New Year's Resolutions

New Year!

I always love the New Year.

It always feels like a time for new possibilities.

In the New Year we have the possibilities of new thinking, new ways, new days.

This is why we make resolutions, because we have been given a new year to try to do things differently.

Nothing wrong with trying to change things we don’t like about our lives.

Of course, the majority of our resolutions tend to be fairly shallow.

Lose weight is the biggest one.

It is also the one we fail at by February.

Most of the resolution we make we fail at.

I always liked the “One Word” resolution.

You adopt one word as your goal or mantra or motivation.

A word like ready, grit, fearless, or breathe.

Those are just some examples from friends who are doing the “One Word”.

I like it a lot better than a resolution.

It gets at the deeper issues we face in life.

My problem with all the resolution talk is that it is always about us.

What am I going to do to change my life?

The problem is that we don’t have control over everything in our lives.

I would argue the big things that really matter we actually don’t control.

We don’t control life and death.

We control the shallow things.

How much we weigh.

How healthy we are.

What job we have.

What clothes we wear.

The deeper issues are not in our control.

As people of faith we believe that they are in God’s control.

We believe that the bigger things of life are in the hands of forces bigger than us.

And so this New Year I want to suggest that instead of looking at our lives and thinking what needs to change in this New Year.

Ask a different question.

What will God do in my life this year?

Of course the problem with that question is that we don’t know the answer.

It is something we can’t predict, or make a resolution to make happen.

That is the point.

Faith is about trusting God with your life, all of it.

Faith is about not knowing the outcome, but trusting somehow that God is at the end of it all.

Our Gospel for this morning is about Jesus’ Baptism.

The meaning of Jesus baptism is not what does it mean for our baptisms?

It is that in this event God tore open the heavens and removed the barrier between us and heaven.

In Jesus Christ God bridged a gap between human and divine.

In Jesus Christ God invades our world.

And this year how is God going to invade your life?

The interesting thing about what happened in Jesus Christ is that most people missed it.

At his baptism we are told that the heavens, “torn apart”.

It is the same thing that will happen at his death, when Jesus dies the curtain in the temple “torn apart”.

God removes a barrier between God and us.

And we miss it because we are not looking for God.

Instead we are busy trying to improve our weight, make more money, stop smoking, or whatever else we have decided needs our attention.

Because of all this resolution talk, and because we fail at it so much, this time of year there are a lot “experts” on television telling us how to keep our New Year’s resolution.

I was reading one of those lists and I re wrote it for us to think about this morning.

So the experts say that we should do these things to keep our resolutions in the New Year.

I want to say do these other things because God is going to show up in your life this year and you don’t want to miss it.

1)    They say, “Choose a specific, realistic Goal”

a.     Instead, how about we look for God in your everyday normal life. God is going to show up. God will show up in the interactions you have with people, in your job, while you are shopping, while you are picking kids up, and doing all the things that life demands. Can we see God in the specific and realistic parts of our lives?

2)    They say, “Start with small steps”

a.     Instead, look for the small ways God is talking to you. God’s voice is often as soft as a whisper. Where is God leading you? What are the things that happen in your life that will show you a different way to be?

3)    They say, “Avoid repeating past failures”

a.     Instead, remember that God forgives all your sins, so that you can move on. We can’t undo what we have done. We can ask for forgiveness, and forgive others. In this process we learn to let go, to stop being ashamed.

4)    They say, “Remember that change is a process”

a.     Instead, change comes from death and resurrection. Let things die so new things can come into being. There are lots of things in our lives that we hold onto that don’t need to be anymore. What needs to die, so that new things can be born in us?

5)    They say, “Don’t let small stumbles let you down”

a.     Instead, you will fail this year, remember that God loves you. Remember that even in our failure God is at work. Through everything that we face we have a God that loves and cares for us.

6)    They say, “Get support from Friends and Family”

a.     Instead, God is found in the body of Christ. Go there to remember his love and care for you. God is everywhere and in everything. God is most visible here in this place amongst us. In the body and blood, in each other. I am always moved by the ways that people in this congregation care for each other by sharing their hurts with each other and helping each other through difficult times.

7)    They say, “Renew your motivation”

a.     Instead, Jesus brings the Holy Spirit – It will be your guide. God has provided us with all we need. Let God stir you to act out love, kindness, justice, mercy.

8)    They say, “Keep working on your goals”

a.     Instead, God is always working on you. God is the potter we are the clay. God is always working on us to help us learn the deep spiritual truths of our lives.

When looking out for God this year we will find that God is always with us.

Sometimes in surprising ways, in surprising places.

God shows up.

God in Jesus Christ has torn open the heavens and removed the barriers.

And in this New Year I am asking you to be ready, so that you will see the heavens torn open, and hear God’s voice say to you, “You are my child, my beloved, with you I am well pleased.”

Amen