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| The advertisers' message to you is not Christ's message to you... |
December 30, 2018—First
Sunday after Christmas
At
this time of year advertisers take advantage of one tiny, three-letter word.
During football games and holiday movies, in between basketball contests and
reality TV dramas, marketing geniuses utilize one short word to captivate the
masses. As we turn from 2018 to 2019 commercial creators everywhere are pushing
new!
New year… new you.
While
setting goals and intentions for our lives stands out as a particularly helpful
practice, especially when taking on a Christian Rule of Life, the way we engage
in New Year’s resolutions often creates more trouble than it solves. How many
times has someone you’ve known—not you of course!—spent a bunch of money on a new exercise machine, handed over $19.95
per month for some new device to make
life easier, or headed down to a giant home improvement store to buy a bunch of
new storage containers to put all the
new things just received at
Christmas, and then within a few days that new
thing, device, or system isn’t even used. Advertisers and their corporate
partners have been taking advantage of our love of the new for as long as they have been around. But why?
Why
do we love the new so very much? And,
why do we keep falling for the same old New Year’s resolutions routine year in
and year out? Let’s start with the latter. According to a report from Forbes
back in 2013, only 8% of people keep their New Year’s resolutions.[1] 8%! Maybe you are an
exception to this rule, but there’s a fundamental flaw in this practice of
resolutions, and it goes back to the advertisers’ cry of “New year… new you!”
What
the commercial geniuses want you to believe is that you in and of yourself are
not enough AND they have the plan, the product, or the membership that is going
to remedy you of whatever failings or foibles you have. Why do we keep falling
for this each and every year? Because we actually have a deep desire within us
to be made new. The problem is that
we cannot do this by ourselves, nor can we buy, earn, or work our way into newness simply with the aid of something
new on the market. This gets us back
to why we love the new so much.
We
love the new so very much primarily
because we are always being made new!
That’s right. Without any action on our part we are being made new. Don’t believe me? This second has
never happened before. It’s brand new.
And, everything that exists right now is being made anew each and every instant. And, what is more all that is being
made and being made new came, comes,
and will come into being not on its own but through God’s creative force. We in
the Church call that force by many different names the Creator, the Christ, the
Spirit, the Logos, the Word, the
Light, and the Life—just to name a few.
So,
we love newness precisely because God
is constantly creating all things new.
Our Gospel lesson for today rifts on the Genesis One Creation story in which
God made all things in six days or ages (the Hebrew is a little unclear on the
timeframe). After the first five creative intervals God called the created
order “good,” then after the sixth day God called all things—including us human
beings—“very good.” God’s creativity, God’s very creative act in and of itself
is good. No wonder we love the new
because when God made something new God
made something good, even very good. Our retake on the Creation Narrative from
John’s Gospel account only compounds our love for the new.
John’s
creative song, which opens the Fourth Gospel account illuminates Christ’s
presence from before the beginning of Creation. Christ was there before
anything was made new. Christ was not
only there but Christ was the creative force, the Word, the Logos that made all things new. Again, no wonder we love the new. Not only was Christ present in the
beginning of all things, but Christ was also the way through which all things
were made new. Then, at just the
right moment God became human in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who was the
Christ. Why did this happen? To make all things new or rather to remind us that all things are constantly being
made new.
Christ
created, creates, and will create life, light, and love. This is what is being
made at all times and in all places. This is the new creation that exists each and every day—if we would only
recognize it. Of course, this is the challenge. Sure it sounds wonderful to see
that God’s creativity always brings everything in the vast expanse of
interstellar space into being; however, isn’t it easier to experience the new by just buying it? Isn’t it easier
to feel new by getting some new diet,
some new plan, some new membership? It might appear easier, but that’s not the
truth—and it’s not what illuminates the life, light, and love that already
exists.
This
year as the world around us clamors for us to buy that new thing, John the Evangelist (our patron saint by the way)
invites us to know what truly makes all things new. Christ who is life, light, and love, forever makes everything new, restored, and whole. Instead of
making New Year’s resolutions, take on a practice to recognize Christ making
you new now and always.
[1] Dan Diamond, “Just 8% of People Achieve
Their New Year's Resolutions. Here's How They Do It.” Published: January 1,
2013, Accessed: December 30, 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/dandiamond/2013/01/01/just-8-of-people-achieve-their-new-years-resolutions-heres-how-they-did-it/#85d8835596b2
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