BEGINNING AGAIN

Dr. Richard J. Henderson January 8, 2006

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Genesis 1:1-5
Mark 1:4-11

Introduction

This is not a good time to go to the health club. Everybody is there! The place is packed with people who have all made the same resolution you did - get in better shape. This is the time of year when we take stock of our lives - in one way or another - and decide what we need to change. A lot of those resolutions are predictable: lose weight, get healthier, quit smoking, get out of debt, don't drink as much. With the new year comes a time of starting over. We make resolutions to do better. One person made this resolution:

Procrastination is my sin,
It brings me pain and sorrow.
I know that I should stop it,
In fact I will - tomorrow.

I

There is confession in all this. We are admitting that our lives aren't everything we want them to be. We take stock of ourselves and see the ways in which we come up short. Creating resolutions is confessing that my life isn't at its best, and there are parts of it, at least, that I want to be better. So we resolve to be thinner, neater, smarter, and nicer.

Before too long, though, our good intentions fall apart. We break down and have the cigarette, buy the item we can't afford, put the pounds back on. This is January 8; some people have already given up on their resolutions! By Feb 1 it will be safe to go back to the gym again.

Some will make minor improvements; not all they wanted, but better than it was. Maybe they'll lose 10 pounds rather than the 35 they planned. Maybe they'll only pay off some of the debt.

And then, of course, when January 1, 2007 rolls around, we'll make new resolutions, and begin all over again. Or, more likely, we'll make the same resolutions again and really try to do better.

II

This is also a time to review our lives from a spiritual point of view. Where does our relationship with God stand? What can we do differently that will help our faith? Answering those questions will cause us to look at how we can be less self-oriented and more God oriented. It will move us from centering on our wants and look instead at others needs.

Jesus told us that whatever we do to one of the least of God's children, we do to Christ himself. Mother Teresa built her whole ministry on Jesus' words in Matthew 25. She understood that when she helped a poor person dying in the streets of Calcutta, she was caring for Jesus Christ himself. Her faith was strengthened by caring for the poor, which she knew was caring for Christ.

As we begin a new year, we take stock of our life with God and look at the ways in which we can improve how we live our faith.

III

But wait; is this just going to be another feeble attempt at making resolutions? Are our spiritual resolutions going to fade as quickly as the others do? Will we be back in the same spiritual place by the first of February?

The difference is that we have been baptized. God has taken us into his family. God has offered us the Holy Spirit. So we don't try to make significant changes in our lives all by ourselves, we have the help of God who works in us.

At Jesus' baptism, the Holy Spirit came to announce that Jesus was the son with whom God was very pleased. As we call on God to help build our spiritual lives, that same spirit is with us. We don't have to lift up our own lives; the spirit of God is with us. We pray and talk with God about our lives, and God strengthens us through his spirit.

A pastor wrote this simple prayer which says it well: "Lord, we cannot pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps, and we cannot change our hearts, and we cannot give ourselves life. So, O Holy Spirit, we look to you. Amen"

To make real changes we go to God. To find a lasting difference we trust in God's Holy Spirit to lead us through.

IV

God doesn't force anyone. Unlike some of his children, God doesn't coerce people into believing. God doesn't make us obey. God will not insist that we be compassionate at gunpoint.

But when we allow God to work with us, God gives us the power of his presence, which makes all the difference in our lives. We keep praying - keep talking to God - and God gives us the strength to make it through. And God forgives us when we fail.

The wonderful movie, The Chronicles of Narnia, is out now. I urge you to see it. The author of that series of books was C. S. Lewis, a man who was an atheist, but who became a devout Christian of tremendous wisdom. He once wrote this: "God has made it a rule for Himself that He won't alter people's character by force. He can and will alter them - but only if people will let Him."

Conclusion

This is a very good time to look at your spiritual life. Where is the unhealthiness that needs to be healed? Where is the fat that you want to get rid of? Where are the debts?

Pray that God will help you see your life realistically. Then ask God to make the changes in your life that God wants.

We can't change ourselves, but God can do anything.

Amen.

©Richard J. Henderson 2006