The Lutheran Hour
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"Don’t Dwell in the Past"
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Text: Isaiah 43:18-19
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Our text is from Isaiah 43 verses 18 and 19: Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Heavenly Father, by Your grace You have brought us through the challenges and blessings of the past to this very moment. Through Your Son, Jesus, You have made our lives precious and filled with hope. By Your Word, encourage us and give us hope. Amen.
On the windshields of most cars hangs a very useful device. We call it the rear-view mirror. It allows you to glance at what is behind you without taking your eyes off of what is ahead. Like many inventions, it has an interesting history.
The first cars did not have them. In the early 1900s, drivers might carry a little hand-held mirror so occasionally they could see what was behind them. The first car reported to have had a rear-view mirror was in the 1914 Indianapolis 500. The reason was because the driver could not find a mechanic to ride with him to watch the traffic behind.
In Isaiah’s time, there were neither rear-view mirrors nor cars to put them in. But in his words, we learn both the value and the harm there can be in seeing what is behind us, and focusing on what is ahead. Our text invites us to take a good look at the past; but not to linger nor to lament, but to learn from it how to live today and tomorrow.
You’ve heard people say: “Boy, those were the good old days,” “Remember when?” “They don’t make them like they used to.” How about you? Are your best days behind you, or is the best yet to come? The past can be a trap in which we get stuck when we linger over it. God’s people in Isaiah’s time were lingering in the past. Their focus was the glory days when God delivered their ancestors from slavery in Egypt, and brought them to the Promised Land.
Those days were gone.
Now they were captives in Babylon, some 600 miles from home. Those miles of desert between them and their homeland seemed like an impossible barrier. They knew that God was able in the past to do great things; but they were not expecting great things now.
Isaiah’s words must have been shocking to them. Remember not the things of the past? They had always been taught to remember their history! Even Isaiah, a few chapters before this, had told them to remember God’s ways! But Isaiah was warning them that they were looking back so much that they were not looking forward. They were living in the past, in the good old days, and failing to see the promised way through the present.
In our home, we have thousands of pictures that remind us of earlier days in our life. We enjoy reminiscing as we look at baby pictures, or school day scenes! It’s a good way to remember blessings! But lingering in the good old days, thinking the best is behind us, is not what God wants remembering to do. No amount of wishful thinking brings the past back. Life moves forward; we cannot turn backwards the hands of time.
Besides lingering on good times, lamenting bad ones is dangerous. How many war veterans wish they could erase the ugly, painful, and permanent memory scars of war? How many weep today when they remember what occurred on the other side of the world more than 60 years ago? And even if you have never worn a uniform, you might be a veteran of other battles. People say, “I just can’t get past it… I can’t get out of my mind what happened that day. It’s engraved in my memory.”
Isaiah’s audience was lamenting their situation, knowing that it was their own sin, their own lack of faith that had brought about captivity. They felt unable to live up to the heroes of history – and so unwilling to seize their future.
And so it can be for us. We may get so lost in our own failures that we continue to compound them. People may daily rehearse in their mind a time when they failed, and feel bound to fail again. Like the father who feels so badly about neglecting his children early in life that he keeps on neglecting them later in life
Not long ago, I visited with a young man in jail. He was sorry for crimes he had done that now seemed to threaten his dreams. Would he ever get to go to college? Would he ever get a good job? Would people ever forget? Well, criminals are not the only ones who find that what has been done is always a part of your record. Are there things you have done for which you will not even forgive yourself?
Lamenting can be a chain, an anchor, keeping us from being able to move forward. We may become captives to our own history. We allow the failures of the past to continue to write our story today. Oh, the past is full of excuses! Abuse, gluttony, temper, even addictions – every one of them can be blamed on the past. But what good is that?
History does not repeat itself, but we may repeat the same mistakes of history – if we don’t learn from them. Instead of repeating the same failures over and again, and making the ruts of habit even deeper so they’re harder to climb out of, what does Isaiah say? “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”
Some people do great things, and then coast on their reputation. It is not so with God. Oh, yes, He has done wonders in the past – but He would do even greater things. For Isaiah’s people, desert sand and personal guilt seemed impossible barriers. They were not, however, impossible for God. He would, and He did, deliver them.
