EDITING

 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us… Hebrews 12:1

 

Happy New Year. I could not resist sharing this “handwritten party invitation sent to their friends” by George and Louisa Macdonald, Dec. 31st, 1885. (Bonfire at 7 p.m., dancing at 8)

 

Please come on Monday
The day after Sunday,
And mind that you start with
Something to part with;
A fire shall be ready
Glowing and steady
To receive it and burn it
And never return it.
Books that are silly,
Clothes outworn and chilly,
Hats, umbrellas or bonnets,
Dull letters, bad sonnets,
Whate’er to the furnace
By nature calls “Burn us!”
An ancient, bad temper
Will be noted no damper—
The fire will not scorn it
But glory to burn it!
Here every bad picture
Finds refuge from stricture;
Or any old grudge
That refuses to budge,
We’ll make it the tomb
For all sorts of gloom,
The out-of-door path
For every man’s wrath.
All lying and hinting,
All jealous squinting,
All unkind talking
And each other balking,
Let the fire’s holy actions
Turn to ghostly abstractions.
All antimacassars,
All moth-egg amassers,
Old gloves and old feathers,
Old shoes and old leathers,
Greasy or tar-ry,
Bring all you can carry!
We would not deceive you:
The fire shall relieve you,
The world will feel better,
And so be your debtor.
Be welcome then—very—
And come and be merry!

Father, this says it all. We joyously move into the New Year abandoning all to you and expecting great things. In Jesus name. AMEN.

LIKE HIM

Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.  I John 3:2

 

 

This week in chapel our preacher was relating his enthusiasm for the New Year and his plans for a fresh start.  To begin with, he decided he was going to get to work early.  On Monday morning he walked out the door at 7:30 fully motivated only to realize that he had forgotten to shave.  When he went inside and admitted his oversight, his wife replied that, although this might be a new year, he was still the same person.

And that’s our problem, isn’t it?  We have any number of wonderful intentions, but we find over and over again that we’re still the same person.  We keep trying, and we wind up with Paul’s lament:  “For I know that good itself does not dwell in me… For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:18, 19).

But Paul doesn’t leave us there.  He writes in his letter to the Philippians that he who began a good work in [us] will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (1:6).   If God initiated his work in us by his Holy Spirit, he will continue it, not abruptly abandon us because he’s run out of patience or we’re not yet perfect.  Then in Philippians 2:13 we’re encouraged that God works in [us] to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.  God himself sets out to mold and shape us after his plan for our lives while strengthening us to become like Jesus.

Going back to Romans, in the narrative of chapter 8, after Paul has bemoaned the struggle with his human nature, he announces that because of Jesus, There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (verse 1).  The whole eighth chapter of Romans is full of God’s promises of what he will do in and through us when we take up residence in him.

The first verse cited above (I John 3:2) refers to resurrection and end times.  But I think we can apply it to our everyday life with Christ.  After all, he is the Creator Christ who was in the beginning (John 1:1), and we are new creatures in him (II Cor. 5:17).  Every single day we can experience his transforming power as we realize the changes his Spirit is affecting in us (II Cor. 3:18).

Instead of being discouraged that we’re not yet everything we want to be, we must remember that it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him (I John 3:2).  Every single day…more like Jesus.

 

Father, make us like Jesus.  Thank you that you daily give us opportunities to grow into his likeness.  Have your way.  In Jesus’ name.  AMEN.

RESOLUTIONS

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature…  II Peter 1:3, 4 (NIV)

 

 

With the New Year approaching, it’s time to make those requisite goals that we talk about every year and that 8% of us actually achieve.  The data is a little discouraging, isn’t it, but look at the kind of resolutions we make:  self improvement (including weight loss and education), money issues, and relationship resolutions.  However, people who set specific goals are 10 times more likely to achieve them than those who don’t.

I’ve recently come across a book from my mother’s library and written by Frances Ridley Havergal whom you will know from her poems and hymns.   Havergal was the daughter of a cleric and lived in the mid-1800’s.  Growing up in a clergy family, Frances was well acquainted with religion, but she said that until she fully surrendered to Jesus Christ, she did not have the full blessedness of being a Christian.

From the experience of her consecration, Frances wrote the well-loved hymn, Take My Life and Let It Be.  It could well be a good beginning for this year’s resolutions:

 

Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days;
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice, and let me sing,
Always, only, for my King.
Take my lips, and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold;
Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect, and use
Every power as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At Thy feet its treasure-store.
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.

 

Father, take us anew and afresh at the outset of this coming year and make us wholly thine.  We dedicate ourselves, our gifts, and all we are to your purposes and your glory.  In Jesus’ name.  AMEN.

A QUIET TIME

Be still and know that I am God.  Psalm 46:10

 

There is a tiny space between Christmas and New Year’s—it’s just about one week long—and it seems to be claimed by no other special activity or pressing responsibility.  Advent and preparation for the Lord’s coming takes us right up to Christmas, while the hustle and bustle that’s part of our traditional celebrations have consumed those weeks after Thanksgiving.  And  here we are at that quiet time after Christmas just before we launch headlong, full speed into the New Year.

What a good time to slow down, to process, to be still and know…  Could we set aside our personal agendas just for this week to listen?  Are we able to stop long enough to worship?  Can we quiet our passions to spend several days resting in him?

The story is told of an early explorer who was trekking across the jungles of interior Africa.  He had been advised that his porters could travel only a certain distance each day, but he was determined to make better time.   Day by day he pushed his men until one day he arose to find that no one would move from his tent.  No bit of cajoling or threatening would budge his team.  Finally, sensing the man’s frustration, one of the porters admitted that they had traveled so quickly, they had left their souls behind and were waiting for them to catch up.

We’ve been given the gift of this one week to be still, to let our souls catch up.  This is a week to acknowledge God’s sovereignty, to bask in his love, and to nourish that relationship with him.  Can we slow down enough—just for a week—to know that he’s God (and we’re not)?

 

Father, “the world is too much with us.”  The holidays are crammed with activities and distractions—so much for holy days.  Thank you for this brief, quiet time to reorder ourselves and our priorities.  To be.  Our eyes are on you.  AMEN.

POLYANNA FOREVER

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 (NIV)

I got a fun gift for Christmas that put a huge smile on my face. Being known as Polyanna among some of my co-workers for my belief that good will be in or come of all things, I was given a book. It’s not a religious book, but I love the idea: Evidence the World is Basically Good (A Logbook for Optimists). I have exercised poetic license and used a Sharpie to revise the title, which now reads Evidence God is Always Good. And I am already recording my observations.

Our Ugandan friends love to exchange greetings, and a popular one in church goes like this:

Pastor: God is good.
Congregation: All the time.
Pastor: All the time.
Congregation: God is good.
Together: Because that is his nature.

That’s essentially what Paul is telling us in this reassuring verse. In other words, as we close this year, we can look back at mistakes, problems, or hardships of the past year (or years) and hand them over to God with anticipation for his redemption. In fact, those very concerns that could otherwise have finished us can become a spiritual investment for future growth. How will his Spirit work to transform me through this learning? We can embrace failure, even regard past personal sins as reminders of how much we need God’s keeping power and how insufficient we are without him. This is just another opportunity to actualize humility and his grace.

And throughout the coming year, we can trust God to work in our lives as we abide in him, serve him, and love him. Ahead of us lies glorious possibility as we move into the New Year with Christ.

Father, in your presence is fullness of joy, and there are pleasures forevermore at your right hand. Thank you that you have the power to transform circumstances and situations so that good does come from them. You can even change us for good through the circumstances. We look forward to what you will be doing in 2016. In Jesus’ name. AMEN.