Introduction
“Arise! Shine for your light has come!” (Isaiah 60:1). Did any of you witness the sunrise this morning? What was it like in your corner of the world? Isaiah uses the image of the sunrise breaking over the horizon to describe the light and warmth of God’s love washing over us once again. What a beautiful image! As predictable as the sunrise, God’s love is there for us in each new day, and in each new year.
As this first day of 2023 dawns we have the unique opportunity to worship together. In some ways January 1 is just another ordinary day, but in other ways it is a significant marker in time–the threshold between the old year and the new year–and a chance to take stock of where we are.
I am not going to ask you to make any resolutions. Most of us can’t keep those past the middle of January anyway. But I am going to invite you into “holy pause”–some space and time to breathe, and welcome the Spirit’s presence. This is an opportunity to reflect on the journey we have taken with God this past year, and welcome God as our companion and guide for the year that is to come.
For many years now, I have had a habit of reading back through my journals sometime in the last week of the calendar year. I make myself comfortable on the couch in front of the fire, maybe with some left-over Christmas treats handy, and I spend probably a couple of hours reading what I have written in the last year. My journals are not day-to-day diaries. Mostly I go to my journal when I have something to wrestle with–some issue or challenge or idea, some decision to make or a niggling frustration. Writing helps me make sense of things and explore things from different angles. I also go to my journal to capture joys, new insights, and some great quotes from somewhere–things I don’t want to forget. I might even write snippets of my own poetry, or a sermon seed.
A wise spiritual friend recommended this yearly journal reading practice. It’s actually a version of the Consciousness Examen prayer–an ancient prayer practice that comes to us from the Jesuits, and is most often used as a way to pray and reflect at the end of a day. But it can also be used at the end of a week, a month, a year or even a lifetime. It is a prayer practice that simply assumes that all of life is either movement toward God or away from God. It is a way to intentionally look for God in our day, to make a habit of noticing where and when God shows up, and over time, to discern the ways that God leads and guides us. It is also a way to notice when and how we have felt distanced from God, and explore why that might have happened.
So as I prepare to reread my year-long journal ramblings I intentionally invite God into the practice from the beginning. As I reread I mostly notice the highs and the lows of the year–how the experiences of the year have their ups and their downs. I try to look for common threads and themes, and also for surprising things. Ideally I look for growth and movement in my life, but often I notice the stuck places–the things that keep coming up over and over again, the things that didn’t get resolved, maybe the things that I avoided dealing with. Overall I am looking for the presence and activity and leading of God’s Spirit. Sometimes it is only in this kind of looking back–this hindsight that we notice the movement and leading of God’s spirit in our lives.
And then I journal again–a kind of year-end summary about all my observations, and any “aha” moments. And then I close the practice with prayer. I give thanks for the experiences through the year when God was particularly close. I also try to give over to God what has been difficult in the past year–what is not yet healed or resolved. And I try to release into God’s care loved ones and their journeys. I pray for wisdom and guidance in those areas where I still struggle. Finally I invite God to be present with me in the new year whatever is to come. And maybe God nudges me toward a growth edge for the new year.
Even if you don’t keep a journal or a diary, you can still do this kind of yearly reflection. You could look back through your calendar or day planner to see how you have used your time. You could simply look back at each month of the year and recall the highlights and challenges of each one. You could look back through your bank statements to see how you have used your resources. You could look back through the pictures you have taken this year. You could look back through your posts on social media this year. Some people give the year a title or a name, or choose a word or a phrase that best describes the year that was.
Today I invite us into this kind of a prayer practice. You may even want to have a pen and paper handy to jot down some of the questions so that you can come back to them again at another time. And of course you can always access this sermon again online if you want to go back to it.
Invitation to Reflection
The story of the Magi’s journey to Bethlehem following a star in search of a new king will guide us. The lens of that story will help us look at our own journey this past year. The story of the Magi as told in Matthew’s gospel divides nicely into 4 scenes. As we recall each of the 4 scenes I will offer some thoughts and questions for reflection, and some brief pauses.
Scene 1: Magi From the East Arrive in Jerusalem
As is often the case with biblical stories, this one is short on details. The sight of a rising star compelled these Magi, astrologers, from the East to set out on this quest, convinced they would find a newborn king at the end of their journey. But not much is said of the journey itself.
The Magi seem to sense that their quest will take them beyond the borders and boundaries of their ordinary lives. Following a star they risk what must have been a long and difficult journey. We can only imagine the scenes–crossing the desert, shortage of water, sand storms. What kept them going?
