What Is the Human Prospect?
A Sermon by Brent J. Eelman
Abington Presbyterian Church
November 18, 2008

Isaiah 65: 17-25
17For I am about to create new heavens
   and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
   or come to mind.
18But be glad and rejoice for ever
   in what I am creating;
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy,
   and its people as a delight.
19I 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.
20No 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.
21They shall build houses and inhabit them;
   they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22They 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.
23They shall not labour in vain,
   or bear children for calamity;
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
   and their descendants as well.
24Before they call I will answer,
   while they are yet speaking I will hear.
25The 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.* 

It is very easy to become cynical today and that is not healthy. Cynicism is the sharp edge of despair. It is rooted in narcissism, and ultimately it is destructive of both self and relationships. Christians need to guard against cynicism and the destruction that it can wreak. We need to remind the world of the hopeful promise of scriptures, but we need to do it in a way that is realistic and not Pollyanna. In the next few moments I would like to make three points. First, I want to examine some of the sources of our modern cynicism. Second, I want to describe an alternative vision of the future, offered by the prophet Isaiah. And third, seek to answer the question, “How can we live with Isaiah’s hopeful vision in the real world?”

I

The title for this sermon is derived from a book that was written by Robert Heilbronner and published in the spring of 1974. The book was entitled An Inquiry Into the Human Prospect. The author was a noted economist and philosopher who looked at the world, and what the future held for humanity. When this book was published, I was a first year seminary student at Princeton. It was assigned for one of the courses that I was taking. Its impact upon me was powerful. The book did not paint a rosy picture for humanity’s future. It declared that the earth could not sustain the population and industrial growth that was underway. It predicted more wars and economic battles over scarce resources, including oil and water. It also drew a grave picture of the environmental future and the impact of western living upon the ecology of our planet: not a cheery prospect!

The context of this book’s publication is also important. In January through April of 1974 the northeast experienced huge gasoline shortages. There were mile-long lines waiting at the gas pumps for a maximum of ten gallons of gasoline. The class rooms at Princeton Seminary were heated to a maximum of 50 degrees and we all wore jackets and sweaters to class. In world events, VietNam was about to fall. Nationally, Richard Nixon was about to become the first president to resign the office. Inflation was rising at almost 7%, and the economy was sluggish. The book made an impact upon me because; it described in rational, academic language the reality through which we were living. It was not an optimistic time.

During this same period of time there were also a number of popular religious books that inquired into the human prospect and also concluded that it is not good. The most popular of these have been the Left Behind series and the Late Great Planet Earth books which describe a world that is hell-bent for destruction and that God’s people will be saved through the rapture. These books and the subsequent movie are popular because they correspond to our experience of reality. In short: it is easy to get upset and worried about the future for humanity, and the events of our day do not seem to alleviate that anxiety. The news is not very good. The news is not very good. The result is cynicism which continues the destructive course of history we are on. Most of us, at some time or another, experience that cynicism about the future. But there is another vision of the future. It is the prophetic vision of Isaiah.

II

Isaiah, the prophet, produced a vast body of writings which we read in church today and proclaim them to be the Word of God. If you read Isaiah, you will observe a few things. First, Isaiah was writing during a very unstable and tumultuous period of history. Second, Isaiah was realistic about events. The immediate future did not look good. But the third might be surprising. Ultimately, Isaiah was optimistic about the human prospect. Despite the unstable world and the short term future, Isaiah ultimately thought that the human prospect was good. God did not intend destruction, pain, sorrow or despair for God’s people. Quite the opposite. Isaiah’s vision of the future was hopeful. Consider: He exhorted the people to be “be glad in what God is doing”. He told them that peace would some day be a reality in the world. He declared that infant mortality would no longer occur and that people would live to the age of 120 years. Weeping and crying would end. And perhaps most important… the land would bring forth fruit, and the people would enjoy this fruit of their labor. This vision concluded with this beautiful description:

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.

Is this dreaming or wishful thinking? NO! In these words of Isaiah, we are brought face to face with God’s intention for creation and for humanity. Here we learn what God has in mind for the human prospect, and it is filled with hope. But… But…. There is a disconnect between this vision and the reality that we experience and know. Lambs and lions don’t live together… people get hurt. Children die and war is a daily reality for our world. How should we understand this vision?

III

First, we need to believe it. Often times we will say “We believe, we believe… but we certainly don’t act that way. Woody Allen once said that “The lamb and the lion may lie down together, but the lamb will not get much sleep.” The cynicism of our age has pierced our religious consciousness, and emptied the wellsprings of hope. If we believe that this will become a reality, (that it is indeed God’s intention for humanity and creation), then we should start living it. Lambs and lions probably will not exist well together, but do we believe that human beings of different nationalities, religions, hopes and dreams cannot? Can we embody the hope and the vision of Isaiah in our daily interactions with one another and with creation itself? This vision of Isaiah suggests a number of norms or core values:

  1. That human beings can get along with each other. That we can live together and thrive. God created us, not for fighting and not for conflict, but for community and mutual support.

  2. That creation is sacred. Creation is the work of God, and we are the stewards of that creation. Creation is a gift to enjoy, not something to be exploited and abused.

  3. Life itself is sacred and valuable. Isaiah’s vision continually underscores the sacredness of life and the pain that we experience when life is cut short.

  4. Hope and promise should be the foundation of our vision of the future, not despair.

  5. We should respond to our hopes, promises and visions and not to our fears. Fear controls us and ultimately is destructive. Hope frees us and ultimately it is creative. As a nation, we are about to begin 12 months of intensive campaigning for the presidency. As you listen to the messages of the sound bytes, ask yourself.. is this message leading me to respond to my hopes or my fears?

It is very easy to become cynical these days. It is easy to fall into despair when we consider the future of the human prospect. I remember 1974 as though it were yesterday. The events of that period certainly underscored Heilbronner’s contention that the human prospect was not all good. But there is one reality that we forget when we consider the human prospect. It is the reality of the season that we are about to enter: Advent declares that the human prospect is good, because God, in the person of Jesus Christ, chose to enter this world. God chose to become a human being with us, living among us. God chose to die and redeem us. That is the prospect of our future and it is a reality that gives hope and colors all other realities. This is the good news… Really good news! In this cynical world, let us respond to the hopeful future that we have in Jesus Christ. Amen.
 

*The New Revised Standard Version Bible, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers) 1989.

Abington Presbyterian Church, Abington, Pennsylvania,  www.apcusa.org