Scripture Texts: 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 and Revelation 21:1-6a
Out with the old, in with the new. That tends to be a pretty popular sentiment around this time of year. Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, and as is the custom for many people, it will be a time for new beginnings, new dreams, new goals, and of course, New Year’s resolutions. Personally, I don’t always make New Year’s resolutions. Some years I do, some years I don’t-- I suspect it usually has something to do with how much free time I have to reflect on such things. There are other people I know, however, who are more consistent. I have one friend who is so religious about her new year's resolutions, that every year, she types up a document-- usually several pages long--with a list of resolutions that includes short term goals, long term goals, and an action plan with a clearly laid out time line for how she intends to accomplish and keep her resolutions. As an added measure of accountability, she then sends this list to several of her closest friends, which of course in no way makes any of the rest of us feel inadequate or lazy at all about our own New Year's resolutions-- or lack thereof.
On the other end of the spectrum, I have some friends who are completely opposed to the idea of New Year’s resolutions, seeing them as nothing more than frivolous promises that are meant to be broken. These are the people who scoff at the rest of us and our good intentions to eat healthier, read more non-fiction, or finally buckle down and start learning that second language. "Can't teach an old dog new tricks," these folks might say. "What you see is what you get."
Most of us, I suspect, fall somewhere between these two extremes. Maybe we like the idea of New Year’s resolutions. Maybe we have good intentions. But maybe we also don't take them too seriously because we know from experience that our resolve doesn’t always last terribly long into the new year.
The truth is, New Year’s resolutions can sometimes be frivolous, and they are not usually anything we should lose sleep over. Still, this morning, since it is the day before New Year's Eve, I would like to make an argument in favor of New Year’s resolutions. Not necessarily the kind that have to do with losing weight or going to the gym more often-- though those are certainly worthy goals. Rather, I’m talking about the kinds of resolutions we make with the aim of transformation-- with the aim of becoming better people. Kinder, more courageous, more educated, or more compassionate. Resolutions to become more spiritually minded and more devoted to prayer or meditation practices. Resolutions to be less selfish and more giving of our time, our resources, and our hearts. This morning, I would like to come out in favor of transformation-based resolutions. In part because it seems as if our scripture texts somehow demand it. Both of our readings today are rich in imagery of transformation--of new life and new creation.
“There will be a new heaven and a new earth,” the book of Revelation says. “Death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be no more.”
“If anyone is in Christ,” Paul writes in his second letter to the Corinthians, “there is a new creation: everything old has passed away, everything has become new!”
Out with the old, in with the new. Just like we said.
There’s only one problem with that.
We have become accustomed, in this scientific age, to view things in a very binary manner. Things are either black or white, good or bad, fact or fiction—old or new. It’s a way of looking at the world, and ourselves, that leads to sentiments like our mantra this morning--“out with the old, in with the new”--as if it were just a switch that we could somehow flip on or off at will. The problem is, in my experience, and I would imagine in many of yours as well--God’s timing and God’s transformation rarely, if ever, works that way. And for most of us, that being the case, we may read our scripture texts this morning with a certain amount of skepticism. Hearing within them beautiful words of hope, but also not quite sure if we actually see that new creation taking place in the world around us.
There’s a great book that came out a few years ago with a rather enigmatic title. It's called: A Visit from the Goon Squad. It’s a complicated book, and it’s about many things. But mostly, it’s a book about time. It’s a book about how we change over time, and how we tend to go both forwards and backwards in our personal and spiritual transformation. The book centers around the lives of two characters--Bennie and Sasha-- but the book does not flow in chronological order. The reader has to pay close attention to know if they are in the past, the present, or the future. The evolution of the characters in the story does not happen in a single straight line. There is no one moment when lightening flashes and everything changes. There is no moment when old becomes new, wounds are healed, and people are transformed. Rather, it’s all part of one, great big, messy and sometimes confusing mosaic. A larger picture that one can only see if one sticks with the story right up to the very end. And it is only then, at the end of the story, when the transformation that has been taking place all along--sometimes in very small and unexpected ways--finally becomes clear.
I have a theory that when it comes to God’s transformation and the bringing about of new creation, in our lives and in the world--it's a little bit like that. That our lives, and the life of the world around us, are all part of one great big mosaic--one that is sometimes confusing, often messy, at times beautiful and always changing. A mosaic that blends past, present and future. One that takes the old and blends it with the new in order to create something entirely different.
It’s not about flipping a switch, because the truth is, we need our past along with our future. Our past is part of what makes us who we are. Even the mistakes we’ve made, the promises we've broken, and the bad habits we struggle with-- those too are an important part of who we are and who we will become.
Our lives are a mosaic in which we constantly move backwards and forwards, ever so slowly inching towards the new creation of who we will ultimately become. We may not see it clearly now, but we will--if we stick with the story, right up to the very end.
And so when it comes to our New Year's resolutions-- those promises we make at the beginning of a new year with the aim of transformation- they are important. Not because we will miraculously change every bad habit we've ever had or wipe away every imperfection or flaw, but because they help us reset our focus, and remember that no matter what happened yesterday, and no matter what may happen tomorrow, what we do today, in this moment, will become a vital thread in the final image of who we will become.
What we do today-- the promises that we make and keep today-- will bring about our transformation in the future. So go ahead and make those resolutions, and know that God is there in the midst of it all. God is there in the midst of who we were, who we are, and who we will become. Old and new. Alpha and Omega. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
Let us pray...
Oh God of Life, we give you thanks for new beginnings, new opportunities, and the coming of a new year. We pray that you would give us strength of purpose in the days ahead, help us to believe in the power of your transformation. Help us to have faith in the story you have given to us at Christmas. May we catch a glimpse of your transformation as it occurs in our lives and in the world around us.
