Happy New Year!
New Year’s Day is one day of real possibilities. If you exercise on January 1, you exercised every day this year. Or if you eat sensibly, you have kept a diet for the year. If you read the Bible today, congratulations, you have a perfect record!
But January 1 turns into January 2 and 3 and by Epiphany, we are back to most of the bad habits we had resolved to change. But the sole story of Jesus as a boy in Luke 2: 41-52 may lend us insight into what it might mean to resolve to “be about my Father’s business.”
Joseph and Mary, their friends, neighbors and relatives, all made the required pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Passover feast. But I can imagine that once the holiday was over, like most of us, they were anxious to return to the familiar routines of life. However, the young Jesus refuses to let his relationship with God be regulated according to some prearranged, culturally imposed schedule. Instead of going along with the return-to-business-as-usual attitude, Jesus answered the most important call of all — to be about his Father’s business.
Dorothy and I truly appreciate being in ministry with you all at Newtown United Methodist Church. We appreciate the many in our congregation who carry on God’s work. They toil, uncomplaining, in the vineyard. But we have come to a New Year and if we all want to share in the harvest, we need to help. Consider this story of family heirlooms. All of us have family treasures that have been handed down from generation to generation. One family treasured a very old vase. They even kept it on the mantle where everybody could see it. When the mother came in from shopping late one afternoon, her teenage daughter said: “Mother, you know that vase that has been handed down from generation to generation?”Yes, dear. What about it?” Her daughter said, “Well, this generation just dropped it.”
We have a Craft Fair that we were awestruck to see. What a wonder-filled event. Now the Stakels need help with this “family treasure.” Our Spaghetti Supper is in its 19th year and a real community institution. Martha and Diane would like to pass the well-oiled machine to another organizer after Martha puts in her 20 years. So are we to drop the family heirloom or keep God’s work alive?
This is not simply a matter of saying, “Well, sure, we should keep it going.” Rather it will take the mother-of-all-New Year’s resolutions to keep the tradition going; it will take a few people like you to say: “I can do that.” Take this in prayer and consider this New Year’s resolution: to take a part, any part, in building God’s Kingdom, in “being about my Father’s business.” Our Lay Leadership Committee will be contacting you about filling these positions. It is too easy to come to the tried and true Church members, we need to share the responsibilities. So if God has put this on your heart, let us know. We can discuss the roles and responsibilities to see how it fits with your gifts and grace.
Theologian and author, Howard Thurman, put it far more elegantly:
When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
to bring peace among the people,
Dorothy and I say “Amen” and wish you the happiest of New Years. May God add a blessing to your prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness this year.
In Christ,
Rev. Mel +
