So, here we are at the very start of a brand new year. No wonder the Roman god, Janus, after whom this month is named, was depicted as having two faces, one facing backward and one facing forward. Isn’t that just what life is like just now: we think back and reflect on the year that has just slipped from our grasp, and we look forward to the new, totally unexplored and untested new year.

In doing the latter, our attitude, our mind-set, is crucial for how the new year will play out. Will our focus be upon ourselves, or on our own goals and objectives, or on what we can do for someone else, the church or the wider community perhaps, or will it be somewhere else?

The apostle Paul suggests that our attitude or mind-set should not be on ourselves at all--that we should have a new and different attitude or mind-set that is not ours at all, not inwardly focused at all, but a new and radically different one, namely that of Jesus Christ. In today’s passage, he invites us to let this mind, this way of thinking, be in us. And, in his letter to the Romans (Romans 12:2), he implores us to let God renew or change our minds, the way that we think--so they are more in line with how Christ thought.

To me, this sounds like a wise, and rather wonderful, way of beginning this New Year. Happy New Year to each of you.

Much has been said of late about the question of ‘privilege’, but usually only in a secular, societal sense. Sadly, this leads out a very significant part of the equation, which has to do with the privileges that we have as friends, followers and disciples of the Lord Jesus. We have such mighty privileges that all the other ones pale in comparison. And, part of that ‘spiritual’ privilege that we have is exercising faith, trusting in Jesus, and choosing to work alongside Him in changing and shaping our world for the better. It is those two things, namely our faith and our choices, that are touched on by the two meditations that I’m passing on to you today.

Much has been said of late about the question of ‘privilege’, but usually only in a secular, societal sense. Sadly, this leads out a very significant part of the equation, which has to do with the privileges that we have as friends, followers and disciples of the Lord Jesus. We have such mighty privileges that all the other ones pale in comparison. And, part of that ‘spiritual’ privilege that we have is exercising faith, trusting in Jesus, and choosing to work alongside Him in changing and shaping our world for the better. It is those two things, namely our faith and our choices, that are touched on by the two meditations that I’m passing on to you today.

We may not agree with David’s self-assessment, namely of his innocence and his faithfulness in keeping God’s law--as depicted in today’s psalm, Psalm 18--but we can certainly identify with his feeling of being in a dark and difficult place. And, likewise, we can agree with him that we are loved by God, and that our only hope, and help, is going to come from God. Of those things, we can be quite certain.

Today’s Scripture passage underscores one of the Bible’s most consistent messages, namely that God yearns for a restored relationship with us, and so He goes to extreme lengths to achieve it. In the life, death and resurrection, it became possible, though in a somewhat limited way, and in the church, it became more fully evident. But it isn’t until we experience the new heaven and the new earth that it is fully realized. Then the dwelling place of God is fully with us, no ifs, ands or buts, with no barriers or hindrances. So, that is something that we can look forward to--and enjoy, even if only in a more limited scope, right here and now. Let us, then, do our utmost to enter into that. Amen.

Today’s passage and meditation touch on what is, for many people, quite a touchy subject, namely sin. Many people, my own dear father included, dislike the word because they feel that it implies that they are nasty, evil people who do no good in the world. Dad used to say, “I’m not perfect, but I’m no sinner either.” That’s because the word ‘sin’ and ‘sinner’ have taken on a very pejorative negative connotation, which is not at all true of its Biblical meaning. The main word for sin, hamartia, simply means to ‘miss the mark’, that is, to fall short of what God expects and demands of us. It’s another way of saying that we aren’t perfect, that we don’t bat 1,000. And so a person can be a ‘very good person’ by society’s standards and do all sorts of ‘good’ things, and still be a sinner, still have sin in his or her life. That is, because, sin, at its very root, is choosing to abide by our own counsels and thinking and agenda rather than by God's. In other words, not submitting to His will and guidance. And so, what we do may well be good and wholesome and beneficial, but not necessarily what God would want or what God directed. And, if we accidentally get it right, do what God wants without actually asking for His advice or intentionally being directed by Him, is that sin? I’m not quite sure. Anyway, I think that it is probably better to ask Him anyway, rather than to assume or presume so.

Today’s Scripture passage and meditation put us in mind, not only of what we would die for, but also what we actually live for. Stephen certainly died for his faith in Jesus Christ, but he also lived for what Jesus lived and taught, namely that God was doing a new thing, a new thing that wasn’t limited by the limited understandings of us mortal human beings, or even our past history and experiences, but, at the same time, was predicted and spoken of in the Scriptures and lived out in the life of Jesus. And, so it meant that Stephen, unlike us at times, was not bound by his or his people’s past, but was continually alive to Christ and His new way. As we approach this New Year, may we be of a like mind.

This Christmas Eve, at the suggestion of someone I heard while in Vancouver back in November, I tried something a bit different from my usual style of preaching. The person suggested that, when people hear a Scripture passage read in ‘one fowl swoop’, they often miss out on some of the meaning and nuances of it--which is too bad, seeing as the Scriptures, being divinely inspired, often have something to say to us verse by verse. What the person suggested was preaching an expository sermon first--before the reading of the passage--and then having the reading. By doing this, the reading gives a background and overview to what you have just preached. So, this is what I did with the Gospel reading, Luke 2:1-20, which you now have an attachment. I hope you enjoy it.

