Tuesday, January 1, 2002

New Year's Day

Proverbs 4:25 (RSV)

The hymn writer Brian Wren wrote:

"This is the day of new beginnings, time to remember and move on, time to believe what love is bringing, laying to rest the pain that's gone."

There are moments when the events of life cause us to halt all activity, stop and take inventory. Christmas is such a time for me and so is New Year's Day. Like so many others, I recount the past and look to the future with hope. For some others, it is a time of making new resolutions and setting future goals. This is also a time to just give God the praise for allowing me to see a brand new year. The beginning of a new year can be a call to reflect on what it means to walk with Jesus as a disciple.

Jesus entered a world where visiting the synagogue and observing the many rituals had also become routine. But God, who dares to send a baby king, calls us to awaken from our sleep. When our relationship becomes that of simply demanding our own way, or presenting our wish lists void of the servanthood to which Jesus beckoned us, it's time to hear again God's call to discipleship. For being a disciple is not just a statement of what we believe, it is a call to action! We make the decision to become SIGNS ourselves in the same way that Jesus was a SIGN of God's love for all.

There was a story of told about a new Christian, who like most new comers to the faith, was anxious to win his first soul to Christ. He rushes out to share the words of faith with a stranger. As he is about to speak, he hears a silent voice from within saying, "Don't tell him about my love." Just then the man started to talk about a lost he had suffered and the loneliness he felt. The new comer to faith took time to tell him how he had come to know Jesus as a friend who would be with us and never leave us alone. He started once again and heard the same voice, "Don't tell him about my love." Just then, the man sat down on the ground, lifted his shoes and started to pick pebbles out of the holes. The new comer to faith invited him to go to The Clothes Closet.

Once again the silent voice from within whispered, "Don't tell him about my love." He found out that the man had not eaten a solid meal for a few days. So, he took him for a meal. While sitting at the table breaking bread together, the small whisper from with in said, "Now you can tell him about my love." God loves us so much that God provides a way where there is no way. And God loves us so much that God sends disciples forth to feed his sheep. Fed any sheep lately?

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to help make God's love known to others through the things we both say and do. For many, seeing is still believing! When God's love is expressed in what we do, others are drawn to that love - we are carrying out God's mission in the world. As the world looks upon us today, can the active presence of God be seen through our witness? As one nourished by the hand of God, have you fed any sheep lately?

Becoming God's holy one takes time. It requires much prayer and conversation with God. We are admonished by Jesus to feast on the Word, to seek out opportunities for fellowship with other believers. We like the Magi, who upon seeing Jesus, will travel home another way. We too, will tell the world that Jesus the Lord has come!

Prayer:

O God, of new beginnings, You cause us to remember and move on. You cause us to trust and believe what your love is bringing, laying to rest the pain that's gone. Let us, with the Spirit's daring, step from the past and leave behind our disappointment, guilt, and grieving, seeking new paths in this year ahead. Amen.

Mary Council-Austin

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