Biography
Benjamin Reaves is President of Oakwood College, Huntsville, Alabama. Formerly Chairman of the Department of Religion and Theology at Oakwood College, he has had a long career in theological education. Dr. Reaves earned a doctoral degree from Chicago Theological Seminary. He is widely published and a member of the Academy of Homiletics. [Biographical information is correct as of the broadcast date noted above.]

"Living Expectantly" 
I'm sure you hear it. Sometimes on the elevator. At other times, you hear it waiting in a doctor's office. If you're shopping in a mall, you hear it. More and more in different ways and in different places you hear sounds, rhythms, melodies, songs of yesterday, songs often referred to as golden oldies.

These songs represent a very profitable area of the music industry: the nostalgia craze. Specialized stations have developed that are totally devoted to playing what is called "the songs of your life" stations that capitalize on our hunger for nostalgia by wrapping memories in the melodies and phrases of the old songs.

However, this modern mania for nostalgia is confronted and challenged by a scripture in the Book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 43, verse 18: "Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old."

At first glance the verse seems confusing, if not contradictory, for in the early part of the 43rd chapter Israel is reminded of its eventful history. But in a seeming shift of emphasis Israel is called on to "Remember ye not the former things." It doesn't seem to make sense ... to be reminded of something and then told to remember it not.

It doesn't make sense, unless verse 18 means they, Israel, are to refuse to be victims of a negative past.

If this verse is calling Israel to forget the disappointments and failures of the past — the guilt, the shame, the hypocrisy, it would be appropriate. For there is no question Israel had a past to forget: a sad past, a checkered experience filled with rollercoaster yesterdays that can only be described as a wandering in the wilderness, a tragic blindness, a sordid prostitution.

It would be logical to think this verse "'Remember ye not ..." means that Israel is to forget the negative experiences of the past. The fact is — if this IS what it means — there is no question this would have a strong attraction for so many of us who still live in haunted houses of yesterday, haunted by the ghosts of painful memories, memories that are wounds hardly healed, or thinly covered with the scar tissue of time.

Memories where shadows loom like giants and dreams of yesterday are pre-empted by present nightmares of miserable performances, wasted opportunities, abject failures, when we went out like Samson and shook ourselves as before and "Wist not that the spirit had departed..." We live with memories of shameful sins, that call forth the cutting words of condemnation, "How are the mighty fallen." We harbor painful memories of the predictions and opinions of others about what we would never amount to, or what we would never accomplish. These memories have almost become present reality to the point where we are ready to give up on ourselves.

If remember ye not means forgetting memories of our foolish mistakes, our repeated failures, that seems to be proof of those predictions. If this text means, don't be victims of a negative past, in many ways, all of us would welcome it. However important that may be, this is not quite the emphasis of this passage.

In Isaiah 43:16, 17, we read, "Thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power: they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow." On second glance at verses 16 and 17, it appears that what is to be remembered no more is not the miserable failures of man, but the mighty works of God. That really seemed unbelievably strange — not to remember the Exodus, the marvelous triumphs, the miraculous victories? But, if the emphasis is not that Israel must refuse to be victims of a negative past, perhaps the emphasis is, Israel should not be prisoners of a positive past.

No question. Israel's God had done great things in the past. But, there was a problem. Israel was living on past blessings locked in the prison of the past, locked in a hidebound faith that only looked back and ceased to expect anything greater from God. They thought of God's power only in terms of past performance. Theirs was a faith not just limited, but locked in by memory.

Are we modern children of God any different? Have we lived too long in the glow of past blessings, warming ourselves by the flicker flame of past accomplishments? Are we subsisting on the crumbs of spiritual nostalgia? When we speak of God's power, are we always looking back at the events and blessings of a positive past, settling for remnants of past glories, past evidences of God's power.

It is tragic when the blessings of the past represent or set the standard of expectations for the future. So many marriages are spent wistfully looking back at the days of first love — the way it used to be. How many homes find husbands and wives watching TV and seeing paid actors simulating more love and affection than they experience in their own homes? With sad sighs they remember courtship and the early days of marriage, and with heavy sighs that bring sharpened pangs of pain they wish, "If it could just be like that again." Prisoners of how it used to be.

