Isaiah 52:1-6 ~ A New Lease on Life ~ Carl Crouse

There is an amazingly beautiful beach in Fort Bragg, CA, near San Diego.  The beach is a story of transformation.  Decades ago the townspeople used the beach as a dump.  All the refuse was tossed down the cliff to the beach below.  It became a terrible eyesore.   Long after they quit using it as a dump, the beach was a huge mess.  Nobody did a thing.  There it sat.  Slowly the beach changed. Over the decades, waves washed away the garbage.  All that was left were bottles, thousands of colored bottles.  Today the Fort Bragg beach is known as Glass Beach. 

The miracle of God: He takes the "garbage" and turns it into a beautiful creation. He gives us new life.  Wave after wave of blessings.  Wake up and accept the promise of God to redeem you, change you, with no cost.  God does not give up on you.  He promises a new lease on life, turning the garbage of your life into a beautiful glass beach.  

The promise of God is a New Lease on Life…renewed energy…renewed enthusiasm, an excitement after a difficult time… this is the season of renewal as death gives way to life.  In the last few weeks, if you are like me, many of you have gone outside to admire the buds on the trees…. In an annual spring ritual our neighbor Pete Schurer knocked on our door and gave me a handful of daffodils almost ready to blossom with instructions to put them in a vase and watch them burst into bloom.  God can change your life as remarkably as he can transform a garbage dump into a beautiful glass beach. 

Today’s scripture is the description of the wonderful promise of God of a new lease on life. One of the greatest joys in life is to be given another chance after you have failed/a new lease.  The garbage to be washed away and transformed.  Many have experienced the joy of new beginnings after stumbling. The Bible is full of people given another chance by God: Moses after killing an Egyptian led the children of Israel to the promised land, Abraham received the promise of Isaac despite the blunder of Hagar and Ishmael; Samson’s strength was restored after his arrogant ways among the Philistines; God would not let Jonah go even though he ran away; Peter was restored into ministry after the denial of Jesus; Paul was on a mission of destroying the Christian faith but was converted on the way to Damascus.  The Lord is a God of new beginnings.
 
The Christian life is a daily journey on a long and narrow way.  Every day there are perils, but every day there is the promise of blessings and renewal through the Spirit.  In Dt. 11:11 the promised land is described as “a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven.”  Our lives are the same: a life of ups and downs, yet rain from heaven falls on the mountain top and the valley.  There are many mountain-top, exciting experiences, but there are many times we stumble, like the eyesore of garbage on a beach. 

The joy of knowing we have a God offering a new lease on life is affirming. Proverbs 24:16 declares: “For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again.” The prophet made a bold declaration in Micah 7:8: “Do not gloat over me my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.”  As you begin each day, accept the joy of new beginnings from our God of multiple chances and maximize your potential with the promise of a new lease on life. God is in the business of creating glass beaches. Seek to be a channel of God’s blessing of new beginnings in the lives of others, praying for God’s hedge of protection around them.  Live in the promise of Is. 43:19, the words of God Almighty: “See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up.  Do you not see it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” 
 
Today’s scripture is Is. 52:1-6.  The promise of God is a New Lease on Life ~ turning garbage into a glass beach.  There is no cost to you.  “Awake, awake Zion” (Isa. 52:1).  Is this a command?  An invitation?  A promise? YES.  We live in a day of exhaustion.  We get tired of the news on tv.  Tired of politicians.  Tired of broken promises.  Tired of a compromised life that goes on and on.  Tired of waiting. We are run down, broken, hurting.  Too many people have given up.  We all have family members that have little hope and are discouraged.  Underemployment.  Broken relationships.  Tension. 

Awake.  Awake.  Wake up with a spirit of expectation.  It is time to get up ~ the sun has risen and a new day is dawning.  Easter is almost here.  The Lord is risen.  The promise of God is new life in Jesus Christ. 

The alarm clock is not so good if you anticipate a day of fear, drudgery, more of the same….grumpiness.  “Just five more minutes” you say.  How many times do you hit the snooze alarm?  “You know what part of waking up I love?” one person asked?  “none of it, let me sleep!”  It is no fun waking up facing a boring day or dreading whatever it is you have to face. 
 
“Awake, Awake” says the Lord to the people of Israel.  “Clothe yourselves with strength.”  Isaiah is written at a time when the people of Israel are slaves in captivity and the Lord is saying to them, the time is coming when you are soon going home.  It’s easy to wake up when you are anticipating something good, Christmas morning, the start of a vacation, “Today we are going to Disneyland!”,  a morning to rest…. I grew up in Sumas.  I remember going off to college, ending up at UW in Seattle.  I remember coming home to Sumas, I must have wanted to experience the countryside, so I drove down the Mt. Baker Highway, to Highway 9, turned on the Siper Rd. passed Shirley Nielson’s house, onto Hopewell.  It was nighttime and I came to the stop sign from the Hopewell onto the Goodwin.  After months in the bright city, I looked out and saw no lights.  Stars in the sky.  No noise.  Home.  Something about home.  Wake up Israel, it’s time to go home….

