Sunday's Message - Happy New Year

Here's the message I offered during the celebration services in the Presbyterian Church of Hopedale, Ohio on Sunday, December 27, 2020.

Luke 2:22-38

And when the day of purification, according to the law of Moses, came, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, just as it had been written in the law of the Lord, “Every first born male is called holy to the Lord.” And they came to offer a sacrifice according to what has been said in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem who’s name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and pious, as he waited for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it was revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he might see the Christ of the Lord. And he went in the Spirit into the Temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus for them to do what is the custom of the law concerning him, [Simeon] took him into his arms and praised God and said, “Now you may release your slave, master, according to your word, in peace, because my eyes have seen your salvation, the one prepared before all the people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory to your people, Israel.” And his father and mother were amazed at what they heard concerning him.

And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, he is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is spoken against. (And through your own self, a sword will pierce.) So that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed.” 

And there was a prophetess, Anna, a daughter of Phanuel, from the tribe of Asher. She had lived many days, having lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow for as long as eighty-four years. She didn’t leave the Temple, fasting and praying night and day. And at that hour, she came and gave thanks to God and spoke concerning [Jesus] to those who waited for the ransom of Jerusalem.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year, well, almost. Right now we’ve got less than a week before that huge ball drops in Times Square, wearing a mask of course, and we officially enter 2021. But we’ve still got a little while to wait for that to happen, and that’s a good thing, because in these last few days we have the chance to do two things before we turn the calendar. 

For example, we have the chance to look back on 2020, and I’ve got to tell you, on a lot of levels, it’s been a year for the books. My gosh, we faced a global pandemic like nothing we’ve seen in one hundred years. And although folks are just starting to get vaccinated, as of last week, here in the United States, we’re still looking at new hospitalization of 120,000 each day and a daily death rate of about 3,000. And speaking of the United States, have we ever had political year like we just endured? Not in my memory. And just like COVID-19, it’s still going strong, with the President and his supporters saying he’d have won by a landslide without massive voter fraud while the courts, the states and even some people in his party say that the election was clean and that Joe Biden won fair and square. Yeah boy. And I’ll tell you, as an old history teacher, never in the history of the United States has the military had to say that they won’t interfere in an American election. Wow. Man alive, for the world and for our country, this has been a year like no other. 

And as we look at our own lives and families, I think the same kind of turmoil has been going on there but not so public. I mean, some of us have said good-bye to family members who’ve passed while also saying hello to some brand, new people who I think we can call cute little cuddly bundles of potential. Friends have gotten sick and others have recovered. Diagnoses have been good and not so good. We’ve seen some doors open and watched others close. And you know, on a very personal level, I certainly hope changing the calendar will change some of the fortunes of my little family. For example, as a member of the high school class of 2020, my daughter’s senior year was crazy and so was her first semester at WVU. It’s like I told her, most people won’t remember the class of 2019, because it was a lot like the class of 2018. And most people won’t remember the class of 2021, because it will probably be a lot like the class of 2022. But the class of 2020, man, no one will forget. Let’s just say 2020 has been interesting to say the least.

But of course, today isn’t just about looking in the rear view mirror. As a matter of fact, if that’s all we do, you know, to look back, I think we’re in big trouble, because let’s face it, we have absolutely no power to change the past. It’s in concrete. It’s a done deal. You see, the only thing we can do with what’s already happened is to learn from it, both good and bad, and hopefully decide to repeat the good and avoid the bad. In other words, as we stand in line for a new year and wait to move up, right now we can look forward, and we can begin to make what I guess people all over the world call new year resolutions. You see, right now, we can look at 2021 as a blank slate and what we resolve is the stuff we intend to write in the next twelve months. And even though, what we’ve gone through will shape the kind of things we might want to do, undo or redo, I think there are three resolutions we can make that might have an enormous impact on how we live during the next year. And I’ll tell you, I believe we can see these three decisions in the passage we read from Luke. You see, if we look at the examples of both Simeon and Anna and if we consider what they did and said, I believe that we might be setting ourselves up to have a pretty happy new year. And let me share with you what those things are.

You see, first, we can decide that starting today, we’re going to look for the presence of God in simple things, you know, in places that are unassuming and in events that are unimpressive and in people who are modest. In other words, we can decide that we’re going to try as hard as we can to see God in the simplicity that surrounds us. Which, when you think about it, is a lot different from what we’re encouraged to do now-a-days. I mean, let’s face it, we are not exactly living in the golden age of humility. Man, everything has to be big and bold and beautiful. That’s where we find our national leaders and the stars of sports and show business, that’s where they live. And because of that, it seems natural to look there for God too. My goodness, God must be in not just the wind and the fire but the strongest wind and the hottest fire. He’s in a raging storm that’s been stilled and five thousand people miraculously fed, you know, in unbelievable things like the heavens being torn apart and the Steelers missing the play-offs after starting 11-0. You see, that’s where God hangs out; therefore, that’s where we can expect to see him, right? 

