JOURNEYS, QUESTIONS, AND PRAYERS
Luke 2:15-20, 23-32; Psalm 139:1-12; John 15:1-5
January 1, 2012 - Rev. Janet Duggins
Luke 2:15-20, 23-32
“Journeys”
Have you ever noticed how many journeys there are in the
Christmas story, in both Luke’s and Matthew’s very different accounts? To begin with, angels make what we might
presume is a significant journey from the holy light of God’s presence to some
rather obscure corners of our world to make announcements, first to Zechariah
about the coming birth of John the Baptist, then to Mary about the child she
will have, and later to the shepherds.
Mary takes a trip to visit her cousin Elizabeth, Zechariah’s wife. Mary and Joseph travel to
Later still, magi make a long trek from a far-away country
looking for a child whose birth they somehow discerned from their study of the
stars, and go back to their homes by a different route. Not long after that, Mary and Joseph and the
baby flee to
And I suppose we could say that in coming to be born intothe life of the world, into the family of humanity, Jesus himself made the greatest journey of all, from the heart of God into an existence of vulnerability, need, and pain.
Almost the whole story is made up of a series of journeys.
And all of them, in one sense or another, either move to or begin from the manger. The manger represents the pivot point, the heart, of the story: the birth of the holy child Jesus, come to us from God. It’s a kind of still point, a holy moment of truth, love, and power given an astonishingly humble expression. All the journeys either drive toward that place, that moment, that birth…. or they are driven by it. From there, people are sent, motivated, impelled – willingly or less so - to carry the story forward, or further. Nobody, it seems, is able to stay with or in that moment for a long time. I guess it really isn’t in the nature of journeys, or of life, to allow for long periods in those quiet, timeless, sacred moments. We have to keep moving, whether we want to or not.
But we do come back to that place again and again, don’t we, those of us who believe? Our journey, year after year, brings us round again to join the other pilgrims – Mary, Joseph, shepherds, messengers, the wise and the foolish, the lost and the hungry – who come to the manger. We come again, every year, to remember how our God came to be one of us, and was laid in a manger with a holy helplessness that amazes us anew each time we kneel there.
And having paused to try and take in that wonder, we find ourselves setting out from that place again with our perspective ever-so-slightly changed, our plans re-aligned, our compassion reawakened, our mission to honor the vulnerable and welcome the stranger in his name sharpened, our hope renewed, our faith restored.
We’d like, perhaps, to stay – to enjoy the “silent night,” to drink in the holiness, to simply be there – but this story of the many journeys reminds us that we are on a journey too, and that there are many other ways and other places for us to be about keeping Christmas and honoring the birth of Jesus.
***
Psalm 139:1-12
“Questions”
Journeys – at least for our family – always seem to be accompanied by questions: “Are we there yet?” “How much further?” “What is that over there?” “Is this the right way?”
Journeying well involves asking good questions. In that spirit, I offer some questions for reflection, at the end of one year and the beginning of another:
What has been the biggest unexpected blessing of the past year?
What was your most difficult challenge?
What have you learned?
Was there a time when you felt stretched beyond what you thought your gifts and strength were capable of?
What are you grateful for today?
Whose love or wisdom sustained you this past year?
Is there someone who needs to know what her or his help has meant in your life?
In whose life did you make a difference?
Is there a relationship that needs repairing, or someone (more than one someone?) to whom you need to apologize or make amends?
For what do you need to ask God’s forgiveness?
What sorrows or pain of the past year still await healing?
Is there something you should be seeking help with in the months ahead?
What do you feel anxious or fearful about, looking ahead into a new year?
What are you hopeful about?
Are there goals you plan to work toward, or simply things you hope to finally be able to do in 2012?
Is there something – some change, some decision, some project – you have been putting off long enough?
Do you need to reevaluate how you are spending your time?
How is God calling you to make a difference – by acting or speaking out for change?
Is there something new you sense God prodding you to explore, learn about, or to get involved in?
Is this a year for you to connect with a facet of the church’s ministry you’ve not been part of?
Is there someone you’ve been feeling you should get to know better?
Do you have a relationship that needs to be strengthened?
Is there something you need to be more honest with God (and with yourself!) about?
How are you going to serve God in this new year?
***
John 15:1-5
“Praying our way into the new year”
How many of you have made or plan to make at least one new year’s resolution?
Anybody want to share?
How many are not making any resolutions this year?
Why not?
A lot of people don’t want anything to do with new year’s resolutions, for a whole lot of reasons – chief among them, probably, that most of us find those resolutions pretty hard to keep. No matter how well-intentioned we are or how sensible and good for us those commitments may be, we run up against all the pressures and demands of daily life and – more significantly – our own lack of discipline. Rarely are those resolutions kept with much consistency past the end of January… which just leads us to feel disappointed in ourselves. Better to recognize this likelihood from the beginning, and skip the pretense and the disappointment, many of us think.
On the other hand, it’s not a bad thing to have goals. As Jerry reminded us more than once while the Session worked on our congregation’s intention statement and core values: if you don’t have a sense of what you’re about, every idea seems like it might be a good one. You don’t have to think too hard to realize how unhelpful that approach to life could turn out to be! I’m sure you’ve heard this many times: if you don’t know where you’re going, you might not get anywhere. So “no resolutions” could very well lead to disappointment, too. Besides, it’s definitely good to cultivate discipline, to practice healthy and faithful habits, and to be accountable for our decisions and actions.
So… with the pluses and minuses of the new year’s resolution tradition in mind, I want to suggest another way of thinking about the transition into a new year (either as an alternative or a complement to making resolutions).
From a faith perspective, we can readily understand why there are such challenges in making and keeping new year’s resolutions: Such resolutions are dependent on our own strength, our own wisdom, our own abilities, our own discipline and willpower. They presume independence, self-reliance, and an ability to meet our own needs, solve our own problems, and save ourselves from ourselves. But in the light of God’s love and the truth of God’s word, we understand that we’re sinful, fallible, imperfect people. Our wisdom is incomplete and our abilities have limits. Our emotions and our brokenness sometimes get in the way of what we know to be good for us. We often know what’s right but have a hard time doing it.
We have come to know that we need God’s grace. We know God made us to be in relationships, in community, and in interdependence with one another. We can’t live the lives we are meant to live, faithful and flourishing and fulfilling, without staying connected to Jesus. We can’t make it on our own.
So why would we be making resolutions for improving ourselves, our lives, our relationships, our futures, and our world, as if those changes were fully in our power? At the very least, let us take Jesus’ words to heart. He says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. Apart from me you can do nothing.” At the very least, let’s acknowledge, at the end of one year and the beginning of another, that we need grace and yet more grace for our lives. At the very least, let’s accompany or replace our “resolutions” with prayers… a very different way of looking ahead to 2012, with our hopes, fears, dreams, needs in God’s hands instead of our own.