I drove past the old football stadium recently, and through the Glebe neighbourhood, a few days after the firebombing of the bank building at the corner of Bank and Glebe. It is so obvious that something needs to be done to renew the fabric of a crumbling, decaying part of the fabric of the city. Whatever one's opinion of the current proposal for a new stadium and redevelopment, or the merits or demerits -- and costs -- of the architectural designs under consideration, it is clear something needs to change.

Time, the effects of weather, and the consequences of ordinary but heavy use, all take their toll on the fabric of buildings and other human construction. Though we like the status quo and resist change, we need to continually renew the fabric of our homes and our neighbourhoods, for time and use wear them away. What was once new fades; what was serviceable at one time becomes an obstacle in a new time and amid a changed environment.

God called Isaiah to address a society that faced the need for change and renewal amid a crumbling neighbourhood and environment. Ancient Israel was set among neighbouring nations whose greatness and glory had turned to shame. Moral and spiritual decay had given rise to a loss of strength and beauty. Widespread decline was described in terms of the effects of a senseless rampage by those who were drunk, intoxicated with selfish pleasures and unaware and insensitive to the needs of those around them. Out of their minds, people contributed to the destruction, and were unable to grasp the need for a real change. They plodded along from one day to the next, with no vision or passion for a real renewal of their surroundings or civilisation. Their approach to life was summed up thus: "Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule, a little here, a little there." (Isaiah 28: 10, NIV)

To this scene and situation God speaks. His mouthpiece is Isaiah, whose voice thunders like a clear, unmistakable trumpet call, announcing his plan for radical change and renewal:

Isaiah 28: 16 - "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed."

He is foretelling the coming of the Messiah, the Saviour, who will make all things new. Jesus, who will save His people from their sins, will initiate the renewal of life, laying in his own life and death and resurrection the foundation for a new relationship with God for each individual who receives Him, and the foundations for building a new society, a new community of those who live by faith in God and in love with each other.

The foundation of personal renewal is a renewed relationship with Jesus. We need, each day, to recommit ourselves to loving the Lord our God with all our beings, and to loving our neighbours as ourselves. This is what following Jesus is all about; this is what professing to be Christians means.

We are also called to renew the fabric of our facilities at Parkwood, to provide for safe, healthy, and attractive space for Christian education and nurture for children and youth and fellowship for the congregation of a new and future generation.

We are called, too, to contribute to the wider renewal of the kingdom of Christ in our city, in our country, and to the very ends of the earth.

Isaiah spoke for God to the people of ancient Israel, who desperately needed to be renewed and to become agents of renewal in their day. By the Holy Spirit, he still speaks to us today, who equally need to be renewed so that we will be renewing agents within the church and community of our day, and for tomorrow's day, too.

May the picture of Jesus as the new foundation-stone capture our hearts and imaginations, far more fully than any architectural design, and inspire our labours for God in the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Your pastor, longing and building for renewal,
James T. Hurd