“Never again will there be infants who live but a few days, or older people who do not live out their years…” (Isaiah 63:20).
I love the prophecies of Isaiah for the picture they paint of God’s rule and reign. He does not see things just as they are but as they might be. Despite the gloom of realities around him, he literally ‘sees’ another picture, another story, another plan that one day God will bring to pass.
In a week where we have remembered the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of World War 1, and as we remain conscious of the many seemingly insoluble conflicts continuing around the globe, it would be easy to despair of human nature or of the future of humanity upon the earth. It would be easy to believe that life is pointless, and that pain and suffering and death will have the final say.
As the people of God today, we are called to be a people of hope. We are called to breathe the same air as Isaiah, to drink from the same well, and see that there is a hope that is beyond human effort or human wisdom. It is a hope grounded in the activity and love of God Himself. It is required of us to model this hope as a community living in the world.
This month at St Luke’s is a time of looking to the future, of painting a picture of what the future could look like. As Isaiah’s vision harnessed his strength and energy, what is our vision of a community which experiences the love and grace of God? What is the picture that we would paint, that energises us with future hope?
For myself, I ‘see’ people taking time to listen to others, to make new friends. I see people inviting other people, showing hospitality to a stranger, cleaning a mess someone else may have left behind. I see people forgiving one another, refusing to gossip, but honouring and building up. I see all ages interacting, as though the church were one enormous family. I see people enthusiastic in worship, children learning and leading. I see a community of joy and celebration, of wholeness and goodness. I see people drawn and attracted in their droves, curious that people can have such hope in the midst of so much despair.
What do you ‘see’? What can we see together and work for as we move ahead as God’s people? Let’s pray that as the people of St Luke’s we may fulfil God’s call upon us, and have a future hope which, like Isaiah, energies and inspires new generations of hopeful people!