What Are You Looking for in the New Year?

Pastor Robarge’s Sermon

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Happy New Year! I’d like to welcome all of those down at the Family Life Center. They actually are down there this week instead of last week, when I welcomed them and they weren’t there. So it’s good they’re there this week.

Today, I’m a little bit curious and I might need a show of hands. How many people have New Year’s resolutions? Show of hands. How many people either wrote them down or thought about some New Year’s resolutions? Keep your hands up. I didn’t see. Okay, there are a couple. Alright.

I was thinking about this subject and why we’ve gone away from this idea of New Year’s resolutions. I think there are two possible reasons, I think maybe two main reasons and there are others that probably follow. But I think that we’ve gotten away, for one, we’re tired of failing. Year after year, we come to a new year and we think about the things in the past and we’re like, “Ah, I missed it again. I had all these goals and I had all these things and I didn’t fulfill it. So I’m tired of setting them. I’m tired of looking at it because I’m tired of failing.” And maybe on the other side of the spectrum what we have is people who say, “Well, I don’t want to set New Year’s resolutions because these are the things I should be doing all year long. I don’t want to spend one day out of the whole year to kind of figure out what I want to do. I want to spend throughout the whole year trying to figure it out, trying to reach goals.”

But there are problems with both of these. Both of these can lead you to the same place. One already says, “I’ve failed so I’m giving up.” The other one says, “Well, I’m going to do this all throughout the year,” but then what happens at the end of the year? You say, “Well, I didn’t reach it. There were some things that I planned on doing throughout the year but I didn’t do it.” So both of them can leave people with this sense of failing.

What a magical night we believe December 31 to be because when we go to sleep December 31, we wake up on New Year’s Day. It’s a new year full of new possibilities, new hopes, new dreams and possibly, just maybe a new me. But quickly we find out that it definitely is a new year, but it’s the same old me. Is that the way you’re feeling already here in 2010? Are you feeling like, “Well, it’s the same old me. I’m in the same spot.” That’s not going to get us off to a very good start, is it? If we’re already here, I’m already thinking, “Man, I already didn’t do it last year. How am I going to do it this year?”

Well, today I’m hoping we can change some of that. We can change some perspectives, change some views on the way we’re going to envision 2010. As I started to do some more research for this, I looked at the putting together of the Roman calendar which is what our calendar kind of was derived out of. And what the Romans did is they placed people in authority. They placed gods on the list of their months. And January is particularly interesting for me. We look at what the Romans placed there on January and it was the god, Janus, from mythology. Now if you know anything about Roman mythology, Janus was a god who received powers. He received powers, for one, looking in the past and, another, to look into the future. So often, many times, in art, during that time when they would structure their idols, they would make him look like he had two faces, one that was looking behind him and one that was looking forward. And I think that, for this year, for this new year, that’s a good way we can start to think about things. One, we want to look in the past but look at how that’s going to help us move into the future.

It’s important to look in the past. It’s important to think about what happened last year. It’s important to look at the positives and the negatives of the things that you envisioned. I think when we do that, it allows us to do a couple of things. It allows us to, one, see where we were, how we measured up in the things we wanted to do and maybe you think about last year. Maybe some of you were thinking, “Well, last year wasn’t so good for me. I don’t particularly want to remember 2009. There were a lot of negatives, a lot of things that went wrong. Things happened. I don’t want to remember anything in 2009. Let’s leave it there.”

But now maybe you’re on the other side of the spectrum and you’re thinking, “Well, 2009 was excellent. Positive things happened. Growth was occurring. Good things were going on in 2009.” Then some people start to think, “Well, how long can it last? What if it crumbles?” So we look at 2009 as a bit of a failing time. We look at it maybe as both perspectives, “When is something bad going to happen now?”

But it’s important to look at the past, to look at the things that were going right. And even if you look at 2009 and you look at it in a very negative way, there was something positive that happened. I guarantee it. So what was it? Maybe this time you want to sit down with a friend or a spouse and kind of go over the calendar for last year. Go over the things you saw, the things you heard because those are the things that are going to help you and help it build momentum for this coming year 2010.

