Senior Pastor Jill Duffield
Grant, being a fan of all things over-the-top-Christmas, has a large collection of Christmas-themed ties, both secular and sacred. One of his favorites looks understated, what with its diagonal red and green stripes and block letters that repeat the phrases: “Merry Christmas, New Year.”
Yes, you read that correctly. There is no qualifier, adjective or expectation to that second message. Simply: “New Year.” The calendar, God willing, will flip, but with no guarantee that the upcoming months will be good.
The tie, purchased a long time ago from a street vendor in New York City for a mere $3, feels prescient, doesn’t it? As we ride the wave of yet another COVID variant, it seems like the best we can do is know that time will continue to pass, regardless of what the days bring with them.
Merry Christmas, New Year. Indeed.
But really, as people of faith, we don’t dwell in happy so much as trade in joy. Jesus promises that when we abide in him and follow his commandment to love one another, our joy is full, regardless of life’s twists and turns, uncertainty and upheaval. For disciples of Jesus Christ our message, in light of the Incarnation, of Christmas, is that grace abounds, and joy is ever present, and we need not fear no matter how dark the valley or how frequently we’re called to walk through it.
Perhaps this comes as a tough sell when the days remain short and the pandemic refuses to relent. Maybe, though, this is the New Year we most need to be reminded of God’s ability, no, God’s promise, to do a new thing, bring order out of chaos, and create beauty out of destruction.
Now may well be the best time to be on the lookout for those who are heavily burdened and offer them rest in the name of the One who promises to give it. This new year could be the occasion for us to reach out to those far off, isolated and alone, and remind them that even more than this virus, God’s love and ours, is relentless, contagious and carried by us out into the world. It is alright to recognize our fatigue and our ambivalence as we enter yet another year still wrestling with the ongoing pain wrought by COVID and so much more. Yes, Merry Christmas, New Year to you.
But also, and more importantly, remember that Jesus is Lord every year and therefore, we can have the courage to confess when we’re at our wits end and the hope that God’s love never comes to an end. We are not alone. Immanuel is here. The gates of hell will not prevail against Christ’s Church. We’ve been given the gift of each other. The Triune God will lead us forward this New Year, and always.