The same God with the same power is available to deal with your needs today. Where is your desert? Is your present pain or guilt so severe that you can’t dare to think about tomorrow, much less look forward to it? Is the future so anxious you wish tomorrow was already yesterday? Is the past behind you? Are you waiting for the past to return?
Jesus is the way to move from lingering and lamenting to learning and living. Jesus could have lingered on the good old days in heaven. He could have lamented being falsely accused and condemned. Some people never gave Him credit for anything, because He was just the carpenter’s son from Nazareth; nothing good comes from there.
Jesus also knew suffering and death lay ahead of Him, but He did not retreat to the past. He forged ahead. He blazed a trail more glorious than Israel through the wilderness. He went to a death He did not deserve so that you could always make a comeback, you could always have hope!
When Jesus rose from death, God did a new thing – a marvelous thing! He cancelled the power of your sin to condemn you! He unshackled us from the power of the past! He destroyed the power of death! He emptied the grave of its power! He opened the door to an eternal, bright future for everyone. Jesus is not merely an inspiring example for you. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
To all who have faith in Jesus, God gives a brand new way of looking at the past and the future. Even better than a new windshield, He now places you in His car, so to speak. He is the driver who will bring us safely home. In Baptism, His history and future are now interwoven with ours. We are united with Christ in His death, and we will share His resurrection!
Whenever the sins and guilt in your rearview mirror hold you back, look to see the cross of Calvary in that mirror. Jesus died for those sins, so you don’t have to. Let them go, and don’t visit them again. When someone wrongs you, let it go – He died for that sin too, so it would not hold you captive.
As with Isaiah’s people, some of the problems we encounter today may be our own fault, but that does not mean God has given up. Faith in Christ gives us a blessed amnesia to forget the past. Saint Paul writes: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
God promised streams in the desert, so Isaiah’s people could cross 600 desert miles without dying of thirst. Though for us there are daunting challenges ahead, Saint Paul reminds, us, “You lack no good thing as you eagerly wait for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:7).
Across America, this weekend has brought regional games in Division One men’s basketball. Only four teams will remain to compete for the national title. And at this point, the wins and losses of the past are only of help if the teams learn from them how to play the next game.
It is so also for us. The losses of the past belong to God. The victories and joys of the past are gifts of God. But they are to inspire us to a joyful and living trust. He would have us think not so much about the way we were, but the way we are in Christ.
That rear-view mirror takes up about 5 percent of your car’s windshield. What would happen if you spent 75 percent of your driving time looking back though it? You might get lost, you might get hurt. Isaiah says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell in the past. See, I am doing a new thing!” By the grace of God, we move from lingering or lamenting to learning and living. We close with the words of the hymn:
Our God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come;
still be our guard while troubles last, and our eternal home!
(Lutheran Worship 180 v. 6).For Jesus’ sake, Amen.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS FOR: 74-28
AIRS: March 25, 2007
TOPIC: Consulting the DeadANNOUNCER: Now, Pastor Ken Klaus answers questions from listeners. I’m Mark Eischer.
KLAUS: Hi, Mark.
ANNOUNCER: A listener is concerned that some of her relatives have recently become involved with what she calls “readings.” By that, she means they are seeking to communicate with the dead. She wants to know, can that really happen?
KLAUS: Unusual question, Mark. What she describes is known as “necromancy.” As I’m thinking about my answer, I’m sure some of our listeners are moving closer to the radio, and others are debating whether they want to invest the next four minutes in hearing my reply.
ANNOUNCER: Why do you say that?
KLAUS: Because we’re talking about the occult, and the occult is one of those areas in which some people believe completely, while others dismiss it all as bunk and hokum.
ANNOUNCER: Well, is the occult real, or is it false?
KLAUS: Yes.
ANNOUNCER: That’s our standard fall-back position?
