is this all there is?”
Into this despair comes a word from the prophet: Behold, God is about to do a new thing. God will create a new heaven and earth and life will be filled with good things. New life is in our midst. Doesn’t that sound a bit like Easter?
So new life, new hope, God’s vision of shalom. All of those tie to Easter, but here we are at Thanksgiving and dealing with this passage again. What is the good news for us as we carve our turkeys and take naps in front of our football games?

Maybe it’s this: It gives us yet another reason to give thanks. Traditionally during this time of year, we give thanks for what has happened in the past, or perhaps what is happening in the present. We give thanks for health and family. We give thanks for the bounty of blessings we have seen in the past year. We give thanks that Uncle Fred made it here without another DUI, and that Aunt Edna didn’t overcook the turkey again this year. We give thanks that we still have jobs, that the kids are doing well in school, that we can pay the heating bill and still manage to fill up our cars with gas. But most of our lists of blessings are for things that have happened or are happening.

Isaiah though, causes us not to look back but to look ahead. And when we do, there are a host of new reasons to give thanks.
Isaiah reminds us first that we have reason to give thanks because God has a vision for the future. God isn’t done yet. God is even yet creating. And this is not some pie in the sky when we all get to heaven kind of vision. It’s a vision for this earth and our future. It’s a vision that doesn’t deny death, people still die, but they don’t die prematurely. Imagine a world where cancer doesn’t strike too soon, where children don’t die of hunger or abuse, where lives are not cut short because of war or oppression. That’s the kind of future God envisions and for which we give thanks.
Now imagine a future where peace is the norm. Where improbable things such as lions and lambs laying down together could possibly happen. Speaking of that, there was an interesting discussion on the email lectionary group this week. It seems there’s a zoo in Jerusalem, Zoo Torah, that tries to meld the animal world with the biblical world. Reportedly there is an exhibit where a lion and a lamb live together. I couldn’t actually find a picture on their website, but let’s for the moment assume that it’s true. There was great discussion on this email group about how often they had to replace the lamb, why the lion might not eat the lamb, and how absolutely cruel it is anyway. And then someone, her name was Fran, challenged whether or not Isaiah’s image of the lion and the lamb were meant to be taken literally. She said instead: What if the "lion" is the aggressor and the oppressor? and the lamb Is the oppressed? The listeners might hear it that way - that a time will come when all peoples will be able to be together in true shalom? This means, of course, that all aggressors - of whatever nation - will put aside their quest for whatever they think *their* national destiny is. They will stop invading other nations because of "national" interests. Britain, France, Russia and the US will stop trying to divvy up resources in the Middle East. China will withdraw from Tibet, North and South Korea will reach a peaceful agreement to reunite, Canada and the US (and France and Norway and all the others) will stop selling weapons to the "enemy" with one hand, and condemning them with the other. Heck, they would even stop making them!!!! ” Now that’s an image I could get behind. And for that kind of vision, we can give thanks.
Even more, imagine a future where abundance is available to all. Where vineyards are planted and grapes harvested and children aren’t born into calamity, and labor is not done in vain. That too is part of God’s image for the future. And for that vision, we have reason to give thanks.
But God doesn’t end there. Not only does God have a vision, but it’s a vision that includes us and all of creation. God delights in God’s people and our offspring are blessed by the lord. And they shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain says the Lord. I give thanks for God’s vision that includes all of God’s creation.
And yet, still more. I give thanks for God’s vision for the world that will come because of God’s grace and God’s persistence, and will not wait for us humans to finally get our act together. There’s an interesting transition in this chapter 65 in Isaiah. Verse 1 says, “I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that did not call on my name. I held out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices.” At the beginning of Chapter 65, God is lamenting the fact that though God has called, the people have not responded. God has begged and pleaded for the rebellious people to turn from their sins and turn again to God and they have not. But by the end of the chapter, in verse 24, God is promising blessing before response. “Before they call I will answer. While they are yet speaking, I will hear.” God calls to God’s people. But God isn’t waiting for us to respond before God acts. God’s activity will not be stopped by our passivity. God will yet find another way. And that’s a very good reason to give thanks.

This year, we have much for which to give thanks. The usual: health, homes, children and parents, a community of believers that supports and encourages us. We have much for which to give thanks that is unique for this year: for transformation, for new ways to worship, for new faces in our midst and new ideas brewing. But we also have much for which to give thanks when we look ahead, with God’s eyes, into God’s future. Thanks be to God that God is not finished with us yet. Thanks be to God that even now, God is at work, bringing God’s vision for the world into being. It is said that we count the number of seeds in an apple, but God counts the number of apples in a seed. May God give us eyes to see with God’s eyes, and hope to live into God’s future, and courage to embrace all of God’s possibilities. With thanksgiving. And with praise. Amen.

Children’s Story: Ask children to name things for which they are thankful. Tell them about Corrie Ten Boom giving thanks for fleas. It was the fleas that kept the guards away and allowed her and others to study the Bible and talk about their faith.