This part of the story taps into our longings and desires. When 2022 dawned last year, what were we hoping for? Some people set out goals for themselves each year–lists of what they want to take care of and accomplish that year. Self improvement and fitness goals, travel plans, home renovations, work goals, outdoor projects, books to read, shows to watch. What did we set out to accomplish last year? How did that go?
This part of the story also asks us to reflect on who or what motivates and guides us.
So here are some more questions for us to ponder. What were the guiding lights on our journey this year? Whose wisdom did we seek? Where did we place our hope and trust?
Pause
When the Magi finally arrive in Jerusalem, they are open to the awe and wonder of the experience–ready to tell the tale of following a star, their assumptions that it signals the birth of a king, ready with their worship and their gifts. What moments of awe and wonder did we experience this past year?
Pause
Scene 2: Herod Confers With the Experts
It must have created quite a stir when these strange travellers showed up in Jerusalem with such confident assumptions about a newborn king. When Herod hears the story from the Magi, he is deeply disturbed, along with everyone in Jerusalem. More than a little paranoid, Herod confers with the experts–the leading priests and teachers of Jewish religious law. It seems he knows something of their ancient prophecies, and so he asks, where is the Messiah supposed to be born? In Bethlehem, is the answer–the lowly town, the unexpected place…but it does have a link to David the shepherd who became king.
This part of the story speaks to the disruptions that change and upset life as we know it. Disruptions can be positive or negative, depending on our perspective. They can be planned or happen when we don’t even have a chance to see them coming. For Herod, who was already a paranoid leader, the disruption of the Magi’s visit brings fear. For him, this feels like a threat. Other characters in the Christmas narrative handle the disruptions differently.
When you look back over this past year, what has disrupted or upset the balance of our lives? What unlikely or unexpected things have unfolded? How have we responded to the disruption?
Pause
Scene 3: Herod Has a Private Meeting With the Magi
In this scene, Herod meets privately with the Magi. He gets them to disclose the time when the star first appeared. He fakes genuine interest in this child–he wants to meet this child, and wants to worship him too, or so he says. He gives the Magi instructions to search carefully for the child, and report back when they find him.
This part of the story speaks directly to our fears. What role has fear played in our lives this past year? How did it affect us and how have we responded to it?
Pause
You may recall that back on third Advent, Kevin talked about fear, and all the characters in the Christmas story who are told to “fear not!” Turns out it is a common message throughout the bible–365 times in fact people are told to “fear not!” Once for each day of the year! Kevin reminded us that the call to “fear not,” doesn’t eliminate our vulnerability, nor does it magically take us out of danger or difficulty. But it does come with a promise of God with us no matter what happens–a message of help, strength and comfort as we walk through times of fear. Kevin offered us a line from Jess Erb, who says, in the context of her work as a therapist, she reframes the biblical call to “fear not” by saying rather: “Let us embark on a fearful journey together.”
(“To be seen within the counselling relationship” in Vision: A Journal for Church and Theology, 20.1 (Spring 2019), 83.)
How was God present with us, and how were others present to us on the fearful parts of our journey this past year?
Scene 4: The Magi Find the Child
In this scene the star guides the Magi from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, to the place where the child was. The Magi are overjoyed. They find the child with his mother Mary and bow down and worship him. They offer gifts from their treasure chests. Their quest is accomplished, their search complete, their longing fulfilled. Here in the child of Bethlehem, these strangers from another land, these outsiders recognize the Messiah, and respond with overflowing joy. They are drawn into the universal welcome that lies at the heart of this biblical story.
This part of the story speaks to our encounters with God–our experiences of overflowing joy. Have you ever been on a journey, a quest, a climb that was difficult and challenging. It had unforeseen obstacles, detours and countless frustrations but in the end was absolutely worth the effort? Our spiritual journeys have those moments of pure joy and delight; moments of wonder and awe, moments of deep connection, full comfort, when our senses are fully attuned, and our hearts are open and ready to receive.
How and when have we encountered God this year? How did we recognize God?When were we touched by the love of God?
Pause
We often make note of the fact that, having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the Magi returned home by another route. This single line at the end of the story suggests that the Magi were changed by their encounter with Jesus. How have our encounters with God changed us this year? How will our journey going forward be different because of that experience?
Looking ahead to next year–we cannot know the journey fully–if we did we might not start out.
We can’t predict exactly what will happen, nor how we will respond when it does. But Isaiah’s words still ring in our ears. “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of God has risen upon you! For darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples, but God will arise upon you, and God’s glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (Isaiah 60:1-3). The light of God’s love breaks over the horizon of this new year washing over us once again. We are bathed in its warmth, guided by its light, comforted by its steady, predictable presence. And when the warmth of that light fills us, we can look forward to the future with hope, and offer warmth and light to those we encounter along the way.