One person said if you don’t study your past, then you’re doomed to repeat it. Or maybe even the definition of chaos is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Is that what’s happening this year? Are we going to fail to look at the past and be doomed to repeat it? It’s important to look at the past but, as we’ve talked about that, we don’t want to live in the past. God doesn’t want us, He doesn’t say, “Well, I’ve created you to live in the past. I’ve created you to live in this time and only this time.” He wants us to move forward. He wants us to visit the past. He wants us to look back at the things He’s done in our lives, points to His goodness, to where our faith is firmly rooted, where our foundation lies. That’s in the past but He doesn’t want us to dwell there. He doesn’t want us to live there. He wants us to move forward, grounded in that faith.

And we have a good example of that this morning. King Solomon, son of King David, right after David left the throne, Solomon took it and he was there in his kingship in the early stages and God comes to him in a dream and He tells him, “Tell me what you want. Tell me what you need. I’m going to give it to you.” And Solomon could have, right off the bat, he could have just said, “Give me wealth. Give me power. Give me authority.” All of those would have been good for a new king. He didn’t say, “Let all my enemies be dead at my footstep.” He could have said that, too. It would have been pretty easy for him to kind of rule. But what does he say first? This is what he says first to God, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father, David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him. You’ve given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.” So do you notice where Solomon went first? He didn’t say, “Give me what I need.” But he said, “First, let’s look back at the things you’ve done. Let’s look back at my father, David, the kindness and the goodness that you showed to him.” He looked back at where his faith was firmly rooted. This is where he could build upon. This is where he saw his strength. He remembers the time of hearing the Torah, the laws, the commands of God, so he can build his faith on that so he can move forward. And that’s what he did and that’s where he started and this is where he went next. He says, “Now, after I’ve looked there where my faith is founded, this is where I’m going. Oh, Lord, my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father, David. But I’m only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among your people you have chosen, a great people too numerous to count their number. So give your servants a discerning heart, to govern your people, to distinguish between right and wrong for who was able to govern this great people of yours?”

So Solomon looks back. He sees God’s goodness and kindness but he also sees what he’s going to need in the future. He says, “I’m young. I don’t really know what I’m doing. There are a whole bunch of people here and I don’t know how to lead them. I don’t know how to guide them, so this is what I’m going to need from you, God. I’m going to need a discerning heart. I’m going to need wisdom in order to lead these people.” That’s fair. He knew what he was asking for. But first, because he knew where he was grounded, he knew what was first foundational in his faith and the way that he could then get the things he needed most, wisdom to rule over God’s people, to govern God’s people, to guide God’s people whom he had given to Solomon.

We also have somewhat of a negative portrayal of this going on in the New Testament. As you heard earlier, we looked at the gospel of Mark and we see James and John. They’re two disciples of Jesus and this is what they say, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask.” Pretty bold, don’t you think? We want you to do whatever we ask. And this is what Jesus said. “What do you want me to do for you?” They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you’re asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” So here we are with James and John, two disciples. They’ve been with Jesus His whole ministry, followed after Him, listened to Him, seen the things He’s done. And here they are, “Give us what we deserve. Do for it whatever we ask.”

It’s the same thing that God said to Solomon, “I’m going to do for you whatever you ask.” But now here’s James and John. They don’t look back and they don’t see what Jesus has already done. They don’t recognize who Jesus is and what He’s accomplished. They didn’t hear and see what He had already accomplished and the things He said when He said, “I’m going to destroy this temple and build it up again in three days,” talking about Himself. They didn’t listen. They didn’t visit the past in order to find their foundation. But instead, all they saw was Jesus as a guy who was going to come and crush the earthly rulers and He’s going to sit in authority and they wanted to be there to rule with Him. They wanted power. They wanted authority and they thought Jesus was going to be the one who was going to connect them to that.

But Jesus reminds them, “Are you going to drink this cup? Are you going to be baptized as I was baptized?” And they said yes, but when we look at what Jesus did, we knew the disciples were going to suffer. Jesus said that. He said, “All my disciples will be inflicted with some kind of suffering and pain.” But we look at the cup, particularly that Jesus drank, when He said, “My road is to Calvary. My road is to the cross. Can you take that road?” Can James and John die for the sins of all people? No. And there Jesus was, reminding them, “You’re not me. You can’t ask for the things that you don’t know what you’re saying.” They failed to look into the past. They failed to see what Jesus’ words were so they could build a strong future.

