A WORD FROM THE PASTOR….. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (NIV translation)
Dear Friends in Christ,
Happy New Year! I hope that you each had a meaningful Christmas celebration and found joy and hope as we left the year 2020 behind and took our first steps into 2021.
I, like many of you, have been reading and watching the media and others as they try to give insight into what this New Year will bring. For example, the very first day of 2021 I began to get diet and exercise tips in my emails. (I deleted them quickly as I thought they were too much and too soon for this year with a New Year “weekend”!) Predictions from other sources suggest a quiet year ahead while other sources say we’re in for another bumpy ride. Early vaccination reports suggested we’d be heading “out of the woods” from the Covid pandemic by March but have now changed to indicate things won’t be better until early fall or even into 2022. Talk of the economic situation varies, seemingly from hour to hour – with some positive predictions while others indicate we are headed for even more serious personal and national (and even international) financial upsets ahead. Health reports also vary with some suggesting that this pandemic time has created a new focus on family and self-care while different reports tell a tale of increased stress, anxiety and the resulting emotional, spiritual and health issues. The truth is – no one actually knows what will happen in 2021. As many of you have heard me say in my sermons and previous messages, “I didn’t get a crystal ball that forecasts the future when I was ordained so I don’t know what’s going to happen from one day to the next.” And I’ve come to understand that no one else does, either! In some ways, the uneasiness of times like this make us long to know what to expect so that we can prepare ourselves. In ancient times (and even more recent times) people went to seers, soothsayers, fortune tellers, tarot card or tea leaf readers….and hoped for guidance and a longed for peace.
As Christians, we know that the only one who actually knows the future is God – even Jesus, himself, stated that he didn’t know when the “age” would end when he said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But about that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Mark 13: 31-32) In other words, wasting time on trying to figure out what is to come is a useless and futile objective. If Jesus and the angels don’t know the future, how can we humans possibly expect to have access to those mysteries? And, oh, by the way – would we really want to know? What would we do if we knew the future? Would it help our lives in anyway? Wouldn’t we be even more anxious if we knew what was coming in the year ahead and not less? I know for me, personally, knowing the future would more than likely not be helpful and could lead to a sense of alienation from creation and others, loss of hope, and an even greater sense of despair.
So what positive message can we gain from the New Year and how are we to stay hope-filled, joy-filled, love-filled and peace-filled with all the challenges of life as we know it? I think the early Christians had as many or more challenges than we do and dealt with even greater uncertainty in day to day life, yet, they were hope, joy, love and peace filled because they had found the secret to living life in a new, positive way – through Jesus Christ! Here was the answer to all they longed to have in life – assurance of God’s love, unfailing grace, and plan to care for each of them and all creation in the gift of Jesus – the Savior of the World. So, at the New Year, Christians through the ages have taken this turning of the calendar as an opportunity reconnect and recommit to the Christian life and faith. John Wesley, who lived in a time of self-indulgence of every kind (gambling, drugs, alcohol, vast inequity between rich and poort) didn’t celebrate the New Year in the customary ways. Instead, he set aside the start of the year as a time to fast, pray and recommit himself to God and to serving Christ. He called on other Christians to join him at “Watch Night” Services held on New Year’s Eve. Part of that service included a prayer that is often used in worship during the first Sundays of January. Here is Wesley’s Covenant Prayer which you might want to use in your daily prayer time at home as you reconnect with God and “Covenant” to claim the new life that Christ offers you each and every day!
A Covenant Prayer in the Wesleyan Tradition
I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee. Exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O Glorious and blessed God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Thou art mine and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
Happy New Year – in Christ!
Peace,
Pastor Betsy
Pastor Ott is presently at half-time hours which means she will be in the church for Sunday worship and in the office on average two times a week, usually on days when there are meetings. Friday is usually sermon preparation day, at home.
Pastor’s Office hours this week: Tuesday 1/5 and Thursday 1/7 (recording session for Sunday worship)
Sunday, 1/10/2021 – Annual Meeting (remote),
