Sermon – Isaiah 65:17-25 – New Heaven and Earth

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Isaiah 65:17-25 – New Heaven and Earth

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

November 13, 2016

This week the American people elected a new president. New people will be going to Washington in leadership positions for the new Trump administration. We need to keep our nation's new leaders in our prayers. We must also must turn to scripture and ask God for a vision of what God wants our country to look like. God has told us what he would like to see in a new earth. And God has pledged that the spiritual world in heaven will also be changed to accommodate what he wants done on earth. We see God's vision of a new earth and a new heaven from the Book of Isaiah. We will get to this, but first let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

The Book of Isaiah is a composite work from different authors writing at different times and different contexts. But it is all consistent with the work of the Prophet Isaiah, Son of Amoz, who lived in the eighth century before Christ. The final eleven chapters of the book were written to the exiles from Judah living in Babylon in middle of the sixth century BC.

God was about to do a new thing. He was about to use Cyrus, King of Persia, to save his people. Cyrus saved the people of God by defeating the Babylonians and allowing them to return to Judah and Jerusalem to rebuild the homes and farms and city and lives. But they would no longer by an independent kingdom. Rather they were now a province in the great Persian Empire.

God has swept away the old nation because it had not followed him. And now God is ready to reveal his vision for the new country. God wanted his people to remember this vision as they rebuilt their nation. This vision also inspired John, the author of Revelation, to see a new creation of heaven and earth when Jesus returns. I think the God's vision of the new earth and new heaven should inspire us as we work to make America a better place, because our mission as Christians is to implements God's vision of a new earth here and now. And so we offer to our nation God's vision from the Book of Isaiah.

Isaiah 65: 17 “See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.18 But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.

God's vision is that the new earth would be a place of forgiveness. Nothing you have done in the past will matter any more. When you enter into God's new kingdom all your sins are forgiven. And your are free to experience great joy. This part of the new creation is already available for us. It has been available since Jesus' death on the cross and his resurrection. If we turn toward Christ and confess our sin, guilt and shame are instantly removed and we experience great joy and delight.

In God's vision we have some specific tasks we can work on to make joy and delight possible. Listen to the first.

20 “Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach[a] a hundred
will be considered accursed.

In God's new earth the most vulnerable are cared for. Until a century ago the biggest problem facing children was death. Few children lived to be five years old. Today, most children live into adulthood as a result of blessing we have received from God. This brings about great joy and delight. But problems remain. Today, many children grow up in poverty. Their parents lack stable employment. They have to move from town to town looking for work. Some are homeless. God's vision is that they will be care for.

To do this I ask that you bring non-perishable food and paper supplies to church for our Thanksgiving service next week. You will have an opportunity to bring these thing forward during worship. Also you may bring them to the community thanksgiving service at Ocean City Baptist Church next Sunday at 7pm. These gifts will be given to the cold weather shelter which cares for the most vulnerable people and families in our city on the coldest of days.

Also in God's vision, the elderly are cared for. It used to be that few people ever lived into their fifties. But today God has blessed us so that we can live much longer. Some have said that the first person to live to be 150 is already alive today. Our seniors experience great joy and delight, but some problems remain. Many seniors are lonely because their families live far away. They feel isolated and alone. That is why it is so important to visit our elders. I call my Dad every week and try to visit him each month. Remember your parent, aunts and uncles. Visit them as often as you can. And keep them in your prayers.

Let's keep looking at God's vision for a new earth.

21 They will build houses and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.22 No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.

23 They will not labor in vain,
nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,
they and their descendants with them.

In the ancient world people feared losing their land. An army might show up at any time, kill your family, and begin living in your home and farming your farm. Thankfully, God has blessed us in American with stable property right. No one can take our property away from us. And this gives us great comfort and security. But some people do not have housing security. We see many young families moving in Ocean City in November when the rents drop to affordable levels. But when they get here they find few opportunities for employment. Without consistent work they get behind on rent and utility bills and face eviction. This church generously supports the Ocean City Crises Coalition, which helps people when they fall behind paying their bills. I urge your to continue your support to them, and find new ways to help people find employment and affordable housing. Let's go back to God's vision for a new earth.

24 Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear.

This is the most important part of God's vision of a new earth. God will be in it with us. God will hear our prayers. This is the promise of the Holy Spirit in us to know what we need and take our needs to the Father. This is a great blessing because it means that in the new earth a relationship with Jesus is possible. This relationship is the source of our great joy and delight. So if you haven't yet accepted Jesus as Lord, and invited the Holy Spirit into your hearts please see me and I wii help you pray for these thing and receive all of God's blessings.

Once the Holy Spirit is in your heart and you have a relationship with Jesus you will become God's new creation. You will become a new person, transformed into what God created you to be. A new you is what the new earth is all about. And the new you will experience great joy and delight. Here is how Isaiah describes it.

25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.

And so the new earth is a place of peace. People stop fighting with other. Wars come to an end. Our new President Trump cannot make this happen. The government can never bring all conflict to a end. The best it can do is to try to protect us from violence. But God can bring this about. For that to happen the nation must turn to God in prayer. We will do this here at First Presbyterian Church. I urge you and your family to pray for this nation. Get together with others and pray for America. As more and more people pray for the nation we will discover peace, joy and delight.

The vision of God is a world where the needs of the must vulnerable children and seniors are met. It is a world where people can find jobs and live in housing they can afford. It comes comes about as the nation turns to God in prayer. In this new earth we will live in peace and be filled with joy and delight. Let's do it.

Father in heaven we ask for a recreation of our world. Help us to be a world where the vulnerable are cared for, all receive economic justice, and violence is no more. Help us to build this world full of joy and delight. This we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.