KLAUS: I’m sorry, but that’s the answer. Some people accept and pursue the occult, and others reject it out of hand.
ANNOUNCER: But is the occult really real?
KLAUS: More real than some people believe; less real than what others may think.
ANNOUNCER: OK, now that’s interesting. Be more specific, please.
KLAUS: I’ll try. The word “occult” comes from the Latin and it means: “hidden” or “secret.” For our purposes, occult means asking supernatural or spiritual forces or beings for information or power beyond that which normal humans might have.
You ask, is there this kind of thing? I see nothing in the Bible to say there isn’t.
ANNOUNCER: In fact, the Bible clearly teaches that demonic forces are real and they are opposed to God and His holy will.
KLAUS: Yes. For example, in Exodus chapter 7 we have the story of Pharaoh’s magicians, who managed, by their sorcerers’ arts, to turn their walking sticks into serpents. The Bible reports it that way, although there may have been some kind of trick which is being reported as a “sorcerers’ art.” The Bible talks about how the Egyptian priests turned water into blood. By their secret arts, the priests made a plague of frogs.
ANNOUNCER: So in other words, for a time they were able through their demonic powers to do the same things Moses was doing with the help of God.
KLAUS: So it would seem, but Pharaoh’s magicians couldn’t keep up with God. On the next plague, the plague of lice, they tried – they failed.
ANNOUNCER: So, what can be learned from all of this?
KLAUS: First, you can learn that God is all-powerful and the devil is not. Second, you can learn that divination and other occultic practices will eventually let you down.
ANNOUNCER: Could you explain that point further?
KLAUS: Yes. Suppose a horoscope gives you an accurate prediction of your day. How will you look upon that horoscope tomorrow?
ANNOUNCER: Well, I imagine I might believe it more and I might be inclined to read it and see what it says next.
KLAUS: And if the accurate reports continued?
ANNOUNCER: I would continue to believe it more and more.
KLAUS: So, you might eventually be listening to a horoscope more than you would God.
ANNOUNCER: I suppose I would. That means I would be following a different god.
KLAUS: Yes, something the Lord doesn’t want. In the Book of Deuteronomy He says, “There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a wizard or a necromancer, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12). That’s pretty strong!
ANNOUNCER: So God explicitly forbids consulting the spirits of the dead. Anything else you could say?
KLAUS: Yes. Let me read Deuteronomy 29:29. It says, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
God has promised to reveal to us that which we need to know in order to be saved. His revelation of those things we need to know is something that doesn’t change. That revelation in, and of, His Word is for all people in all times. And the main thing God wants to reveal to us is how Christ has defeated the forces of sin and Satan through His death and resurrection.
ANNOUNCER: Pastor, I’m wondering – in closing today do you have any practical advice for this listener as she tries to share God’s truth with her family members?
KLAUS: Practical advice? Have her keep a record of revelations which these people say come from the hands of their so-called “wise spirits.” I absolutely guarantee that they will give bad predictions and wrong advice. When that happens, our listener will be able to point out the truth and the reliability of God and His Word.
ANNOUNCER: Thank you, Pastor Klaus. This has been a presentation of Lutheran Hour Ministries.
Music selections for this program:
“A Mighty Fortress” arranged by John Leavitt. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Kyrie” by Healey Willan. From Hope by the Concordia Seminary Chorus (© 2004 Concordia Seminary)
“Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs” by Kevin Sadowski. Concordia Publishing House/SESAC
“Lamb of God” arranged by F. Melius Christiansen. From Great Hymns of Faith, vol. 2 by the St. Olaf Choir (© 2004 St. Olaf Records, Northfield MN) Augsburg-Fortress
“In You, Lord, I Have Put My Trust” by Samuel Scheidt. From Agnus Dei by the Concordia Seminary Chorus (© 1996 Concordia Seminary) Concordia Publishing House
“Toccata in d minor” by J.S. Bach. From Glory to His Holy Name by John Vandertuin (© 1999 Artisan Classic Organ, Inc.)
“Our God, Our Help in Ages Past” by Charles Ore. (©1992 Organ Works Corporation)