It happens in the life of the church. When mired in the marshy programs of men, we realize we are no longer standing on the solid ground of God's power, and we reminisce and long for the old-time religion.

But, this is most tragic in the personal spiritual life where the measure of the experience is what used to be. And we long for that past time when our hearts were once tender to the gospel's touch, when our enthusiasm was ablaze and our commitment to purity and honesty was deep and strong. We look to and long for the way it was in the past — we find comfort in the words of the song...

"Take me back, take me back, dear Lord,
To the place where I first received you,
To the day I first believed."

Aha! But as precious as that time may have been, this verse will not even let us settle for being prisoners of a positive past.

In this passage, God is calling us to a faith that is not limited by the past. God is calling us from memory to expectancy. God calls us to "living expectantly."

Verse 19 says, "Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth. Shall ye not know it." A new thing!! Now "Remember ye not the former things," falls into place.

The point is not to forget past blessings. The point is God's new blessings. God's new thing will transcend the past. The Exodus? The Red Sea? "You ain't seen nothing yet." Now "Remember ye no more" is seen for what it is — not to forget the past, but to look to a future that will surpass, transcend the past. More than looking for it, expecting it with a believing, accepting, trusting, expectant faith.

Living expectantly means faith on tiptoe. It means believing that with God life is worth living, and living is never routine. It means life is never dampened by the dullness of the daily. Living in the expectancy of God's new thing means new blessings that will not match the past. They will surpass the past.

God's new thing is not like man's. We're very well acquainted with man's new thing. The commercials come on every day. A woman comes out of the supermarket and, horrors, some suspicious man with a microphone reaches for her box of Tide. She pleads, "Don't take my Tide, anything but my Tide." He responds, "But I have something better than Tide." She questions, "What can be better than Tide?" Oh earthly joy, he responds confidently, "New Tide."

Oh heavenly joy, the truth is I don't have to be victim of a negative past. I don't have to be prisoner of a positive past. God's promise to me, to you, is a NEW THING. We can face each day living expectantly with confidence, not like the "pessoptimist" who believes things work out, but when they do, it will be too late, but an optimist who, when he's worn out his shoes, just figures he's back on his feet. That's living expectantly because God's new thing is whatever you need. The emphasis of verse 20 is, "It will satisfy his people. Waters in the wilderness. Rivers in the desert."

You may be facing challenges that paralyze. You may be looking at a barren desert. You may be facing a trackless wilderness. But, we serve a God who is experienced in wilderness survival. This is not some Pollyanna, rose-colored glasses perspective. Note the reality. The desert will be there; it's always been there. But, God gave manna to strengthen in the desert, water to sustain in the desert. He will not take away the desert. There will still be pains, difficulties, calls in the night, tensions, struggles. The desert will be there. But the historic word testifies that His glorious works of the past were not in the absence of hardship and captivity, but in the midst.

God's new thing gives me hope. It fills me with excitement. I look forward to God's. NEW THING. When I think of all God has done in the past, as glorious as that may be, I don't have to settle for that. Verse 19 says, "See I am doing a new thing NOW it springs up." God's new thing is not only heavenly and future, it is here, now, in the present, in my home life, spiritual experience, career, preaching, relationships, marriage, children.

From this day forward it will be different, not necessarily as you planned or hoped for. Tomorrow is not limited by your expectation, but rather by God's creativity which has no limit.

There is no question in my mind that the best days are ahead — new challenges, new encounters but new growth, new exploits, new victories, new joys, new triumphs — not because of our innovative plans or unique skills. God's promise of His new thing for your life is backed up by God's power in your life.

He was just a little fellow. His mother died when he was just a child. His father, in trying to be both mommy and daddy, had planned a picnic. The little bay had never been on a picnic, so the plans were laid and the lunch fixed.

Then it was time to go to bed so they could leave early the next day. But the little fellow couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned in excitement thinking about tomorrow. Finally, he jumped out of bed and ran into the room where his father was about to drop off. As the lad shook him, the father's eyes opened, "What are you doing up?" He asked, "What's the matter?" The boy said, "I can't sleep." The father asked, "Why not?" The son replied, "I'm excited about tomorrow."

