One Year Ends

Dear Friends,

As one year ends, so another begins. At this time of year, many people think of New Year’s resolutions. We sometimes think of this as turning over new leaves, meaning the turning of the pages of a book. It could be the book of life, my life. We might think that much of the information for the new pages is already written. After all, what has gone before does influence what comes next. In the books of our lives, family relationships, friendships, work and social commitments are already under way, the stories are under development. But that does not mean that the future of our story is already written.

The Christian faith has much to say about the future, our own personal future and that of the world generally. God’s coming into the world in Jesus Christ shows that God is NOT done with this world, that there is more to come. In Jesus’ own life and teaching, we learn that God accepts the pages that have been written so far, while reminding us that our futures are ours to write. Once we arrive at a point in time, we still have free will, the ability to choose our own course into the future. We can continue in the directions we’ve been going or we can take steps to change our direction and move in another.

Jesus didn’t make this possible direction change available as a one-time thing, as only for those few people he met in the years of his ministry. He didn’t limit the availability of this grace to only once in a lifetime or even only once a year (like when we make New Year’s resolutions). Time and again Jesus shows that transformation, rebirth, changed lives happen when we accept our freedom to choose to live in God rather than without God. And living in God means that God is always with us and that we therefore always have access to God’s grace.

Still, it IS New Year’s. It is a good time to remember to take stock of what we have. And what we have in Jesus Christ is a God who welcomes us, each and all, into God’s story. We have a God who continues to tell us God’s story in the lives of others and ourselves. We have a God in whom we can live into the future because our pasts can be forgiven by the One for whom love and forgiveness are everything.

Wishing you a year of life in Jesus Christ,

Rev. Andrew