But you know, that’s not the way Simeon saw it; and I’m talking about a man who’d waited for the consolation of Israel and to whom “the Holy Spirit [revealed] that he wouldn’t see death before he might see the Christ of the Lord.” Man, if he’d been looking for God in the huge, he’d have missed that ordinary infant born in the  sticks, to a family so poor that all they could offer God was a pair of pigeons. You see, it was in a baby where Simeon saw the promises of God. And you know, the same could be said of the prophetess Anna, who saw that same baby Jesus and gave thanks to God. They were looking for the presence of God in the simple. 

And you know, we can do the same thing ourselves. I’m telling you, we can decide to recognize that God is all around us 24/7, if we take the time to look. You see, we can see him in the sun that rises every day or in the faces of the children that are in our lives. And we can see him in those little acts of kindness and concern that we’re going to miss if we’re not really looking. And we can certainly see him in this place, in this community, in this church. You see, he’s here every time we get together and sing the songs and pray the prayers and hear the word and share in that same Holy Spirit. Remember, for Elijah, God wasn’t in the whirlwind but rather in that still, small voice. I’m telling you, just like God became flesh in the form of a baby lying in a manger, this will truly be an amazing new year if we make the decision to look for God in the simple. And that’s one.

And second, we can also decide, starting today, to praise God for sending Jesus Christ into our world, to praise him every single day for something that can kind of get lost in the shuffle and that we may even take for granted from time to time. I mean, although I think most, if not all of us here this morning believe that God entered our time and space through the person of Jesus Christ, but outside of the period around Christmas, how often do we really thank him for that? Now, like I said, I don’t think it’s because we don’t believe or because Jesus just isn’t important to us. That’s not the case, but let’s face it, we’ve got a lot things happening in our lives, don’t we? I know in my own house, it seems like we’ve got all kinds of stuff going on. Man, there’s church and preschool and college, smart phones and ipads and Netflix. It’s enough to drive you crazy. In fact, there’s just not much time to give thanks. 

And I’ll tell you, for that reason, I really think it’s important for us to read and reread what Simeon said right after he took Jesus into his arms and began to praise God. You see, just like he said, Jesus is still God’s salvation, but not just for me or for you but for all people, those whom we like and those whom we don’t, folks who follow the rules right along with those who do their own thing, men and women who are fortunate to grow up in God-fearing families and to live in comfortable Christian homes as well as those who were raised with virtually no knowledge of God and who’ve been dumped on by the some of those whom the world considers “righteous.” Man, he’s still a light to the Gentiles and a glory to Israel. It’s just like the prophet Isaiah wrote: “Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken. ...Break forth together into singing, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God.” I’m telling you, if starting today, we make this our focus, I’ll guarantee we’ll be praising for the next three hundred and sixty-five days. And wouldn’t that be a wonderful new year resolution? That’s number two.

And third, if we really want to enter 2021 in the best possible way, we can also decide to recognize that we live in a world that desperately needs to hear this good news. I mean, throw a dart into a crowd; there’s a better than even chance you’re going to hit a person who feels a little bit lost. Maybe they feel lonely and isolated. Maybe they’re being crushed by abuse they didn’t choose or bound to addictions they just can’t seem to break. Or maybe they’ve simply lost their sense of direction, having joined with so many others in our society who have confused fulfillment with greed and righteousness with intolerance and faith with certainty. In other words, maybe they reflect the kind of world that Simeon saw, when he said to Mary, the mother of Jesus, “Behold, he is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel and for a sign that is spoken against. (And through your own self, a sword will pierce.) So that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed.” 

But you know, regardless of the reason, right now, we live in a world, man, we live in a community that’s hungry for some good news, not the burden of pseudo-religious legalism, not the empty hypocrisy that’s traded political power for eternal truth, and not the quick-fixes promised by ideas that are the spiritual equivalent of cotton candy, something that tastes good going down but that has the nutritional value of Styrofoam. Right now, people need to hear about the Father who loved the world so much that he gave his only son. And they need to hear about the son who lived and died and rose again to give us direction and forgiveness and hope. And they need to hear about the Holy Spirit who surrounds us and fills us with love and grace and faith even on our worst day. I’ll tell you, for a community of workers, and that’s exactly what we are, the harvest is ready. And if, starting on January first, we decide to hop in our combines and get to work; if this is what to do as a result of birth of Jesus, this will truly be wonderful new year. 

Well, we’re closer to the new year now than when I started; therefore, soon we’ll be able to say farewell to all the craziness of 2020 and move into all the opportunities and possibilities awaiting us in 2021. And as we stand here and look forward, we can make some decisions that’ll determine what we’ll do. And among all the other stuff can promise, we can resolve to look for God in simple things and to praise him for sending Jesus Christ into our world and to recognize that we live in a place that desperately needs to hear the good news. And if we do those things, we just might have every reason to look ahead and say happy new year.