MINISTER’S REFLECTION
“Behold, I Am Doing a New Thing”
by the Rev. Bryan Fulwider
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. - Isaiah 43:18-19
These verses, set in the midst of a tragic situation for the children of Israel, reveal a timeless theological concept: God is about new beginnings, and what may yet be. This is the God of honest faith, the God of the great Abrahamic traditions; this divine presence in our humble lives is continually reminding us that we are not to sit back with either weak resignation that there is no future or smug arrogance that we have it all figured out. This is the God who says, “Pay attention! Crane your neck a little; stay with me… because great things are about to occur.”
The other day I saw a bumper sticker that read, “So, how’s that hope and change workin’ for ya?” I get the sarcasm, and the political statement, but what struck me about this was an underlying message of how a hopeless and changeless world might be better. As human beings we are often and easily seduced by the ideas that we should try to stop things from moving forward and work to make things the way they used to be. Homeostasis is a powerful force, and romantic notions of “the good old days” tend to feed our worst fears. But as Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet poetically reminds us, “…life goes not backward, nor tarries with yesterday.”
Many years ago, as a college student, I had the rare privilege of meeting Paul Harvey (of Paul Harvey News fame). I had listened to his news reports and “The Rest of the Story” segments nearly countless times as a young person. I was a huge fan. When he was the keynote speaker at a special celebration of the opening of a new large educational center at my little college, I showed up early to get a front row seat in the auditorium. Mr. Harvey did not disappoint that day! With his distinctive voice and confident presence, he delivered a speech about how the “good old days” weren’t always so good. While he was able to celebrate the timeless good that is a potential resource for every age, he was clear that we were, in those early days of the 1980’s, beneficiaries of great progress which had occurred. He suggested that we ought not opine the present as a time of loss, but rather embrace the good which has come and build upon it. In other words, for Paul Harvey, the concepts of “hope and change” were working well for him.
The people of God, in every age, from generation to generation, are people willing to embrace “hope and change” seeking to discern what new thing God may be doing in each new day. We are people who believe, from the earliest days of the old Congregationalist movement, that revelation is progressive (God is still speaking). We would do well to be wary of those who with seductive ideas of going back to some “halcyon day of yore” would serve only to dim our hearts and minds from opening our spirits to the Spirit of the God of new things. Let’s do our best to steer clear of regressive, reactive, and recalcitrant attitudes about life.
Clergyman and Professor John Robinson, who gave the farewell address to the Pilgrims in 1620 as they prepared to set sail for the Plymouth Plantation, a man of irenic spirit, who taught as a Christian value liberality and tolerance of thought and life, whose words are oft quoted in our fellowship, “I am verily persuaded the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth from His holy word,” continues to be a beacon for us today. His commitments to a scholarly clergy, a theologically educated laity, an autonomous church body, and a commitment to reform from corruption and superstition, continue to guide our fellowship as we commit ourselves daily to the God of new things. I celebrate with you the coming year’s journey in God’s new things for our community of faith and for the world.
