"Springing Forth"
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Isaiah 43:16-21; Fifth Sunday of Lent

Introduction: You are probably familiar with Winnie the Pooh. One of the characters of Winnie the Pooh is Tigger. Tigger is an exhuberant, fun loving, tiger. And at least once in every episode, Tigger sings this song: “The wonderful thing about tiggers, Is tiggers are wonderful things! Their tops are made out of rubber; Their bottoms are made out of springs! They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy, Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! Fun! But the most wonderful thing about tiggers is I'm the only one! I’m…..the only one!”

Now Tigger adds fun and excitement to the show, because Tigger is always trying to have fun; Tigger always tries to pep everyone up. Tigger looks on the positive side of things, especially when things are looking down.

This morning, I want us to be more like Tigger, and understand that things can spring forth for the good when we trust in God. And Lent challenges us all the time to trust all the more. So as we look at our passage in Isaiah, I want you to keep this idea of the positive, of springing forth, in your head.

I. Don’t Remember the Former Things- (Isaiah 43:16-18; Philippians 4:12)

a. Don’t remember- One man saw his friend looking a little down, and

so he said: "Say, you look depressed. What are you thinking about?" "My future," was the quick answer." What makes it look so hopeless?""My past."

Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe once said: “Do not say, ‘Why were the former days better than these?’ You do not move ahead by constantly looking in a rear view mirror. The past is a rudder to guide you, not an anchor to drag you. We must learn from the past but not live in the past.

You must learn from the past, but not live in the past. These are good words.

The reason they are good words, is because whether our past is good or bad, dwelling on the past will not help us. If things were good in the past, then we are probably wanting the present to be as good as the past was. This keeps us from experiencing the good of the present that will be different than it was in the past. For example, let’s say in the past you had an active, fun life, with lots of friends. You got to do many things you wanted to do. But in the present, you have kids, or grandkids, and things have changed. If you dwell on this past, that had different responsibilities, then you won’t enjoy the wonderful present God has given you. You will be constantly comparing it to something that doesn’t exist anymore.

On the other hand, if the past was bad, and you dwell on it, then you will have trouble in your present, because you can’t free your mind from what happened. By dwelling on the past, it drags you down. It will consistently bring back to you pain and heartache, fear and anger, lostness and confusion. As Isaiah 43:18 says, “Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.”

The past is …to hold us firm in the present, and guide us into the future. The past cannot hold too much weight in our lives, because it will keep us from fully experiencing the present. EXAMPLE- As I coach Tyler in baseball, there are times when I think about how just a few years ago I was enjoying playing slow pitch softball. But then Tami got pregnant with Tiffany, and we moved back to California, and we took the job here at Community Pres. Things got busy with 2 kids and a new job, and I didn’t (and still don’t) have the time to play. Well, I suppose I do have the time to play, but it would be at the sacrifice of my time with Tami and the kids. So by dwelling on the past, I keep myself from enjoying the present time I have of teaching Tyler and Tiffany how to play baseball.

b. Getting past the past- So an important question is: How do I get past

the past? The past is a strong draw on our minds. We like to think about how things were good in the past. And usually, they are better in our remembering than they actually were at the time!! And unfortunately, we like to let our past haunt us as well. We seem to be so willing to let current experiences dredge up the hurt, confusion, and struggles of our past. So let’s look at 4 ways to help us get past the past. This is not an exhaustive list, but if practiced, it will benefit us greatly.

One helpful way to “get past the past” is to learn how to set boundaries. Boundaries help us to say “yes” to that which is healthy, and helpful, and productive, and to say “no” to that which will bring us down or cause us harm. Setting boundaries doesn’t mean doing less and less. It means to know what to allow into our lives, and what to keep out. As Ethel Barrymore said: “You must learn day by day, year by year, to broaden your horizon. The more things you love, the more you are interested in, the more you enjoy...the more you have left when anything happens.” Setting boundaries is about cultivating interests and friends that will help us to become who God created us to be in the present.

A second helpful practice is meditation. The meditation I am talking about is the practice of being in God’s presence and listening to God’s voice. Often our problem is that we listen to the voice of our past. If we can learn how to feel God’s presence and hear God’s voice, instead of the voice of the past, then we will be in a better place to let God work in and through us in healthy and fruitful ways.

A third helpful step is to accept the present. What this means is that you receive who you are now, and what you have now, and rejoice in it. Now if there are struggles in your life, then you make a plan how you can, with God’s help, get past them. As Paul says in Philippians 4:12- “I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” You cannot move on in your life if you can’t accept where you are right now.

And last, you need to learn from the past. Isaiah 43:16-17 tells us- “This is what the LORD says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick.”

In these verses, Isaiah is reminding the people of what God did for them in the past; God saved them from the Egyptians by giving them a path through the Red Sea, and by extinguishing the Egyptian army. If God has done that in the past, God will do that in the present and the future as well.

II. A New Thing Springs Forth- (Isaiah 43:19)

a. New things- If we can get past the uncomfortable feeling of change, we

can see that change is actually a good and exciting thing of life. Think about if there was never any new life. People died, but babies were never born. Human existence would be short lived. OR, Think about how if babies were born, but people never died. We would have a terrible population problem!

