Attend and Listen for the Time to Come

By: Janeen Bertsche Johnson

Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, 

         who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it:
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you;
I have given you as a covenant to the people, a light to the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, 
          to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.  
I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to idols.  
See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.

The Lord was pleased, for the sake of his righteousness, to magnify his teaching and make it glorious.
But this is a people robbed and plundered; all of them are trapped in holes and hidden in prisons;
          they have become a prey with no one to rescue, a spoil with no one to say, ‘Restore!’
Who among you will give heed to this; who will attend and listen for the time to come?
                                                                                                                   ​Isaiah 42:5-9, 21-23

The beginning of Isaiah 42 is one of the four “Servant Songs” of Isaiah, passages which are often used to describe the work of Jesus. Verses 21-23 near the end of the chapter describe the hopelessness of exile. What would it look like to read this text as it applies to our concerns about ecological issues such as climate change? 

We are a people robbed of hope, trapped in the hole of insatiable consumerism. Our environment has been plundered by the reckless rape of the earth’s resources. We are a people hidden in prisons of apathy. We are the spoil of the forces of a dysfunctional culture and no one seems able to rescue us.  

Yet in the midst of this bleak reality, the words of Isaiah pierce our hearts: “Who among you will give heed to this; who will attend and listen for the time to come?” There is hope here, an invitation to engage the pain of the world with the promise of God. This text urges that some of the most important works of Christian creation caretakers are to attend, to listen, and to imagine.  

Attending and listening to the things happening in the world around us are harder than they sound. It is so easy, in our current context, to ignore the created order. Most people spend their waking hours inside a building or in an air-conditioned car that moves too fast to truly see what is around them. We are in a constant state of hurry, which does not lend itself to the act of attending.  

In addition, many of us haven’t been trained to understand the natural world and the signals it gives. We may notice a few things but not know how to interpret them. I have heard people scoff, in the middle of a harsh winter, “How can people talk about global warming? This is the coldest winter we’ve ever had!” But an exceptionally cold winter in parts of North America does not mean that the polar ice caps and glaciers are safe! We have to learn what certain patterns mean within a bigger picture.

Another reason we struggle to attend and listen to the earth is because we are in denial and we’d rather continue that than face harsh realities. If we attend to creation and the signals it is giving we will become aware of widespread habitat loss, disappearing species, droughts, famines—in short, signs of environmental breakdown. These are sounds of distress from a world that is being scarred by human ruthlessness and carelessness. Romans 8:22 describes the whole creation groaning as if in labor pains, waiting for redemption. Many people don’t want to face that bad news, or the guilt they feel, or the awareness that their way of life needs to change. We may become so hopeless that we shut down rather than paying attention.

Isaiah 42:23 specifically cries out for someone to “listen for the time to come.”  What does that mean?  I believe it links back to verse 9, in which God declares, “See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth, I tell you of them.”  

Our faith proclaims that God is always at work reconciling all things to God’s self—restoring creation as well as humanity. Throughout the scriptures, God asks God’s people to watch and listen for the signs of that work so that we can join in it and give testimony to others. Sometimes our work is to watch and listen for signs of restoration around us. At other times it is to listen to God’s promise, even before the restoration springs forth.  

Attending to and listening for the time to come invite us to envision the future God intends, the reconciliation of all of creation, and our role in it. This is the work of imagining new possibilities and this provides the basis for experimentation and action.  

Fifteen years ago, almost all of the Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary campus was a mowed lawn. Then some students asked if the seminary could leave some of its immense lawn un-mowed and plant wildflowers in those areas. There was hesitation at first, especially about what the neighbors would say. But eventually they decided to try leaving a small patch of land un-mowed, on the far side of some buildings, fairly hidden from sight. Later, another patch of wildflowers was added.

By the time AMBS built its LEED-certified library in 2007, there was no hesitation on campus about planting six acres of native prairie flowers and grasses in front of it. What started as the imagining of a few students led to a totally different campus habitat! The prairie grasses absorb much more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than lawn grass does and provide a habitat for a whole range of wildlife. Less mowing also requires less time and reduces the burning of fossil fuels.

Imagination has a critical role in confronting the challenges facing creation and in cultivating new solutions.   
May we be people who attend to and listen for the time to come in the confidence that God can use our imagination and actions to help restore the earth.

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Janeen Bertsche Johnson

Janeen Bertsche Johnson is an ordained pastor in Mennonite Church USA and has been campus pastor at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) in Elkhart, Indiana, since 1995. She also serves as alumni director, admissions associate, instructor, and creation care coordinator. Janeen coordinates the Rooted and Grounded Conferences on Land and Christian Discipleship at AMBS; the next one is scheduled for 8-10 October 2020.