Monday Invocation | Lenten Series: A New Thing

“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 43:19 NRSV)

In January, LGBTQ+ Christians and allies from throughout the QCF community gathered for our 2022 Making a Way Conference. It was an incredible experience—lives were changed, friendships made, and we celebrated the radical belonging we have in Christ. You might remember that our theme passage was Isaiah 43:19, cited above. This same passage makes an appearance in this week’s Lectionary readings, and we’re spending some time revisiting it!

In each of our keynote messages, the themes of the verse were centered in the unique perspectives of the speakers. During our Saturday night Revival Service, the legendary Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder preached a stirring sermon on the new thing God is doing in our midst. She shared a line that has made its rounds on social media:

“Not all dead things are slated for resurrection... God is doing a new thing.”

What a word, right?

Our universe contains endless cycles of growth, contraction, death, and new life. Of course, you may think of the seasons: The lush greens of summer fade into dormancy and death in the winter. Leaves fall, temperatures plummet, and the days darken. Months later, changes begin: The world swells with the sights, sounds, and scents of spring. On some level, each year is a complex system of death and resurrection looping in on itself.

Yet in each of these seasons, as the rhythm of life continues to beat, we know that not everything is permanent. We are often harshly confronted with death in our world. 

Yet it is the very same death—harsh though it may be—that can make way for new life.. Think of decomposition itself as death making space for new life: The old is consumed by new fungi, plants, and animals, feeding the ecosystem and enriching the soil with nutrients. Nature is filled with examples of death nourishing the new life to come, giving way to growth.

Where might we benefit from the nourishing power of death? Where might the ecosystem of a forest or a desert be a template for the work God is doing in and through us? Where might springs of living water be ready to cut through an arid landscape? 

In her Conference message, Rev. Dr. Flunder applied the message of the text to daily life, urging her listeners to let it go—God is doing a new thing. 

What are you holding on to? What are you not letting go? Is it a relationship, occupation, dream, or even belief? Is it fear? Bitterness? Just as Rev. Dr. Flunder said, let it go, beloved. The Spirit of God is doing a new thing, making a new way, springing forth like water in a wasteland. 

Some things must die—no resurrection needed.

We needn’t resurrect injustice: its death nourishes the soil of our flourishing. Exclusion can go and stay gone: Inclusion must take its place. Supremacism and exploitation must end for liberation to make its home.

Easter Sunday is less than 2 weeks away. Next week, we honor the Passion story, remembering Christ’s last days before his crucifixion. We contemplate his own letting go so that God’s new thing could be realized for eternity to come. We celebrate the resurrection that followed.

May it be so with us: May a new way be made for justice and liberation, for belonging and wholeness. May we let dead things go—exclusion, prejudice, supremacism, and toxicity—to make space for the new. Let’s make it a spring cleaning of sorts.

The Spirit is at work in and through us, doing a new thing.

May we yet perceive it.