New Year Wisdom from Pastor Rob

We open the book on another year.
Last year, I truly believed that the year opening was one of promise, hope, and possibility as we continued to come out of
the pandemic, resumed being a fully active congregation, and would find things far more settled and certain.
Well, we know how that worked out….
Yet, I still believe with every fiber of my being that we are still in a moment of promise, hope, and possibility. Kind of
like the Prophet Jeremiah buying a plot of land to build a house on as the city collapsed all around him; I believe there is
much to be hopeful about, look forward to, and live into as this new year opens.
That is what the Incarnation means as God became flesh and dwelt among us. There is always hope. There are always
possibilities. There are always promises coming to fruition. In the presence of the God who spun all creation into being
with a simple set of seven words, there is always something coming into being. And God chooses to be right in the middle
of it as one of us and one for us.
What that means is that all the creative power of God is right here, right now, working, making, fashioning, and enlivening. Or to sum up in a single word—resurrecting.
Resurrection is not only God’s answer to our impending deaths. It is also the assurance that there is no situation beyond
the redemptive grace of God, and certainly no person beyond God’s reclamation.
As we begin this year, you might want to take a look at the Gospel of Mark. St Mark’s summation of Jesus’ work was the
“5 R’s”—reclamation, restoration, reconciliation, redemption, and resurrection. Reading through the gospel, we find that
those 5 R’s are everywhere—in the healings, in the miracles, in the parables, in the teaching, and so on—everywhere. We
need that reassurance and reminder right now. Read and allow comfort to fill you.
Or just keep saying to yourselves, “God is good and grace abounds!”