PASS OUT A BABY TO EACH SIDE OF THE CONGREGATION, AND ONE FOR JAMIE AND THE CHOIR. As they pass around the babies say:

“There is something wonderful about babies. A baby is cute and cuddly. A baby is very loveable. A baby is there to be taken care of, which reminds us that we need to be taken care of. A baby can’t do things on its own, and must be helped. This reminds us that we need to be helped. A baby is the reminder that there is new life.” As Isaiah 43:19 says- “I am about to do a new thing…”

If God did not do new things, then life and the world as we know it would be terribly stagnant. A couple months ago I used an illustration with the Jordan river, the sea of Galilee, and the Dead Sea. As I thought about our topic for this morning, I realized that this illustration fits very well into what I wanted us to understand, so I’m going to use it again….

Illustration- The Sea of Galilee is a fresh and pure body of water. If you open your eyes under water, you can see for quite a distance. It is filled with much life. Fresh water flows into it from the Jordan river, and then the water flows out. But the Dead Sea is different. The Jordan river flows into it as well, but there is no outlet for the water to flow on. Consequently, it is filled with minerals. If it touches your eyes it will burn them. There is a terrible smell to the water, and if you lie in it, the water is so thick that you will float on top of it. Here you have a contrast between one body of water that receives and gives away, and is alive, while the other only takes, but doesn’t give away and is dead.

b. How to perceive the new things- This is the difference between letting

change happen in our lives, and not accepting the change that happens. When we don’t accept the changes in life, then we will not grow, we will not move forward, we will be stagnant, and in many ways DEAD. In Isaiah 43:19, God asks- “…now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?”

God is calling out to us to perceive all that He wants to do in your life,

and in my life, and in our church. God is telling us to recognize and receive what He is springing forth into our lives. And so we have to understand how to perceive these things that are of God.

Example- My son Tyler was very observant as a child. When he was 14 months old, right before Christmas, we put him down for a nap one day. While he was asleep, we decorated the house for Christmas. I remember that when Tyler woke up, Tami brought him into the living room. Tyler looked around, and could tell that things were different; that something had been changed. He then proceded to go around the room and point at all the things that were different!!

We need to be more observant in life. When you are reading your Bible, to be observant means that there will be times God will reveal something to you. As you think about applying what you read, you will bring the change God wants. If you are in prayer, and something comes upon your heart, maybe God is directing you to pray for someone or something, and through your prayers God will bring about change. As you are listening to a sermon, God may impress upon you an action He is calling you or the church to take. You need to act upon that.

Do you not perceive the change that I am springing forth? God asks us.

We need to give the answer “yes” to God. But to give this answer we need to understand that God uses “ALL” of His people to bring forth change. Be aware that God is a God of change, and we are His change agents.

III. I Give- (Isaiah 43:16-21)

a. Saying “no”- Deal or No Deal is a popular show these days on NBC.

The way the show works is that there are 25 cases. In each case there is a number ranging from .01 to a million dollars. The contestant eliminates cases, and based on the amounts of money remaining in the cases after each round, a banker offers a figure of money to try and keep the contestant from getting too much of the money. So if the contestant can keep the higher cases of money ($500,000, $750,000, and $1,000,000) in play, then the offer will go higher and higher. Last Sunday I was watching the show, a man had received an offer of $218,000 to walk away. He turned down the offer. From there he proceded to choose cases that had large amounts in them, and his offers went down (all the way to $77,000). This was still a lot of money, but he turned it down as he still had the $500,000 case in play. He continued to choose cases, finding the lower amounts, and his offer went back up to about $147,000. All he had left was the $10 case, the $100 case, and the $500,000 case. He chose to go on, and he chose the $500,000 case! This left him with basically nothing. I stopped watching after that. I couldn’t believe that he didn’t take the offer.

There are so many people in life that I feel choose to live in this same way. It seems that there are many things that are given to them, but they choose to risk it all and in the end don’t have much left. They don’t understand what has been given to them, and so they “say no” to seek after what they feel is a greater prize.

b. Saying “yes”- You see, part of the problem is that when we think of

gifts, we think of physical objects. I have a house, a car, a television, and so on. I see these as gifts from God. I am thankful for them. And yet, are they really gifts from God? Does God care if I have a car? Does God care if I have a television? Now, I can use them to benefit the way I live my life. I use my car to help others, and to give others rides, and to get to my meetings and to do ministry. But it isn’t necessarily a gift from God.

I think more of the gifts God brings to me, is my life, my salvation, my wife, my kids, my faith. God also brings the gifts of forgiveness, and restoration. God gives me the gift of prayer and meditation. God gives me the gift of a church and the family of God, which loves me and supports me. These are the gifts of God. This is what we should be saying “yes” to. These are the greater prizes we should be seeking.

But God also gifts the gift of guidance and forging the way for us. As we are told in 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….for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people…” God is there to guide us. He will make a way in the wilderness for us. As we move forward, as we seek to recognize the changes that are to be made, God will prepare the way before us.

Unfortunately, all too often we make our own way, and then try and call it God’s. We seek out things of the world, and try to say they are God’s. God is not concerned with our possessions, God is concerned with the state of our heart. Are we seeking God more and more, are we loving God more and more, are we caring for the sick, the oppressed, the lost, and the outcast? This is what God calls us to.

Conclusion: Easter is just 2 weeks away. Easter; the day in which Christ was raised from the dead so that all who believe in Him might have eternal life. Easter did not happen so that we could seek things. Easter happened so that we might seek God. Easter happened so that God could be alive again in your heart and my heart.

God wants to do a new thing. God wants to spring forth in your life and my life. I pray that this season of Lent and Easter, you would perceive this new thing that God wants to do in you. What do you need to stop seeking, so that you will seek after God? Where do you need to focus your life, so that God can guide you in His ways? What change needs to be made? Accept that God loves change. Let this change happen in the present, so that your future can be all that God has for you. Amen.