'Tis not the season of new beginnings

Second Sunday After Christmas Day | This week along the way

On a normal Sunday, I’d be hopping out of the shower and heading to church. After being away for a week on Christmas vacation with my family, I was actually looking forward to it. Alas, on the second to last day of vacation, I felt that dreadful pain in my throat when I swallowed. I tried to deny it, but the symptoms got worse. I was sick. I thought I had successfully dodged the holiday pathogens, but they finally got me. I had to call in the backup team to lead worship today and I slept in a few hours to heal.

So, the sermon I wrote last week will sit in the archives for a few more years when we circle back to the prologue of John’s Gospel on the Second Sunday of Christmas in Year C of ye olde lectionary. I won’t be preaching today, but if I were, here’s essentially what I’d say…

In this amazing prologue (John 1:1-18), we have this cosmic eternal Word and Light of Life in Jesus, the Christ that comes into the world. This Light, when recognized in the particular form of Jesus, gives us a certain kind of power. But the power It gives us isn’t what I grew up learning about in the He-Man and Transformers cartoons I loved to watch. It doesn’t give us the power to rule over others, kick-ass, and take names (in God’s book, this is the opposite of true power and is actually a form of bondage we’ve called Sin). The eternal Light of Christ gives us the power to be children of God.

Wait…
Power?…
To be… Children?
Isn’t that the opposite of what you and I might call… Power?

If we fast-forward the story, we see that Jesus dies to our petty little violent power plays and transcends them to show us, “Yeah, that’s not power. Violence and aggression are your last resort, and they have no real effect on the Reality you see in me. I am your power, and I am the eternal wellspring of love, mercy, and forgiveness.”

This moves us from a posture of force and aggression into one of receptivity and acceptance.

This is the time of year when everyone is posting their resolutions online. It’s the season of new year, new you. The culture is shouting, Let’s go!! But it’s still dark outside for much of the day.

Jesus used two books of Scripture - the Small Book that we call The “Old Testament” and the Big Book of Nature, which he referenced at least as much as the Small Book. We don’t reference the Big Book much in our modern North American context, but what it’s telling us now (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) is…

Rest! Wait! Reflect. Be receptive!

This blew my mind when I learned it, but a loooooong time ago, the new year started in March (in reverence to the Roman god Mars, but also as in, let’s MARCH into this new year!). October was the 8th month (octo - eight), November was the ninth month (novo - nine), and December was the tenth month (deca - ten). We followed the rhythm of nature and started the new year when the flora started blooming and the days lengthened.

But then (speaking of one whose motto was ‘kick ass and take names’), Julius Caesar changed it to honor the Roman god Janus. He went against the Big Book to fit the rhythm of life into his own small worldview. And here we have it. A new year starting when nature is screaming at us to be like children and rest (yes, kids need a lot of rest).

Now, I know that life goes on. If you have a job that feeds your family, you can’t call your boss and say, “Sorry, MY new year doesn’t start until March, so I’ll be at home resting until Spring!” This as more of a posture thing. When you see the resolutions flying around, don’t feel bad for not feeling motivated. Know that it’s not you who is the abnormal one. When you feel blue that another year has come and gone, and my oh my, how they go so fast, it’s okay. What makes it worse is falling into the false narrative that you need to force each year to be progressively better than the last. Know that you are a child of God and your Eternal Parent is working on your behalf to shape your life into something beautiful in ways that run counter to our Greco-Roman inspired way of life that works against the Reality seen in the Life and Light of Christ - the one true God.

On this Second Sunday after Christmas Day, know that this isn’t really the season of ‘new year, new you.’ Rather, it’s the season to remind yourself that the God of the Universe moved into vulnerable flesh to be with-you. Take the season off, as much as you can. Let God do the work here. This is where you can find the restful power in these darker months to be the beloved children of God that you truly are. Now is the season to let this truth gestate inside of you. And in the spring, when the Big Book prompts you to, you can spring forth into a more outward expression. But until then, rest well when you can and take care.

In Comfort and Joy,
Jonas+