"Behold," Isaiah quotes the Lord as saying, "I am doing a new thing."

In fact, for most of us, the very last thing we want God to be doing is anything new.

"We have always done things this way."

The seven last words of a dying church.

The seven last words of a dying soul, as well.

It seems to me, that even those who can’t say much about just who this God of ours is, would agree that God is responsible for creation. Indeed, I’d dare say the one thing God is definitely famous for is creating. Whether you believe it took six brief days or billions of years, most of us would be in agreement that it is God that’s been doing the creating. What some of us might argue over is whether God stopped doing God’s creative work back with Adam and Eve or whether God’s still at it with each of us.

Personally, I find myself in the Isaiah camp, firm in my conviction that our God is proclaiming,

"Look out! I am still doing a new thing or two!"

All of which means that things can get a little uncomfortable if you hang around with God. God tends to get tired of old ways that no longer mean much to modern people.

Now I understand the importance of tradition. I cherish as much as anyone the beauty of the past and the bond it brings with all those who’ve gone before me. But I also know that bond can become bondage, a prison that has us shackled to old images and antiquated theologies that may have worked once but no longer.

How curious it is that we simply would not tolerate a physician who still utilized leaches or a dentist who hadn’t discovered Novocaine, but when it comes to our spirituality, too many of us continue to be caught in a quagmire of archaic symbol and irrelevant doctrine.