Isaiah 65:17-25
August 27, 2006
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the Annual Outdoor Worship and Church Picnic of the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.
Our church has had the tradition of a church picnic and outdoor worship for many years. This year, I was wondering why! Why would we want to drive all the way to Sunnyvale when we can almost drive to FCBC with our eyes closed? Why would we want to sit on these hard concrete steps when we have cushioned pews in our sanctuary? Why would I want to speak loudly without a microphone when our sanctuary is all-wired up for sound and powerpoint? Why would we want to make ourselves vulnerable to bugs and sunburn when San Francisco is almost free of insects and foggy?
Have you ever wondered why? Whenever we place ourselves in an unfamiliar new place, we are more vulnerable. We have to work harder to watch for, listen to, figure out, and trusting in what is new in order to participate in what’s going on. We have to find out where the restrooms are. We need to find a place to spread out our picnic blanket. We will need to know where the food line is for our barbecue lunch.
By choosing to come to the church picnic, we permit ourselves to become more open to what God has in store for us. If it’s too sunny, we can’t make the fog from SF come down to Sunnyvale. When we realize that we are not always in control, we are more open to listening for God’s word for our lives and for the world.
God’s Glorious Creation
Today’s Scripture lesson is prophet Isaiah’s vision of what God’s intentions are for the world. When we come together for our annual church picnic and outdoor worship, we choose to reflect this vision of God’s glorious creation.
God is about to create new heavens and a new earth that are life-giving. God won’t remember the old, former, previous and failed times in the past. But the new world with God is filled with unbound joy and delight beyond measure! No one comes to a picnic expecting to be sad. Isaiah said, “No more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress.” We come expecting to have a lot of fun—to have joy! We have fun games and activities planned for you by our Sports Ministry Committee.
God’s plan for us is to become people who value and respect everyone. We want our children to have a long life of fulfilling God’s plan for them. We want our seniors and elders to live long to continue sharing their wisdom and teachings to the next generation. This is the reason why we sponsor a bus for some of our people so that they can also enjoy the picnic. We need them here to truly reflect God’s people. We practice hospitality when we make sure our children and elders have food to eat. So no cutting in line for the barbecue unless you are getting food for elders like me!
In God’s plan for his people, we can expect to receive the fruits of our labor. We get to build a home and actually live in it. We get to plant a vineyard and eat of its fruits. We get to plant vegetables and enjoy fresh produce. For those who are laboring away in front of the barbecue grills, they understand this. They get to eat what they cook. But the deeper meaning is that as a church, this picnic reflects a celebration of the many ministries and programs that have been done in the name of Christ. At the end of the summer, we celebrate the many who heard about Jesus and we get the chance to give God praise.
God’s glorious new creation calls us to live in harmony. Isaiah says, “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent—its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.” This means that God calls us to live and work together in peace. When we are back in San Francisco, we find ourselves going to different worship services, attending different Sunday school classes, having lunch with mainly our small circle of friends. God is calling us to worship and sing together, to read the Bible together, and to spread out our picnic blankets next to people we don’t really know too well yet. This is God’s holy mountain where harmony and fellowship exist.
God’s Grace
In this passage from Isaiah, we get the chance to see God’s grace. Grace is God’s love and forgiveness of us that we didn’t deserve. Most likely for all of us, we find it terribly hard to accept God’s grace. We like to be in control of the things around us like being in doors when we can control the sound equipment and weather. But in grace, God is the one who is in charge. He is in charge of the weather, the ordering of the sun and the moon, the world that he intends life to be.
God creates new heavens and a new earth and sent Jesus Christ into the world out of grace. In the gospel of John, Jesus is the Bread of Life. By the grace of God, we have been given the bread of heaven in Jesus. It is through him that we are renewed. We didn’t deserve this. But God’s grace to create new heavens and a new earth means that God gives us Jesus Christ to save us from our sins so that we may have eternal life with God.
What we experience through Jesus Christ is that new beginnings are possible. We can face the future spiritually nourished and our past forgiven because of the grace of God. The broken body and the spilled blood of Christ invite us to a new life on God’s holy mountain.
Picnic Joy
Why we put ourselves out here to experience all of the inconveniences of not being at our familiar and fail-safe church building is to reflect God’s glorious creation. We know that there is still sadness in our world when war and disease cause infants to live for only days and that old people fall short of living to a hundred. We know that there are enslaved people who work and not able to benefit from their labors or grow food and still go to sleep hungry. We know that in our world, the wolf still feeds on the lamb, the lion still eats the ox, and the snake still bites.
But we also know that in Jesus Christ, God’s glorious creation is here and unfolding right before our eyes. We come together for our annual church picnic to reflect God’s glorious creation that is here even if it is for just a little while!
Enjoy the good food. Enjoy the opportunity to meet a new friend. Enjoy the privilege of serving and valuing one another. Enjoy the love that none of us deserved but is God’s grace in Jesus Christ. Enjoy the fellowship that comes from the Holy Spirit. Spread your picnic blanket next to someone you don’t know yet but will today.
This is God’s picnic joy—God wants us to rejoice and be glad forever because Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life is God’s grace.
Let us pray.
God of creation who have made the heavens and the earth, we come today in praise and thanksgiving for the abundance that we see, the fellowship of being sisters and brothers, and the opportunity to worship you today as your glorious creation living in one accord with Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. Grant us the joy of receiving your grace and challenge us to become your people in witness of Christ, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
Questions for Discussion
1. Share what is your most favorite picnic food.
2. Identify a “joy” in your life today.
3. How do you see FCBC reflecting God’s glorious life-giving creation to people and striving to work toward living peaceably in the world?