Isaiah 65:17-25; Mark 16:14-18 Ain’t No Mountain High Enough 9 23 18

If you have ever tried to sell or buy or rent a place to live, you know that it
is a process of competing visions. When you are the seller, you have a vision of
the people who are going to be purchasing your home, what they will value about
the property you have tended, and how they will continue to develop the homey-
ness you experienced in your residence. When you are the buyer or renter, you
have a vision that you bring with you of what you want your new place to be like.
You cast an image of yourself in a new place, your belongings in fresh spaces and
artwork taking a new perspective in distinct shades of daylight.
Usually, everyone involved in this process of buying and renting has the
unspoken desire that everything should be perfect. Turn-the-key-and-move-in
perfect. We know on some level that the vision of perfection will not be found in
an existing residence. The buyers need to bring with them a vision that they can
realize in the space that is present. The renters need to be able to fashion this
new place into something that fits their identity as it is, or as they hope it will
become.
According to the prophet, Isaiah, God has a vision – a vision of perfection
for our residence on earth that will shape our identity as the people of God. At
the time this section of the book of Isaiah was written, the people of Israel had
just returned from exile in Babylon, where they were in servitude to their captors.
They worked the fields so the Babylonians could eat, built homes for the
conquerors, and existed in conditions that threatened their longevity and the
health and well-being of their children. Into this situation of oppression, God’s

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vision of new heavens and a new earth must have come like cool water on a sun-
parched day.
When we think about the gods that were worshiped in ancient times, we
think about the gods on the side of the conquerors and successful people. The
gods of war, harvest, and sea were gods to be appeased. If the gods were happy,
the people would flourish. The god of the Israelites, Yahweh, was the God of All.
Yahweh was and is the God of all people, including those who are captive, exiled,
imprisoned, poor, hungry and homeless. The vision that God casts through Isaiah
is for life for those who weep, for workers, mothers, elders and even for wolves,
lambs, lions and oxen. No one will be hurt anywhere on the mountain.
God’s vision of creating longevity, health, wholeness, and ownership is
summed up this way: I will delight in you; I will make your identity as a people:
JOY.
Before you create something, you have to have a vision of it.
I have had the privilege of sitting in on the task force meetings of the 2019
sabbatical and 150th anniversary of our church. Each group is casting a vision that
is informed by input from everyone in the congregation. The vision includes food,
dance, worship, music, and collaborative projects, outreach about our programs,
outreach to assist people with needs, and a vision of being known in the
community as a family of faith that cares about people who are hungry or
homeless, people who need to be connected, and being known as a community
that cares about growing in spiritual strength, and sharing our vulnerabilities.
God promises to create something new in our midst, too. Od has created a
new vision for us that is bold and engaged. It is a vision that cmpowers us to cast

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a vision of hope for the oppressed, and embrace for the weary, and
enlightenment for all who have narrowed their perspectives of life.
Let’s revisit the housing scenario again, where there are a variety of visions
coming together at once. Added into the mix of these visions are the agents
helping you sell, buy or rent. In my recent experience of putting my house on the
market, I was surprised to receive counsel to make my home as impersonal as
possible. Almost like a hotel room. No family photos on the bookshelves – or
ideally no bookshelves at all. The agent advises a blank slate onto which the new
individual or family can attach their own vision of the space. In other words, the
house or apartment should fit the vision of whatever stranger is coming through
the door. Not that I would have ANY idea what that vision is. Lighter curtains to
let in more light? No curtains at all? Old fashioned cabinets for the hipsters, or
new white cabinets for the young family? Open floor plan, or cozy small rooms?
I am equipped with an agent – someone who works on my behalf to
facilitate my vision into reality. Whoever will by my house will be equipped with
an agent working on their behalf. The reality is that there will not be a bidding
war over my property, it will not sell for 2 million dollars (really!) and I will not
find a 2-flat condo in the woods, on Lake Michigan with a $200 monthly
assessment in the city of Chicago. This is why I need an agent to equip me for
transforming my expectations even while keeping my vision of a future home.
God equipped the people with a prophet, with history, with future and with
hope. When God said, I am creating new heavens and a new earth, that did not
mean that the people were to sit on their hands and wait for justice, equity,
spiritual growth and economic development to happen around them. God

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creates something new by giving a vision. The vision is part of equipping us.
Without a vision, the people, you and I, don’t know what to strive and hope for.
There are many congregations that need to be equipped to do the ministry
they are called to do. For our church family, we are equipped. We have the tools,
the leadership, the heart and the resources. We are poised to engage the vision
of wholeness given by God through Isaiah; poised to implement the vision of faith
given by Christ to the disciples; poised to embody the vision of inter-cultural
embrace given through Holy Spirit at Pentecost. We are equipped with staff who
are dedicated to the success of ministry here. We are equipped with members
who willingly share their talents of art, teaching, caregiving, and presence here.
We are equipped with the facilities to invite the community to find nurture,
education, joy and support.
For instance, in the next six months, because we are equipped with this
sanctuary building, we will host three activities of Interfaith Action of Evanston:
the Fall meeting with mayor Hagerty, the annual Thanksgiving service and the
emergency overnight shelter. In this space there will be a wedding, a funeral,
recitals, 12 step meetings, and gatherings of the Lakeside Buddha Sangha. This is
part of a larger vision of care and outreach in the community. Without the vision,
these activities would not be possible.
Our vision also includes ministry with children. Because we are equipped
with the Church House, there are children in our midst going to montessori
school, theater classes, Sunday school, and confirmation. Because of God’s vision,
there are homeless children with us every day, sheltered, and the youth group of
Evanston Bible Fellowship every week.

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 We are equipped to nurture all of these endeavors and more. There is
nothing to keep us from realizing the vision that God has given to us – the vision
of being an egalitarian, other-centered, youth-affirming, hospitable and faithful
JOY to the world around us.
We are the bearers of a vision, called to live as though we believe God is
continuing to create and recreate our endeavors toward that vision. We do not
have to wait for God to create something tangible and perfect for us to move
into. God has already created the vision and equipped us to make it reality.
Amen.

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Isaiah 65:17-25s
For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall
not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I
am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a
delight. I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the
sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it
an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a
lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one
who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. They shall build houses
and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not
build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days
of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work
of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they
shall be offspring blessed by the Lord— and their descendants as well. Before
they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. 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.

Mark 16:14-18
Later he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were sitting at the table; and
he upbraided them for their lack of faith and stubbornness, because they had not
believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, “Go into all
the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation. The one who
believes and is baptized will be saved; but the one who does not believe will be
condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my
name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up
snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them;
they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”