Today’s psalm touches on something that, at the onset at least, might leave us mere mortals a bit uncomfortable or uneasy, and even, yes, even a bit fearful. It is the revelation that God knows us inside and out, even to the point of knowing our thoughts and motives--and our words before they even come out of our mouths. if you are like I was at times as a youngster, when I was fearful of ‘being found out’ and punished as a consequence, that fear or uneasiness might be quite understandable. But God is not so limited as is our earthly parents. God does indeed hold us accountable, but He fully understands where we come from and what led up to our behaviour or decisions. He understands us better than we understands ourselves and thus is able to put all of this into a proper perspective. And--this is the incredible thing--in spite of all this knowing, He still loves us unconditionally, cares for us and forgives us, and wants us in be in a loving relationship with Himself. What incredible Good News that is.

Years ago, when I was first ordained, I had a bishop by the name of Morse Goodman. I found his middle name, Lamb, to be particularly revealing, not only about himself, but also about our Lord. Morse was a ‘lamb’ that became a shepherd, and Jesus was as well, ‘the lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world’, who was also our Good Shepherd. Today’s passage from the Book of Revelation further elaborates on that role of Christ as ‘the lamb of God’, namely in how, because of His life, death and resurrection, He became ’the perfect lamb’ and the only one qualified to take away our sins. It just goes to show how much more we should worship Him and obey Him in everything.

From what has to be a rather obscure and generally unread book of the Bible, Habakkuk, came that wonderful doctrine of ‘justification by faith’, which the apostle Paul picked up on, and which the great reformer Martin Luther discovered and promoted. It, as nothing else can, melds together our lives and responses with the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. That doctrine states, in essence, that we cannot, and could not, ‘do it’ on our own. We could not earn or merit our salvation, but could only be justified through faith in what Jesus had already done for us. It is His life, death and resurrection that does it all, a one ‘full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, obligation and satisfaction--as described for us by the Book of Common Prayer (1962), p. 82. It is here that Christianity is unique: unique in that we can’t do it, and unique in that God in Christ Jesus has already done it all for us. And so, all that we need to do is to receive it, as a gift, by faith in Him. And, what a gift that is. Thanks be to God.

To me, Psalm 119 presents quite a challenge, a challenge in two ways. Firstly, it lifts up God’s word, commandments, teachings and laws as being of paramount importance. And secondly, it suggests that knowing them and obeying them should take precedence over all else. So, who among us can say that we do either? Either we don’t study His word and learn it and meditate upon it, or, we forget it or dismiss it and act otherwise than how it commands. And so, in these waning days of this Advent season, it is probably a good exercise to see just ‘how we are doing’ in this regard, and commit ourselves to ‘pulling up our socks’ in this regard.

During this time of year leading up to Christmas, countless agencies and advertisers are plummeting us with suggestions as to what we ‘really’ need, and, of course, what we really need to buy--or, in some cases, what we need to contribute to. They suggest to us that we are ‘really not good enough’ (we need their product to somehow ‘be’ better) or that we don’t really have what we ‘need’. They want to contribute to a sense of ‘want’ or need or of dissatisfaction. But in reality we actually already have what we need, if we have Jesus Christ in our lives. He is our hope, our joy, our peace, our love and He provides all that we could ever need or want. And so, we can rest in Him, quite secure and at peace. Amen.

One of my favourite gospel songs is ‘Because He Lives’, in which the chorus says, ‘Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living just because He lives.”

Jesus indeed live, and furthermore, as today’s gospel reading pointed out, He also knows the future, holds the future in His caring hands, and so we can rest secure and easy, knowing that He is taking care of everything--and taking care of us as well. So, let us hold on to that truth firmly, now and ever.

Pretty well all of us can say that we have sometime reached a ‘point of quiet--or not so quiet--desperation, a time when troubles or problems seemed overwhelming and solutions and help seemed either far off or non-existent. It is good to know that our Lord--or His help--or never far away, even with they seem so, and that we can always turn to Him. That was the experience of today’s psalmist, and can be our experience as well, if only we give Him a chance.

All of us, at some point in our lives, reach a breaking point, a place of ‘not so quiet desperation’, where nothing seems to go right and nothing seems to ‘work.’ Certainly the psalmist David felt this way at times, especially when King Saul was ‘hot on his trail’, wanting and planning his destruction--and all this in quite of his exemplary service to his king and country. Even so, David does not lose heart but instead goes to God who is his help and his strength. And so, when we are ‘in dire straits’ like David, we can learn from his example and follow it, and likewise go to God in prayer and in faith.

Someone once said, ‘When you point a finger at someone else, you have three fingers pointing back at you’, and certainly that is the case when we look at the mistakes and sins of our ancestors in the faith. We, like them, are flawed and imperfect human beings, and like them, prone to make mistakes and sin. So, hopefully, looking at them and their ‘performance’ can be a help to remedy similar things in our own lives--a very useful and helpful exercise for the season of Advent, if there ever was so.