“Clothe yourselves with strength” ~ energy… excitement.  “Put on your garments of splendor” get dressed in your finest, the best you have because you are going out today.  The promise of God ~ he has in mind for you a day of renewal.  Wouldn’t you like to wake up every day with enthusiasm and expectation?  This is what the Christian life promises.... “though I have fallen, I will rise.”
 
That last phrase in Is. 52:1 is referring to the people of God soon returning home to Jerusalem; they will live in safety, not having to worry about Jerusalem being attacked again….READ. 

READ Is. 52:2.  dust ~ in those days dust associated with grieving/mourning.  A time will come when you no longer need to grieve.  A cry for confidence, to throw off the chains of slavery, quit feeling sorry for yourself, quit living like a victim and start living the victorious life that the Lord has promised you.  The amazing thing about living the Christian life is that you may still be a captive to the garbage of this world, but the promise of God of a new lease on life means you are able to live like you are free.  You may still not know how your problems will resolve themselves, but the promise of God is that the answer is coming…

The people of God are urged to wake up. In the days of Isaiah, he prophesies of the time 2500 years ago in history when the people of God are slaves in Babylon. While this event literally took place in history, the same words speak of God’s unchanging redemptive character and his promise to us of salvation.  We too are called to wake up and live victorious, to clothe ourselves with strength and splendor.  I refuse to live a defeated life ~ let’s join together as the people of God and live in the promise of victory.  Wake up, the Lord promises to you a new lease on life.  He promises to turn your garbage into a glass beach!

When these words were first spoken in Isaiah, the promise literally came to fulfillment when the Israelites were sent home after 70 years in captivity in Babylon.  The character of God is the same today, and the promise of a new life is an open invitation. A greater fulfillment is still coming when Jesus Christ returns.  1 Tim. 6:14-15 says it this way: READ.  Awake, clothe yourself with strength and splendor.  Live in expectation of  the coming of Jesus Christ in glory.   Captives that have the expectation of the coming King are free…. 

As surely as spring will bring forth new life, budding flowers, leaves, gardens, so the promise of God is a new life. 
 
And the promise of a new lease on life is free: READ Is. 52:3. 
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I was talking to the guys at service pro making an appointment for an oil change.  The guy confirmed the appointment and made a joke I didn’t get, “Monday morning we have you down for  an oil change and a new turbo charge.”  I am not a car guy so I said, “what’s a turbo charge?”  He had to explain to me it would make my car go fast and cost $1000’s of dollars.  I said I only want the wheels to roll and get me from point A to point B.  Then he told me about a truck they recently restored where the guy put in $250,000!  I think you are a bit nutty to put that kind of money into a car, but you know what…. The life the Lord is promising you is far more valuable than a $250,000 overhaul.   And it’s free. 

Without money you will be redeemed.  The people of Israel were sold because of their sin (READ Isa. 50:1).  You are being redeemed without money which means it will cost nothing.  The same promise is ours…this verse is an amazing forshadowing of the salvation of Jesus Christ which costs you nothing.  Is. 52:3 is a picture of salvation from sin as Christ paid the price with His own blood to redeem us (READ Eph. 1:7). Our redemption is completely of God’s grace (READ Eph. 2:8-9).  Our new lease on life comes at the cost of God’s own Son (Recite together John 3:16; READ Rom. 5:8).
 
Is. 52:4-6 is a brief history of the people of God, time after time falling to foreign nations.  God refuses to give up.  God is always ready to rescue those who at last turn to him. He refuses to let you go.  Like the description of the promised land in Dt. 11:11 life is about hills and valleys, ups and downs, yet both drink rain from heaven.  You cannot sin so much that God will let you go forever.  As long as there is breath, God’s promise of a new lease on life is yours. Clothe yourself with strength and splendor, redemption is yours when you will see God. 
The highest good is not only to know about God and his promise of salvation, but it is to recognize and know God personally: READ Is. 52:6. 
 
The miracle of God: He takes the "garbage" of your life and turns it into a beautiful creation. He gives us new life.  Wake up and accept the promise of God to redeem you, change you, with no cost.  God does not give up on you.  He promises a new lease on life, turning the garbage of your life into a beautiful glass beach.   Amen.