Dr. Hubbard at Fuller Seminary was speaking about the gospel of John and described it as a “new” gospel. He then explained how the Chapter 1 introduced the “new” Word—and the Word was God. Chapter 2 talks about “new” wine, better than that served before. We might guess that chapter 3’s focus is on the “new” birth considering Jesus’ late night discussion with Nicodemus. And chapter 4, he explained, shows how Jesus gives a “new” water that doesn’t ever disappoint.
John’s not alone in this theme of “newness”. Isaiah 42 and 43 speak of the “new” thing that God is doing. And our response to this “new” thing which was hidden from us is to sing a “new” song. The concept of a “new” heaven and “new” earth isn’t just in Revelation 21 but also in Isaiah 66. Through Jeremiah God tells us that He will make a “new” covenant in which we will have the law planted within our hearts. Ezekiel describes God’s work in terms of a “new” spirit that replaces a heart of stone (Ezekiel 11:19; 18:31 & 36:26). In John 13 Jesus gives us a “new” commandment and in Luke 22 we see Jesus at the last supper introducing us to a “new” covenant. And then there are the six or more time the Psalms speak about singing to God a “new” song.
Paul reminds the Corinthian church that the Church has been called to be ministers of this “new” covenant which gives life (3:6) and that because we are in Christ we are “new” creations (5:17). Beyond that we’re told that as we live out this life in Jesus we are to put on a “new” self (Ephesians 4:23; Colossians 3:10). Because of Jesus we’ve been given a “new” birth into a living hope (1 Peter 1:3) and it is Jesus whom Hebrews declares is the mediator of this “new” covenant which opened to us a “new” and living way into God’s presence.
In Revelation the “new” heaven and “new” earth that Peter declares we are looking forward too becomes a reality (1 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21). And in the fullness of God’s kingdom we’re given a “new” name (Revelation 3:12); we will sing a “new” song (Revelation 5:9) and we will see the one seated on the throne who said “I am making (present perfect tense) everything ‘new’!”
It seems pretty clear that there is a pattern with God and that God is busy, still, doing a new thing, making people new, changing lives, reshaping our world, healing and the like. Yet it strikes me as odd that with all of this emphasis on “newness” we are so prone to hold on to the old? When you get down the root of the issue we like the old because it’s comfortable and safe and because we’re use to it. Our human attitude is we prefer that which we know to that which we don’t know. Let’s take our emotional investment in what makes us feel comfortable and set it aside. What if those concepts, ideas, thoughts and the like which allow us to be safe and comfortable are also empty; unable to give us life and, in fact, actually keep us from experiencing real life?
I have an old pair of shoes that are comfortable and well broken in. The soul has come apart from the upper. Even walking across a wet lawn allows my socks to get soaked. I’ve taken them in to two different places and they cannot be fixed. But they are my “comfortable” shoes I whine.
Consider this. If God were free to do something “new” with you, in you or through you what might He choose to do? Let me rephrase it. If Jesus had His way in your life what “new” thing would He cause to burst forth in your life? What would this “newness” do in your family, with your neighbors, the world or even in your own hearts and soul?
I believe that deep down within each of us is a desire to have God uses us in a world-shaking way. We may have lost the passion of that because it’s been buried under years of doing our own thing but it’s there because it’s a God-given part of our creation. Don’t get down on yourself because we’re not alone. For that matter we have two great examples of this in the story in John 5.
The lame man and the Jewish leaders both had lost their ability to see God move. The had become so locked into their own world of comfort that when confronted with Christ’s moving they are astounded by it.
The lame man knows how God moves. God moves the water and the first person in the water is healed. In 38 years he hadn’t seen it happen often but often enough that he still came down every day to wait and to beg (there was little else he could do). Over the course of the years he’d become comfortable with his excuses. When Jesus asks, “do you want to be healed he is quick to give an excuse rather than an answer.
The leaders knew God would move by sending Messiah. He’d make things right. He’d kick out Rome and make Israel the great center of the universe like it was back then when David was king. In the 400 years since Malachi, during a period of silence they still held on to this belief. Yet over the course of the years they had become comfortable with their rules and regulations which allowed them to judge if someone was “good” or “bad”. When Jesus moves by healing this man on the Sabbath it violates their safety zone and they can’t accept it.
Both of these were bound by their past because they were bound up in their past. One reason that Jesus returns to the man and tells him, ”See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you” (v. 14, is most likely because there was a linkage between his lameness and some sin. Jesus confronts this man’s past as well as his need for healing.
When Jesus confronts the leaders with their presuppositions he is rejected and the seek to kill him.
When Jesus enters into these folks lives He does something startlingly new. Jesus tell us that He isn’t doing this on His own whim but He’s only doing what He sees the Father doing and can only do what His Father tells Him to do.
Personal Reflection:
Consider what would it mean for God to meet our expectations. That’s just another way of rephrasing those questions I asked earlier. It’s as if Jesus were asking us, “do you want to be made well?” Do we?
Ø Do we want to see God move in our life it means we have to shelve some of those past things that make us comfortable and safe?
Ø Do we want to see God move in our life if it means saying no to our religious rules and our pet sins?
Ø Do we want to see God move in our life if it means letting go of the way we relate to others, the way we view worship, the way we deal with our family, and neighbors, etc.?
What is it that locks us into the “old” so that it limits what we expect from God? It may deal with the type of people we like. Our bigotry doesn’t let us believe God really loves people with different skin colors as much as he loves us. Maybe it’s the way we view worship. We believe the pastor’s prayers are heard by God better than our own. Or that only when church gets done in one hour can worship really be meaningful. Maybe we’ve become comfortable with the age of our congregation so that young families disturb our comfort level more than they excite us. Or we believe we can’t reach such people because we have nothing in common with them.
Our lifestyles may have caught up with us so that our habitual sin and our denial of it keeps God from doing something “new” with us. Perhaps it’s the situations we’ve been through that seem to suck any possibility of “newness” from around us. Illness, injury, bad relationships etc. can drag us down and tie us up. Whatever it is, I’ll bet there is something in our past that seeks to hold us captive to it and gets in the way of letting us see God do something new in our life. And knowing what this might be helps set us free.
Spend time asking God not only what it is that keeps us too comfortable but also to break through into your life and do something “new” and “exciting” in your life this week. And to the level we’re willing to be touched we’ll see God at work.
