Ephesians 4:22, 23- Throw away your former way of living … and put on the new person.
I read that in a certain Italian village on New Year’s Eve that they don’t dress up or go to festive parties. Rather as midnight nears, the street traffic disappears, the pedestrians go home, and the police take cover because they know what is about to happen. At the stroke of midnight, the windows of every village house open and with reckless abandon the citizens begin throwing away worn-out furniture, chipped glasses, cracked dishes, old clothes, old pots and pans, old shoes, and pictures of old boyfriends and girlfriends. All of those things that the people do not want to haul with them into the New Year go thrown out their windows onto the street below. There are times in our lives when we need to throw away some things. As New Year’s Day approaches, I plan to throw away two things in hopes of a ‘God-blessed year.’
First, I am throwing away the presumption of entitlement. Job declared, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb and naked shall I depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord (1:21).” For reasons that I am not skilled to analyze and explain, many people are carrying a harmful attitude around that is infectious. It asserts, “The world owes me.” They believe that the world owes them a comfortable home, a life free of disasters, a guaranteed marriage where love never ends, children who do the right thing, a lasting job that pays a great wage, neighbors that see to my needs, and a government that insures a nice retirement.
This attitude often mutates into other forms such as the school owes me, the church owes me, my parents owe me or even God owes me. It wraps itself in ready complaint and constant anger. It poisons the grace of thankfulness and cools the urge for sacrifice. It emits a gravity that pulls everything into the orbit of self.
For 2007, I want to free myself from all vestiges of this seductive mentality.
My world may not be perfect, but when I was born, it gave me air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, and a hospitable life-environment. I want to be able to say everyday and everywhere, “What a place!”
My family may not be perfect, but when I married, my wife loved me and she still is hanging out with me; my children are finding their way in life and call home; my dog licks my face in the morning and chews my shoes and anything else around in the evening but he does not bite me or the kids next door. I want to be able say I am blessed with love beyond the price of rubies (Proverbs 31:10).
My church may not be perfect, but it is friendly, uplifting and allows me to serve God in its midst. It pays me a fair wage and tolerates my peculiarities with a smile. I want to be able to say that I was glad when they said, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
My government may not be always thoughtful of me and those I care about, but it gives us a needed order for the present and the future. It esteems many of the beliefs about human liberty that I cannot find elsewhere. I want to be able to say, “America, America! God shed his grace on thee.”
My God may not be understandable, nor given to my wants and wishes. God may remove every form of earthly blessing I now enjoy. I may die forgotten or live without justice, but whatever the final epitaph of my life, I want to be able to say, “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Yes, I am going to throw away the presumption of entitlement.
Second, I am throwing away the presumption of ‘there is a logical explanation.’ It is written that the world by its wisdom or logic did not know God (1 Corinthians 1:21). I want to rediscover a world of wonderment rather than an existence taught as no more than a compilation of chemical processes. I want to taste a history of God at work rather than inevitable grinding of a history wheel where life is seen as no more than “a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” I want to experience a church life where God speaks louder than the voice of human theology. I want to see the miracle and feel the supernatural flow in everything. I want to taste divine grace at work and God in the storm as well as in the calm. I want to be able to say, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof. (Psalm 24)”
Craig Barnes relates a boyhood story that had a dramatic effect upon him. While visiting his grandfather’s farm, he saw his first shooting star. He rushed to tell his grandmother what he had seen. She said that he ought to make a wish upon that star because whatever he wished for would then come true. He looked at her and said with big eyes, “Really!” and made a wish. Then he ran to his grandfather and told him what he had seen. His grandfather explained that the shooting star meant that someone who had died was now on their way to heaven. He looked at his grandfather with startled surprise and could only say, “Wow!” and said a prayer. Finally he told his grown up brother who was a student of science about what he had seen. He replied that it was really nothing to be excited about. It was just a chunk of old rock that was burning up as it neared the earth’s atmosphere. The rock’s trajectory had made it appear as something more than it was. He looked at his brother with disappointed eyes and said, “Oh.” The wonder was gone and in its place was a logical explanation.
The other day I said to someone that a lot of people came to church on Christmas morning. He said that there was a logical explanation. I asked what it was. “There were no stores open for shopping”, he replied. But I say it was more than that. It was a miracle. In fact every Sunday that I see worshipers arriving, I say it is a miracle! No law requires them to attend. They will not be arrested, handcuffed and put in jail nor fined for missing church–although one member was fined for speeding to church! The logical explanation was that he driving too fast. However I choose to believe that God wanted him here as fast as possible.
This year I want to be able to say when I am paid, it is a miracle; when I score a goal on the court, it is a miracle; when my wife hugs me, it is a miracle; when the Kenya orphanage grows, it is a miracle; when my presbytery starts another church, it is a miracle; and when I live another day, it is a miracle. Yes, I am going to throw away the presumption of “there is a logical explanation.”
Two thousand years ago, a Jewish man died on a Roman cross. The politicians said there was a logical explanation. They explained that he broke the constitutional law of the land. He was guilty of insurgency against the Roman government, end of case. The scientists also said there was a logical explanation. They explained that due to the nature of crucifixion, he suffocated which caused cardiac arrest, and that killed him, end of case. The psychologists also said there was a logical explanation. They said that he had a messiah complex. They went on to say that due to complex environmental and sociological factors, he was compelled to seek martyrdom, end of case. But there is another explanation. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes on him shall not perish but have life everlasting. (John 3:16)” For me that is where the case begins and ends. Yes, I am going to throw out some things. I hope that you do too. It is time to have a New Year in living. 2007 can be a great year.
Gerald A. Little is pastor of First Church, Bainbridge, Ga.
