| Rev. Jonyrma Singleton First Sunday After Christmas |
Sunday, January 1, 2006
Church of the Covenant Printer-Friendly Version |
“Making All Things New”
Today, January 1, 2006, we stand on the threshold of a new year. Over the last week, we have seen images flashed before us by the media about the events of last year: the images that show the tragedies of war, terrorism, and especially the natural disasters of hurricanes, flooding, wildfires, and earthquakes. Familiar famous people’s faces that died in 2005 are shown or they were written about.
And in our own lives we have probably paused at sometime during last month to reflect on the events, which have affected us: the joys and the disappointments and the losses and the gains.
Today’s New Year lectionary lessons from Ecclesiastes and Revelation are very familiar texts, which are usually read at funerals. They give comfort to the grieving community when they are struggling to accept a loss of a loved one. They provide comfort and hope and the Good News that our faith in our Creator God promises that our loved ones have a place in eternity and the promise that one-day death will cease to be. These texts are appropriate to be read today as we begin a new beginning and we look to the future with anticipation.
Ecclesiastes reminds us that our lives are set in motion by seasons beginning with birth and ending with death. Life and death are seasons, which we have no control over. However, we do have choices to make in other events in life’s seasons. We can make decisions that change and impact our lives. It’s just trying to know when it is the right time and the right season to do that, which will be in sync with life’s rhythm.
So today we have no other choice but to step down from the threshold which leads us out into an unknown future and to a new beginning to embrace life and all that it holds for us.
Although our world contains chaos- its confusion, its suffering, its pain, and yes, death. Chaos is a power, which was present when our Creator God formed the universe. Yet we strive to live our lives as people of God to transform this anti-creation power by working to bring forth love, peace, and harmony in our lives as well as what part we can play in improving the human condition of our neighbors, many of whom unfortunately are not aware and are overcome by the chaotic forces.
In the Revelation text, the vision set forth by John is the arrival of a new heaven and a new earth. All that is human is taken up and transformed.
The new holy city, the New Jerusalem, is restored and revived. God does not destroy it for God will not junk the cosmos and start anew, but God renews the old and brings it to fulfillment. God recovers the original goodness of creation rather than eliminating it.
It is not God’s plan to make all new things, but to make all things new!
As God’s community, all of the striving we are doing for a just and peace-filled human society will be a part of that fulfillment of making all things new.
So we can be encouraged today to believe the power and promise of the passage that nothing of our efforts will be lost in the future, thus we are encouraged to keep our hope and faith strong, and to look forward to the fulfillment of God’s plan that will make all things new.
Mourning, crying, pain, and even death, all which are a part of our day to day lives will not turn our focus away from what will come, because we are able to see God’s future promise. This gives us the courage to continue to work for a world where God’s reign is quietly growing in our midst.
As a community of faith, we can discover how making all things new works in our personal lives and imitate when we participate in the Holy Sacraments, which our Lord Jesus Christ initiated and showed us. As we face the challenges of each day we can be strengthened spiritually and emotionally when we receive these sacraments.
First in the power of baptism, in which a part of the sacrament is receiving anointing and blessing of water and oil in our reformed tradition, we have now included in our Presbyterian Book of Common Worship for our times a Service of Wholeness, which provides us with prayer for healing and recalling the importance of restoring and strengthening our minds and our bodies as Jesus so often did when he touched people in the gospel stories.
Being made whole again by receiving the anointment signifies that we are marked as Christ’s own forever. We belong to him. Jesus made water as a sign of the Kingdom of cleansing and of rebirth. Daily we are being transformed by our faith and believe that through prayer, healing, and wholeness we can overcome pain and suffering for we are helping to bring forth the new Kindom (Kingdom) World Order text is coming and happening in our midst.
Today, you will be invited to come forward and receive a blessing and an anointing as you begin the New Year. In the months ahead this service is planned for each first Sunday following our regular worship service.
We will also participate together in the Sacrament of Holy Communion in which Jesus invites us to join him at the table to remember him and the promise of salvation and life. It feeds our souls and renews us for our journey.
We can begin today making all things new in our lives. Believe what God hopes for us, is to be happy, enjoy life, and to keep the vision before us. Even now in this world, “Spirit of the living God falls fresh on me. God, melt me, mold me, fill me, and use me. Spirit of the Living God falls afresh on me.” Amen
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