GOD’S WORD FOR A NEW YEAR
(Preached on Sunday, January 2, 2005)
And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. -John 1:14
Here we are at the beginning of a new year.
Yet for most of us, if not all of us, it may not seem so new, but more like the old complaint, “Same old, same old.”
After all, in one night, how much has really changed?
We woke up on Saturday and it was the same old world, same old bills, same old problems, same old failings, and same old frustrations.
We are a discontented group.
Long ago, Christian theologian Augustine, said of God: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.”
Nothing on this earth fulfills us entirely or gives our lives a true center and purpose.
This restlessness is nothing new. Augustine wrote of is in the 5th century, my own parents spoke of it, I’ve known it, my children have known it, and their children will know it. We human beings struggle with what makes life meaningful and our own place in the world.
The gospel of John, though, tells us that God has spoken to us in a powerful way that makes life meaningful.
Words can be ambiguous. Rarely does 100% of the message transfer between speaker and hearer.
I know I am often amazed at what people hear compared to what I thought I said.
But God has gone the extra mile to communicate God’s message of love to us. In Jesus, the Word of God, God’s own speech, has become flesh.
The Word which stems from the very heart of God.
The eternal, loving Word which becomes our flesh in this dimension of time and space.
Embodied in a human life, the Word that looks you in the eyes and says: “Friend, what you see, is what you get.”
God’s own clearest message is lived.
The Word is 100% present with us.
This is no “same old, same old.”
Just think about some of the particular words of Jesus.
It is truly awesome the agreement between Jesus’ words and his life.
* “Don’t be anxious; learn from the wild flowers and the ravens?” He lived that message when pressed in by crowds of sick and suffering people, or in a small boat on storm Lake Galilee.
* “The first and great commandment is to love God with every fibre of your being?” He displayed such love, not only in his death, but every step of the way.
* “Judge not, that you be not judged.” With great sensitivity he demonstrated that word on the occasion when the woman caught in adultery was dragged before him and again when he went to dinner in the house of Zacchaeus.
* “Blessed are the meek and the merciful?” Jesus fulfilled that word at the Last Supper as he washed his disciples feet.
* “Blessed are the peacemakers. Go the second mile, turn the other cheek?” That Word was put to the test. When confronted by police in the Garden, and with Peter swinging his sword, Jesus calmed the situation and healed the wounded officer.
* “Forgive your enemies, pray for those who persecute you?” He upheld that to the last letter up there on the hill of Golgotha when soldiers hammered in the nails and a vitriolic mob heckled him. “Father forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”
The extraordinary Word that came from the heart of God did become perfectly “enfleshed” in that most lovely and loving person, Jesus of Nazareth.
This is God’s Word for a New Year.
This is God’s Word for all time.
And John tells us that because of this Word, our lives have meaning, we have a purpose.
In Christ Jesus, the Word become flesh, God has give us power to become children of God, we have been chosen.
Our lives and our world are part of a larger scheme that has direction and purpose. With God we are moving along on a path toward meaning, renewal, and salvation.
Great news for a new year. We are a blessed people in Jesus.
We have the gifts God gives us through Jesus: forgiveness, acceptance and love.
Two young adults met, and it was love at first sight.
Both soon believed that they had met their lifetime mate.
The woman wanted to introduce the man to her parents, but she had some concerns.
He had lost his driver’s license for two years due to a DUI conviction, his body was extravagantly tattooed, and his first marriage had ended in divorce.
She knew him to be reformed and thoroughly converted to living a life following the teachings and way of Jesus.
But would her parents see that?
With some trepidation, she brought her young man home.
Thankfully, it went well.
Like their daughter, the parents didn’t see the man for who he had been, but for who he was on the way to becoming.
This is how God deals with us.
Jesus is God’s Word of Acceptance and Forgiveness made flesh, spoken to assure us that God does not view us as defined by whatever mistakes, or bad choices, or errors, or crimes or sins we have committed, but as the people we are becoming through Jesus.
This doesn’t mean our new year will not hold struggle and suffering.
Of course it will; we live in an imperfect world.
We live in a dangerous world.
We live in a very fragile, yet evolving world.
Tsunamis will happen, as well as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, diseases, wars, accidents, and more.
But such struggle and suffering will not and cannot have the last word over us. Only God has the last word over us and that word is new life.
That word makes all the difference in the world in our lives. Having access to God’s love gives us dignity, self-worth, and the confidence of knowing that we are precious in the eyes of the most precious one.
Knowing that God treasures us, we can value ourselves.
Knowing that God trusts us with eternal choices, we can believe in ourselves.
Knowing that God loves us unconditionally, we can take risks, face failures, and keep going.
More good news: We matter to God and God has chosen us to be a part of God’s work here on earth.
God is well known for working through surprising people: Moses (who was afraid of public speaking), Rahab (a surprising ally, a foreigner and a woman of questionable reputation), Paul (originally a persecutor of Christians), and many more.
God has a ministry for every single one of us.
That ministry is to take the gifts we have received from God, our talents and resources, our very lives, and devote them to God’s plan of gathering all things together in Jesus. God is about people coming together, creation coming together, in renewal and healing.
Whatever is broken, God works to make whole.
Whoever is estranged, God seeks to reconcile.
This train is moving and we are meant to ride it together. This new year is the time to gather around Jesus and serve God’s good purposes.
This little church had tried everything — new worship styles, bigger ads in the Yellow Pages, evangelism programs — literally everything. None of it had worked. The little church was smaller and less satisfying than it had been before they had tried all of that.
Then one day a young woman came to church with her two little girls. They were dirty. They smelled bad. Their hair was matted. They looked nothing like the kind of folks that went to church here. Betty was the greeter that morning and although it wasn’t easy for her, she welcomed the three and offered to help them if they needed anything. Part way through the worship one of the little girls went to use the restroom. When she came back, she talked to Betty and asked is she’d come sit with them. Better wasn’t sure she wanted to, but she couldn’t think of how to say no. So she went up and sat with the family — difficult though the task was. As she sat down next to the bedraggled family, the little girl snuggled up close and put her head on Betty’s lap. “I like you,” she said to Betty.
“I like you, too,” Betty replied.
“Can we come back here again?” the little girl asked.
“Of course you can,” said Betty. Members of the congregation were astounded as they watched this happen.
Even Betty was amazed at what was happening.
But in that event the church was changed, not by a program but by the mysterious truth that all people are children of God through the grace and truth of Jesus.
That congregation would never be the same again.
We are at the beginning of a new year.
This year will hold some discontent and restlessness.
In many ways, 2005 will be like 2004, but don’t be fooled into thinking “same old, same old.”
God is at work. God blesses you in Christ Jesus, God has a ministry for you to do, and God brings you together with others in meaningful worship, fellowship, and service.
God’s calls us to a grace-filled and purposeful journey.
As we listen to the stillspeaking God and hear the word of grace and love for our lives and then live out the truth of that word by extending grace and love to everyone we meet, then we will discover God’s purpose for our lives in this new year.