New Year’s is always a time of new beginnings. We all make our New Year’s resolutions. The Wellness Center is filled on January 1 with people intending to live healthier lives. A fresh attempt on a new diet begins. People pull back on their spending. We make a thousand different promises that are all aimed at improving our lives and having a better year. Of course, by February, most of these promises have been abandoned or, at least, reduced in scope. Ah, such is human nature. Our best intentions fall short.
Our faith understands this dynamic. As people of faith, we speak of new beginnings. The language of baptism clearly captures this sense of a new start. By the grace of God, through the water and the word, our failings are forgiven, and we are made new. However, this is not a one-time event. What we say is that this “being made new” in an ongoing process. Luther talked about our needing to be baptized every day. Not literally, but with the clear understanding that every day we fall short of what God intends for us in the living of our lives and that every day we need the grace of God to forgive, heal, and strengthen us to go out into the world again. We need to be made new every day. And the good news is that God gives us that grace each and every day. Faith is not a destination, but a journey. We are all on the way to becoming the people God would have us be. Our journey of faith is not based on our best intentions. Our intentions alone will not get us there. Our journey of faith is based on a loving God who understands our shortcomings and failures and, again and again, makes us new in love so that we might continue the journey. My resolution this year is to hold on to that good news of God’s grace.
Peace,
Pastor Summer
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