So where’s your aim? We see Solomon’s aim and he was looking towards the future. We see these disciples’ aim and they were looking at the now. They wanted power. They wanted authority now. But where’s your aim? What goals have you set this year? Maybe you haven’t thought about it yet so maybe this is the time to start thinking. Because when we talk about having an aim, if you don’t aim for anything, you’re sure to hit it. So why not this year have an aim? Have a goal, something to reach, something to strive for.

Maybe this year you want to resolve to know your friends better. Maybe this year you want to resolve to be a better parent, to be a better spouse. Maybe this year you want to be resolved to grow closer with God. These are all aims. These are all goals we can shoot for. How do we get there? We’ve looked into the past so we can move into the future but the future only happens day by day by day. We have to look at today. We have to look at tomorrow. What are we going to do today and tomorrow to fulfill the future, to fulfill that goal?

And these are the things that I think sometimes we leave out of the picture. We have these future hopes and dreams but how do we get there? And I think we need to start by realistically looking at the things we can do to get there. If you’ve been resolved to be fit and healthier in the new year, should you be set with one of your resolutions to run a marathon in three months? I couldn’t do that. Maybe if you’ve resolved to be a better parent, maybe what you can do is say, “I’m going to take an extra hour a week to be with the kids, to do what they want to do, just to be with them, to spend time with them, to get to know them better.” Maybe if you resolve to be a better spouse, you find a date time. You go out on a date. You spend two hours, three hours and you reignite that relationship.

Or maybe your resolve this year is to grow closer to God. How can we do that? Maybe if you’re starting out at level zero, at ground zero, you can’t just say, “Hey, I’m going to spend two to three hours everyday with God and this is how I’m going to do it.” It’s probably not realistic. If you’re starting out on ground zero, maybe what you want to do is say fifteen minutes every day. And fifteen minutes, you start out with a devotion and you read it and you reflect upon it. Fifteen minutes. Maybe the next day, you read a piece of God’s word and think about what it means for you and your relationship with God. Maybe the next day, you just sit in silent contemplation. You just think. Maybe the next day, you think about prayer and your communication with God. These are easy steps, easy steps to get to where you want to be.

And then that following year, you build upon it and you build upon it and you build upon it. I don’t want you to fail to set any aims, to shoot high. When you shoot low, low is where you’re going to be. You want to be realistic but optimistic, optimistic that you can shoot for those goals and you can get them.

I think as we’ve looked at the past, looking at the past and how that’s going to help us move forward in the future, we also can’t leave out one step. I think this year we also have to make sure to share it with somebody. Like I was thinking about my New Year’s resolutions, I’m kind of the guy who keeps them to myself. I don’t really talk about them and yet, when January comes around, I’m thinking, “Alright, I missed that one. I missed that one.” February, I maybe even forget them. So this year, I think what we should do is share them. Share them with somebody. Maybe it’s a spouse. Maybe it’s a close friend. Share it with somebody so you can find mutual encouragement so you can find a place where you can share your frustrations and your feelings. Feelings are always a tough one, right? But you have to find that place that you can go to somebody and talk to them freely about the things that are going on with you.

At Gloria Dei this next year in 2010, we’re going to make another big push for some small groups because we believe in small groups being that place where you can connect with other Christians, where you can find and talk to them and be able to open up and share with them what’s going on. And you’ll hear words of encouragement just as you will share words of encouragement.

God has made us relational beings. He’s made us the people who shouldn’t be alone. We’re not an island. So we find somebody. Maybe we find a group and we share. We share with them the goals and dreams we have so they can be the ones to say, “Hey, where are you at on your goals and your dreams? How are you getting there?” That way, they’re always fresh in our mind. And that way, we always know there’s going to be that person who’s there who’s going to remind us.

So this year, in 2010, when we’ve looked at the past, when we’ve set our goals and our visions for the new year and we’ve shared it with somebody, don’t fail to see the new possibilities, the new hopes, the new ideas, the new dreams. We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Copyright 2009 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church