Christian people are at their best when they consider their lives as unfinished products. They remain open to renewal and growth. They get excited about becoming better people. This is not to say they aspire to become better than other people, just better than themselves. Perhaps you have heard the line, or used the phrase: “This is just the way I am. I suggest you get used to it.” We usually speak in such a manner when we’re busy digging in our heels and unwilling to yield ground in a relationship. It is certainly not “becoming” speech. In fact, it sounds like we may have watched a little too much Popeye the Sailor Man. One of his favorite aphorisms was, “I yam what I yam and I yam what I yam that I yam…That’s the way it is ’til the day that I drop…I yam what I yam.”
In Christ, it is not good enough to merely say, “I am what I am …so tough for you!” No, every day brings new possibilities. The Scriptures tell us that the mercies of God are new every morning. The resentments and missteps of yesterday do not have to walk with us today. In fact, they have no right to accompany us today. God has rolled over the calendar page and given birth to a new sunrise precisely so that we might get a sense of what it means to be reborn.
When the great Spanish cellist Pablo Casals was in the later years of his life, he spoke to an interviewer about his daily ritual. “Each day I am reborn. Each day I must begin again. For the past 80 years I have started each day in the same manner…I go to the piano and I play two preludes of Bach…it is a benediction on the house. But that is not its only meaning for me.” Lest this holy observance sounds even remotely monotonous, Casals explains: “It is a rediscovery of the world of which I have the joy of being a part. It fills me with the wonder of eternity, with the incredible miracle of God. The music is never the same for me. Each day it is something new, fantastic, and unbelievable.”
Wow. Imagine having this joyous approach to every new day. The good news of Jesus Christ comes alive for us whenever we say, “Today, I must begin again.” One of the surprises of God is the grace we are given to surround this must with meaningful rituals that behold the holiness of life.
Ponder:
Outline your own patterns for beginning a typical day. What are you proud of and what could afford some reconsideration?
Make some kind of journal entry that describes different ways that you show mercy or receive mercy.
Prayer:
O Gracious God, who seems unwilling to let your flow of loving kindness stop or your inclination to be merciful cease, grant us a fresh capaticy to see the newness of each day. Help us behold all that is fantastic and unbelievable about this particular day. Amen.
Join us for our last mid-week Advent worship service today at Noon and 6:30 pm. First Lutheran member, Matt Reckmeyer, will offer the reflection message on this week’s theme, “Making All Things New: Renewing Our Ways.” The evening service will also be livestreamed to our Facebook page. Feel free to download the worship bulletin to follow along with the service at https://flclincoln.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Advent-Holden-2021-3.pdf.
