3/16/2015 – Monday of the fourth week of Lent – Isaiah 65:17-21

      Isaiah gives a vision of a new heaven and a new earth that the Lord will create, of a new Jerusalem that will be the joy and delight of all the people. Through Isaiah, the Lord announces that these things we will unlike what we’ve known in the past.  Some of the prophets before Isaiah saw the new creation to come as a return to the paradise that was lost to the original sin of Adam and Eve.  Today, Isaiah puts a new twist on the vision, as do the other apocalyptic writings in the Old and New Testaments.  The sickness, pain, suffering, and crying that we have known on this earth will be no more.

       When I thought of this vision of a new heaven and a new earth, I thought about the announcement of new products at the Apple Computer event last week. These Apple events are anticipated greatly by computer users throughout the world, as they announcement new products that will change the way use technology in our daily lives.   To show how much technology changes, I have only been in Tupelo for two years, and before I came here I never had an ipad or a smart phone, and now those are two devices that I use many times each day. Last week, Apple not only announced an Apple watch that does more things that James Bond can even dream of a few years ago, but they debuted a new laptop that is thinner and sleeker than anything else on the market.  Yet, it seems like now, the trend is to make things more fashionable and more “bling-bling” than something more powerful and with more memory.  So, I guess we all have opinions about what “new and improved” means.  And needless to say, this new technology comes with a very hefty price tag.

       The vision that Isaiah brings of no more suffering and no more pain foreshadows the healings and miracles of Jesus, with the healing of son of the royal official in Capernaum.   Out of compassion for the faith of the people, Jesus heals the son and gives him life.  We know the realities of our world, don’t we?  We know that the shiny new computer or smart phone or other piece of technology may seem old or clunky when something new comes out in a matter of months or years.  We also know that pain, suffering, and tragedy are common occurrences in our lives here on year, even lives lived as faithful followers of Christ.  Yet, as we journey through this season of Lent, as we stay true to our Lenten promises and commitments, as we try to live as disciples of Christ, we hope to experience the joy and the peace that only can come from such a commitment, that can only come from the promise of eternal life in him.