His father warned, "I'm sure you're excited but if we don't get some sleep, it won't be a great day. Run down the hall, get back in bed and get a good night's sleep." So the boy trudged off down the hall to his room, got in bed and before long, sleep came — to the father, that is. It wasn't long until dad felt the pushing and shoving of little hands, but before angry words slipped out, he saw in the eyes of his son the absence of a mother long gone and the loneliness of a child too long left alone. And then, as slender arms circled his neck, he heard, "I JUST WANT TO THANK YOU FOR TOMORROW!!!"

You may be thinking, I'm no longer a child and life has not been a picnic. While that may be true, it is also true that right now God invites you to LIVE, not as a victim of a negative past nor as a prisoner of a positive past, but to LIVE EXPECTANTLY, believing and receiving His promise, "Behold I will do a new thing...." And in expectant faith, our prayer should be, "Father I want to thank you for tomorrow!"
 

Interview with Benjamin Reaves
Interviewed by Floyd Brown

Floyd Brown: I certainly enjoyed your message tonight, "Live Life Expectantly."

Benjamin Reaves: Thank you, Floyd. Yes, living expectantly.

Brown: I have a million questions to follow that up with when you say, "living expectantly." I would like to go back to your foundation because you are the President of Oakwood College. It must be quite a thrill, having gone there as an undergraduate student and returning as the president. That must be quite a feeling of accomplishment.

Reaves: It is a joy to be able to go back to the institution that provided a nurturing environment for me and try to see to it that the same environment is provided for the students that we serve. Oakwood College has been around for a long time. The institution started in 1896. For all of these years, our focus has been to provide access to opportunity and excellence for young people.

Brown: You, of course, are supported by the United Negro College Fund.

Reaves: We are a member college of the United Negro College Fund and Oakwood College is operated and supported by the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

Brown: Tell me a little now about living life expectantly. How do you feel about the mood of the students today as compared to when you were there as a student? The things that you expected to find in the future, are they there now?

Reaves: Yes, I would say they are. I can recall that when I was a student, there was this sense of looking forward to getting out of college, but not necessarily grappling with the sense of living expectantly on a daily basis. We were sort of leap-frogging over a period of time until we were through college and on to other things. To me, students today are much more sophisticated. They have a much greater sense and a much greater feel for a day at a time than I felt we did during those days long, long, long ago.

Brown: This is important, enjoy the moment.

Reaves: Absolutely.

Brown: They are doing it today.

Reaves: Absolutely. The phrase that you have heard, "smell the roses," is a very important reality because time does have a way of slipping away. One day you wake up and find that the opportunity is gone and you are unable to appreciate all the things you planned.

Brown: You have traveled all around the world and you have met with students in various parts of the world. I want to get a feeling from you now about what they expect out of life today. What is their feeling for the future? You were a speaker in South Africa. What is the mood there?

Reaves: At the time I was there, which was three or four years ago, the mood was, of course, the expectation of better days — that there had to be better days. It was interesting that as I talked to students across the racial gamut — blacks, coloreds, whites — all had a sense that something had to change. Some were looking for one kind of change; others for another. All sensed that something had to change.

Brown: What about Europe? They are undergoing a great change today with the Wall coming down. What about the students of Europe?

Reaves: In our meeting with them, again we find that certain principles and core human concerns carry across geographical or even racial lines. About a month ago, I spoke at a college in Australia. It was interesting to me to find how the reaction, the responses, the questions of the students, so closely mirrored the questions of my own students. In terms of a worship or speaking setting, while the cultural cues of response may be different, the basic core human response to the deep issues of life seems to be the same across the board.

Brown: What are the real issues — poverty, environment?

Reaves: Poverty, environment. Also a sense of making a difference, trying to find meaning in life. There are many times when students seem to be coming to awareness. To get caught up in the creature comforts of a Cadillac culture is not good enough. Life must and surely has more satisfaction to offer. I support that because I believe that living in its truest sense, living expectantly if you will, is living with an eye towards service and to making a difference.

Brown: Are you leading them, though? Are you saying, "This is what you should be focusing on?" Where are they getting their ideas?

Reaves: As I said, Oakwood College is operated by the Seventh Day Adventist Church and most of our students come from a particular background or a particular life view. In our educational enterprise, we are attempting to lay out the options and clearly present them. Our concern is to help the students learn how to think and make choices and not just to spoon feed them.