Another New Year
a sermon based on Ecclesiastes 1: 1-11 and Luke 2:41-50
(add 1Cor 11:17-34 for communion)
by Rev. Frank Schaefer
 

Click for Scripture Readings 

 

Do you sometimes feel like Kohelet, the writer of Ecclesiastes?

Does it ever seem to you like your life is caught in a never-ending cycle? You get up in the morning, as you always do, you get to your work, or to school, only to do what you always do. After you're done with one project, there will already be the next one waiting for you. After finishing a term paper there will be already another one to write.
 

In Greek mythology there is a story about Sisyphus whom the gods appointed to spend his entire life to roll a heavy boulder up a mountain only to roll it over the cliff, and start the process all over again. I think we all face times where we feel like Sisyphus or the writer of Ecclesiastes. When we feel like an insignificant little cog in the machinery of society. In the end nothing really changes; none of what we do or say matters, none of it makes a lasting difference.
 

The question at the root of Kohelet’s musings is an existential human one that asks at one.  We want to know if our lives really make a difference on this planet. Does it really matter how we live? Does our toil, our care, our service really matter? Or will it not make a difference? Will one generation come after the other repeating the mistakes of the previous generations? Is there an ultimate reason and purpose for your and my existence in this world?  Is there a purpose for my life?

So, here we are at the beginning of a new year – again.  Interesting how the existential question of purpose in life seems to be raised just by the mere fact of the calendar turning.

 

I don’t have to tell you about new year’s resolutions. We’re all familiar with them. Besides these ever so elusive personal goals for betterment, there are other giveaways to how people focus on questions of meaning and purpose, such as increased church attendance and end-time speculations.

 

What’s interesting about the turn of the calendar is that it is a rather arbitrary, human-made “milestone.”

In 46 B.C. Julius Caesar introduced the first calendar that was solar-based and officially instituted January 1st as the beginning of the new year. However, In 567 the Council of Tours abolished January 1 as the beginning of the year because the celebrations accompanying the new year were considered pagan and unchristian. (1)

At various times and in various places throughout medieval Christian Europe, the new year was celebrated on Dec. 25, the birth of Jesus; March 1; March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation; and Easter. (1)

In 1582, the Gregorian calendar reform restored January 1 as New Year's day. Although most Catholic countries adopted the Gregorian calendar almost immediately, it was only gradually adopted among Protestant countries. The British, for example, did not adopt the reformed calendar until 1752. Until then, the British Empire —and their American colonies— still celebrated the new year in March. (1)

I wonder how God looks at our new-year celebrations. Do you suppose that Jesus celebrated the beginning of the new year in a special way?

In the Hebrew tradition during Jesus’ time there were at least four dates for new-year celebrations.  The date most prominent was the first month of the festival year which is Nisan. The 15th of Nisan is the start of the festival of Pesach (Passover), corresponding to the full moon of Nisan. (2)

The observation of the Nissan as the first month of the year was also the biblically referenced date according to Exodus 12:2 “This month [month during the exodus] is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.” (2)

Even though Jesus must have been familiar with the Roman celebration of January 1^st (Judea being an occupied province of Rome), it is more likely that he and his family/community celebrated the Passover as the beginning of a new year.

Now there are several biblical accounts of Jesus at that time of year. Interestingly, all of those instances are significant--spiritually and theologically.

The boy Jesus in the temple debating with the priests and lawyers is the first “new-year’s” account of Jesus.  Even as a young teenager, we find Jesus not at the new year’s party, not at the fireworks, not even with his family—we find him in the temple talking about God.

Other events in Jesus' life around Passover time include the temple cleansing, and the Last Supper

In all these accounts, Jesus was focusing on the spiritual aspects of life at the beginning of each respective year.  The temple cleansing gives us some insight into Jesus’ feelings about the commercialism that crept into the holy days of his time. He became angry enough to drive the merchants out of the temple.

In many ways, I think it would make sense for us Christian folks to celebrate Easter as the beginning of each new year, especially in light of the third account of Jesus’ new year celebration—the last supper.

During this event, when Jesus had a fare-well Passover meal with his 12 disciples in the upper room, he revealed God’s plan not just for a new year, but for a new era.  He called it the “New Covenant” (1 Cor. 11:25) sealed with the shedding of his own blood and celebrated in communion by churches everywhere.

At his new year’s celebration, Jesus chose to focus on what matters most, on things eternal and things that bring true and lasting spiritual fulfillment.

He spoke to us on …

·        God’s kingdom that has already started within us

·        opening our eyes to find God at work among us

·        keeping the concerns of this world out of the spiritual realm

·        finding meaning and fulfillment in his teachings and his sacrifice

 

At the beginning of a new year, ask yourself: "Where do I spend most of my life

So, let’s not concentrate on things that are out of our control anyway. That’s like Sisyphus endlessly rolling that stone up the hill. That’s the kind of thing Kohelet is talking about when he says: “all things are futile” and “nothing ever changes.”

Do you want to make a real difference in your life? Do you want to make a real difference in this world? Then follow Jesus example and focus on the spiritual things in your life. Things like finding joy and peace in communion with God. Things like praying, really praying for other’s people’s needs. Things like reading and learning about the holy scriptures. Things like serving others in humility, like spreading love and blessing others.

Believe it or not, those are the things that will leave a mark, that will make us feel fulfilled and that give our lives real and lasting purpose.  Happy new year everybody!

Amen.

 

[1] http://www.infoplease.com/spot/newyearhistory.html
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_calendar