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NEW YEAR'S DAY

On this Day of New Beginnings we are presented with texts that speak to our hopes and dreams for the future as well as reassuring us about God's presence in our present lives.   In tandem with the assurance of God's presence stands Christ's charge to his followers to serve with the same heart of compassion as he himself showed us in his ministry to the poor and down-trodden.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-13--"There is a time for everything!"

Ecclesiastes 3--a timeless classic--starts us off by affirming that God's purpose for humanity contains the whole scope of human experiences--there is a time for everything--ranging from joy to suffering, peace to war, etc.

Revelation 21:1-6a -- "A Glimpse of God's Future Kingdom"

No more pain, no more sorrow, no more death; direct access to God Almighty, a just and peaceful world--life as God originally planned it.  What a great vision to help us focus on the new year.  A great opportunity to allow this passage to refresh our hope and vision for the ultimate goal in whose light this-worldly cares are dwarfed.

Matthew 25:31-46--"The King is Coming"

Lest we forget it: the Christmas tide continues the theme of Christ's Return from Advent.  On New Year's Day we revisit the lectionary Scripture passage from Christ-the-King-Sunday (year a). Matthew has much to say about Christ the King. In this dramatic scene of Last Judgment, Jesus-who enters as the "new-born" king (2:2), who has entered Jerusalem as King (21:5), now represents the king, the Son of Man who will judge the living and dead, not unlike a shepherd who might separate the sheep from the goats (25:31-33). Sheep /followers seem to be defined as such primarily by the fact that they have served others in the same spirit that Jesus served those in need.