As the calendar
year for 2021 wanes, and the coming year of 2022 approaches, you know people
who are making “New Year’s Resolutions.”
It is a common practice for people around the world to say good-bye to
the pain, to the disappointments, to the bad times of the past. It is common practice for people to welcome
hope for the future. As you look back at
2021, perhaps you see experiences you want to put in your rear view
mirror. Perhaps you have hopes and plans
for good in the coming year. So, perhaps
you too are making New Year’s resolutions for 2022.
However, Christians
know the experience of examining our lives on a more regular basis than just at
the conclusion of a calendar year. We
call this examination “repentance.” One
of the Greek words for repentance is a word which means “turning.” Our Lord teaches that the reason for the pain
and suffering in this world is the rebellion, the selfishness, and the sin of
the human race against their loving Creator and Lord. God calls us Christians to turn from the sin
and evil in our own lives. We are called to turn toward God, toward his
righteousness, toward His love for us and His mercy.
For
example, when Paul instructs the Christians in Corinth about proper attitudes
for receiving the Lord’s Supper he writes, “28 A man ought to examine himself
before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.” (1 Corinthians
11:28) As Christians approach the altar
of God to receive forgiveness in the bread and wine, in the body and blood of
Jesus, they prepare for that gift of grace by self-examination. Christians consider where their lives have
sinned against God and where their lives need changing. Christians look at their areas of struggle
and failure, and consider the life of faith and of love to which God calls.
Of course, Jesus himself
encourages a life of humble repentance with His well-known parable of The
Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18.
Jesus tells the story of two men who went to the temple to pray. The Pharisee, a religious leader, bragged to
God of his supposed righteousness. But,
the tax collector, a known sinner, prays in sorrow concerning his failures, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” (Luke 18:13) Jesus teaches about this humble tax collector, "I tell you that this man, rather than the
other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be
humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke
18:14) Jesus encourages humble
repentance for His disciples as they encounter their holy Lord.
The
Apostle, John, calls disciples of Jesus to repentance through confession and through
trust in God’s faithful mercy. “8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not
in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our
sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
(1 John 1:8-9) To admit our
failings is to live in the truth. And, when
we confess our sin, God promises that He faithfully acts in mercy to forgive.
So, as a new year
approaches, Christians are not unfamiliar with examining the pain and the
failure of the past and planning for a better future, a godly future. This is just how Christians live. And, God provides His help and His Spirit for
such lives of regular self-examination and repentance. We are taught in Romans 6, “3 Or don't you know that all of us who were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore
buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was
raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new
life. . . 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in
Christ Jesus.” (Romans
6:3-4, 11) (See also Colossians 2:12-13)
You see, God provides the encouragement and the strength to turn from
sin and to turn to the goodness of God in Jesus. Through baptism, through faith, we are joined
with Jesus in His death for the sin of the world. We die with Jesus to sin! With Jesus, again through baptism and through
faith, we rise with our Lord to new life.
We not only rise to the hope and the assurance of God’s grace and love in
eternity. We also rise to the hope and
the assurance of our gracious Lord walking beside us every day of this life. Therefore, through God’s calling and His
strength. we put the old behind us, and we walk with God and His love in a
future of grace and hope.
Are you making
resolutions this year? Is there failure
and pain you wish to put behind you? Do
you have hope for a better life, a life with God’s love and forgiveness and
grace in the future? Perhaps these words
from Romans can give you motivation, strength, and direction for 2022 and beyond. “3 Or
don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized
into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death
in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the
Father, we too may live a new life. . . 11 In the same way, count
yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.” A blessed 2022 and beyond in
the grace of God through Christ Jesus!
A Child of God, Looking
to God’s Grace and Love for a Blessed 2022 – and BEYOND!
Pastor Jonathan
P.S.
St. John has a few more opportunities to celebrate the Christmas season.
·
Regular Wednesday Worship will be held on
December 29 at 6:30 p.m., based on the readings celebration for Epiphany
Sunday.
·
New Year’s Eve worship is held at St. John on
Friday, December 31, at 7:30 p.m.
·
Regular Sunday worship at 8:15 a.m. and 11:00
a.m. resumes on Sunday, January 2, with the readings celebration for Epiphany
Sunday, the account of the Magi.
COME AND RECEIVE THE ETERNAL GIFT OF GO’S
LOVE IN JESUS.
P.P.S. Here are some pictures of our family Christmas
celebration. https://photos.app.goo.gl/qNtsuA8prVEMvvpv9
P.P.P.S. Here are some pictures from last week’s
fishing trip. https://photos.app.goo.gl/ztVrnNMyZZtBcwYA9
*****
ABOUT THIS DEVOTION - I retired at
the end of August 2019 from serving as senior pastor of St. John Lutheran
Church in Palmer, AK. I was writing a weekly devotion previously entitled,
"Thoughts from the Pastor." When I retired many asked me
to continue writing these devotions. So I have continued writing.
However, with life's changes I now call this weekly devotion "Journeys
Through Life as a Child of God." Since I am no longer senior
pastor at St. John, I felt it right to only send this message to those who
asked to receive it. (Though I am now serving again part-time at St. John
as assistant to the pastor.)
So, if you stopped receiving these devotions and wondered why, now you
understand. And, if you are now receiving these devotions and do not wish
to receive them, please let me know, and I’ll gladly remove your name from my
distribution list. My e-mail address is jonrock53@mtaonline.net.
My prayer is that these devotions help each of you in your daily walk with our
Lord, Jesus.
*******
Jonathan Rockey
Child of God
Husband, Father,
Son, Grandfather
Pastor Emeritus,
St. John Lutheran Church
E-Mail: jonrock53@mtaonline.net
