Hope and future in God Isa 65 17-25.doc

8/14/2019 Hope and future in God Isa 65 17-25.doc

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Last Sunday of the Church Year 25 Nov2012

Dr Lutz Ackermann (Friedenskirche, Hillbrow)

Hope and Future in God

(Isa 6 !"#$% )

Grace be with &ou and peace o' the one who wasand is and is to come Amen

he L*+D sa&s, I am makin- a new earth andnew hea.ens he e.ents o' the past will becompletel& 'or-otten /e -lad and re0oice'ore.er in what I create he new 1erusalem Imake will be 'ull o' 0o&, and her people will behapp& I m&sel' will be 'illed with 0o& because o'1erusalem and her people here will be no weepin- there, no callin- 'or help

2/abies will no lon-er die in in'anc&, and allpeople will li.e out their li'e span hose wholi.e to be a hundred will be considered &oun-o die be'ore that would be a si-n that I had

punished them 3eople will build houses and-et to li.e in them$$$the& will not be used b&someone else he& will plant .ine&ards anden0o& the wine$$$it will not be drunk b& othersLike trees, m& people will li.e lon- li.es he& will 'ull& en0o& the thin-s that the& ha.e worked'or 4

2012 R EVD D R L UTZ A CKERMANN F RIEDENSKIRCHE , H ILLBROW


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he work the& do will be success'ul, and theirchildren will not meet with disaster I will blessthem and their descendants 'or all time to

come 5.en be'ore the& 'inish pra&in- to me, I will answer their pra&ers ol.es and lambs will eat to-ether7 lions will eat straw, as cattledo, and snakes will no lon-er be dan-erous *n8ion, m& sacred hill, there will be nothin-harm'ul or e.il

(Isa 6 !"#$% )

Dear 'ellow con-re-ants, hope is a 'unn& thin-Ima-ine a &oun- man, his wi'e ran awa&, the& li.ein separation, but he clin-s to that hope ! ma&beone da& she is -oin- to come back Ima-ine acompan& -oin- throu-h a di''icult time andannouncin- retrenchments7 and then ima-ine oneemplo&ee, who sa&s! I hope that in the new &ear I will keep m& 0ob7 I hope it won9t be me who will 'indhersel' without a 0ob soon Ima-ine an :G*submittin- plans and applications to a 'undin-or-anisation, hoping that the& will be appro.ed

;ometimes we cannot li.e without hope ;ometimeshope is all that is le't ;ometimes we clin- a-ainst

all odds in hope to somethin- that is so .er&unlikel& Hope alwa&s en.isa-es somethin-, that isnot $ but could be e do not speak about


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;ometimes, when hope is all that is le't, it can helpto hope in a better 'uture to be able to cope with thepresent For some, hope can be like a ra't,

somethin- to hold onto in storm& times *' course,hope can also be delusi.e, when it is used to dreamo' a better 'uture, onl& to 'or-et or to den& theproblems in the present

And hope is not somethin- we can en'orce I can9t 0ust tell m&sel'! I will now hope this or that Hope ismore like somethin- that comes to us, like a -i't,like somethin- we need to recei.e

he prophet Isaiah, in the .erses that we heardearlier, speaks to people who need hope In thename o' God he speaks about the 'uture Heannounces a state o' blessin-! lon- li'e, nooppression or e>ploitation, success'ul enterpriseand peace'ul and harmonious communit&

*ne mi-ht respond! oh, come on Isaiah, &ou aredreamin- ake up, the realities are di''erent?here is .iolence and crime, unemplo&ment anddisease, in0ustice and stri'e all around us h& do &ou announce a peace'ul paradise, while therealities are so 'ar 'rom that@

/ut i' &ou look at it, it9s not that the prophet doesn9tknow about all the issues In the 'irst part o' this book o' Isaiah we 'ind man& stern warnin-s andlaments! e>pressions not o' dreamin- or wish'ulthinkin-, but o' a stron- and realistic sense o' li.in-a li'e 'ull o' hu-e problems



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/ut it is here, towards the end o' the /ook o' Isaiah, where we encounter this .oice o' promise7 this .oiceo' hope7 this .oice that points to a better 'uture A

.oice inspired b& Godsel' A .oice that sa&s! I ammakin- a new earth and new hea.ens he e.ents o'the past will be completel& 'or-otten =

Isaiah speaks in the name o' the God, who iscreati.e In his times God was understood as thecreator o' the hea.ens and the earth, the .isible andthe in.isible world +emember, in the 'irst creationaccount, on the 'irst pa-es o' the bible, God sa&sa-ain and a-ain that all is


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Cother and her Bhild It is about all the dirt and sinand brokenness o' this world, that becomes thehome, the cradle o' Godsel'?

hile 'or Isaiah all this was still in the 'uture, hardto ima-ine, we can sa&! the new era o' God hascome, has be-un in Bhrist *k, I admit that doesn9tmake it much easier to ima-ine a 'uture, where wol.es and lambs eat to-ether, where lions eatstraw

It remains di''icult 'or us to ima-ine, how 0usticecould e.er happen, where both emplo&ers andemplo&ees are happ&7 where no one su''ers 'rome>ploitation7 to ima-ine a world where people canpeace'ull& en0o& the 'ruit o' their labour oo muchdo we still see o' the opposite happenin-

;o we need to hear this! I am makin- a new earth

and new hea.ens = sa&s the Lord, the Almi-ht& one*nl& the creator o' the ni.erse can make and keepa promise so -reat he promise o' a place wherethere


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he absence o' cr&in- in God9s presence to me isone o' the most hope$inspirin- ima-es o' all eli.e in a world where we could ne.er stop cr&in-! 'or

oursel.es and 'or others and 'or .arious reasons A world that appears to be run b& 'orces o' chaos anddestruction In the 'ace o' that to be able to sa&!Hallelu0ah, we are -oin- to see the kin- that istrue hope

hen Bhrist the in- appears, the new world o'God is complete hen God9s 'uture has arri.ed I want to be read& 'or that? I want to allow Bhrist to be the in- o' m& li'e, e.en toda&? I want to bethere, when God9s new Hea.ens and God9s new5arth are created I want to make sure that I see the wol' and the lamb 'eed to-ether one da& inharmon&

his is, what I belie.e can -i.e true hope to us! thatGod in 1esus came to us, became one o' us Andthat God, in 1esus renews and recreates our world And that God, in 1esus will appear to be the kin- o' 0ustice, who can wipe awa& all tears 'rom our e&es And 'or that, we do ha.e his promise

Amen

And the peace o' God, which is 'ar be&ond humanunderstandin-, will keep &our hearts and mindssa'e in union with Bhrist 1esus now and 'ore.er Amen


Documents

Hope and future in God Isa 65 17-25.doc