“The Turning Of The Year”
Oak Grove Presbyterian Church
By Andries J Coetzee
Ecclesiastes 3:1-13
Today, in this post-Christmas sermon on the first Sunday of a new year, I have no good work to urge upon you, but only an invitation to rejoice, to praise, and to carol.
As I invite you to exult in the Newborn King and a New Year, I do so with the realization that in some ways the music of Christmas has already begun to disappear and we have put away the tattered ribbons and wrapping paper. I do so with the realization that the relatives from the east, bearing gifts, have returned home and January brings bills to pay, and the darkest days of winter. Christmas carol sentimentality must answer to sober pragmatism and for us a New Year is not always a time to rejoice.
The New Year brings with its excitement a feeling of uncertainty for the unknown that is ahead. To me the words of the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Philippians always bring inspiration and hope as we begin this New Year and face what it might bring: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
To me, the letter to the Philippians, captures God's greeting and wishes for us at the beginning of this year; “ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” as God repeatedly says in Scripture "You shall rejoice, you shall be happy.”
The danger for us as Christians is that we sometimes think as the marketplace would like us to believe that happiness is a continuous, uninterrupted state of well-being or pleasure. Absence of any concerns and worries … instant gratification!
It is within this mindset of the world, that the book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that for everything there is a season and a time for everything under the sun. It reminds us that birth, dying, planting, healing, crying, laughing, mourning, dancing, embracing, withholding, gathering, throwing away, seeking, losing, silence, speaking, love, hate, war and peace are part of this life we are living. Not all of these are what God wants for us this New Year, but unfortunately they are part of the brokenness of this world.
For this reason the writer of Ecclesiastes wants to communicate that God gives joy or meaning to our lives during the good times and during times of adversity. This joy of God does not depend on outward circumstances. The Gospel proclaims that we are not alone in our pain, and that we are able to draw upon that Source outside ourselves for the strength and courage we need to survive life's changes, tragedies, and unfairness.
The symbolism of the Ecclesiastes reading is powerful at the turning of the year, in which we still face budget shortfalls, war, terror, and pain, as it is only with God's help and grace that we are able to accept what has happened to us in the past and still look forward to a bright future.
The promise of God’s presence is nowhere clearer than within the midst of the Congregation, a gift from God and the work of the Holy Spirit. Rabbi Kushner in his book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People wrote that the "God, who neither causes nor prevents tragedies, helps by inspiring people to help." (1981:140).
Although weeping and laughing, war and peace, life and death are all part of life as we presently know it; God's love for us is constant. Even if the year that comes should prove to be as difficult to navigate for some as this past year has been …. God will be with us!
Nowhere else is this promise so clear as around the table of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we all are invited to join in the meager meal of bread and wine, announcing the feast that is awaiting us, God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in their toil … that all should be in community and take courage in the company and support of one another.
“At this turning of the year we look forward as we wait for the grace of God in time, never early, never late, always distant, always here at the turning of the year” (At The Turning Of The Year, By Michael Hudson, 2005).
AMEN |
