Contacts: Minister: David Coster, Office: (03) 332 7129 Home: (03) 322 5612 or email minister@cashmere church.org.nz Church office: Gail Weaver, Phone: (03) 332-7129, Fax: (03) 332 7130 2 Macmillan Avenue, Cashmere, Christchurch 8002, or email office@cashmere church.org.nz

Sunday 29th January

Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up! - 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 & Mark 1:21-28

Each and every day we are confronted time and time again with the question, "What should I do? Is this the right thing or is this the wrong thing to do?"

How often do you ask yourself whether it is the right or wrong thing to ring a friend at this time? You know they are having difficulties but should you wait for them to phone you or should you phone them?

Another is when you have guests coming to dinner – what food to place on the table? If you don’t know them that well how do you find out whether they are vegetarian or not. Would they eat liver, kidneys, sweet breads or should you play it safe and have chicken or fish? Or if you had a Muslim coming to dinner would you make sure that the meat was correctly halal slaughtered so as not to offend your guest? Or does it really matter at all – what the eye doesn’t see the heart doesn’t grieve!

I am sure you have all been in such a situation where you have had to exercise your freedom to choose and in choosing, to exercise some discretion out of concern for the other person.

Essentially this is the issue confronting Paul in his writing to the Church in Corinth. The early church members in that great cosmopolitan city face the issue of what the difference is between ‘freedom from’ and ‘freedom for.’

The beginning of Chapter eight commences Paul’s third "essay" focusing on the issue freedom and responsibility in this fledging church where most of the members have been converted from the worship of idols and making sacrifices to them. To us this may not seem to be a major issue for we don’t have symbols of idols dominating our landscape. But in the central agora (market square) of Corinth there were Temples and statues for Dionysus, Artemis, Baccheaus (the God of wine), Fortune, Poseidon, Apollo, Aphrodite (the God of love), Hermes, Zeus, Zeus of the Underworld, Zeus most High and Muses. Two General Markets hugged the wall of the great archaic pagan Temple and a fish and meat market was across the street. On the West side of the Market Square was a huge Temple dedicated to the Imperial cult. The sacrifices were the property of the Priests of the various Temples and what the priests could not eat, they sold. During the numerous feasts there was an inevitable glut in the meat market. There were no refrigerators, consequently the price of meat dropped. For the poor of the city (which included Christians) this was the only time they could afford to buy and eat meat. Furthermore if they didn’t ask the butcher they wouldn’t know whether the meat had been offered originally to an idol.

Now it is not only New Zealanders who are pragmatic – these early Corinthian Christians were also. Should a source of cheap meat be neglected? Many of these new Christians argued that since they don’t believe in idols, the meat offered to them has no religious meaning and so they should be free to enjoy it. After all meat is meat. Other Christians criticised those who ate the meat offered to idols. They meticulously bought meat in non ritual shops, ate only unsanctified animals, and were careful in which homes they dined. Their lives became dominated by their concern to not do anything likely to, as they saw it, displease God.

What did Paul think? His was not a straight "Yes do it" or "No don’t do it" answer. He could have simply stated that he agreed with the Jerusalem Council which said, "No Christian is allowed to eat meat offered to idols and that is final." But he didn’t for he knew he was speaking to a group of Christians who did not have a Jewish faith background.

In this closely argued letter to the early Christians he says that with the freedom to choose comes the freedom to choose wisely always taking account of what God desires and how their behaviour may affect others who have no faith in Christ. Instead of issuing a new law Paul simply asks his readers to reflect on "knowledge" and on "love." In other words what is it to know something and what is it to love another. The ethical issue is one of freedom and responsibility.

Paul’s answer was to advise the early church in Corinth that while he agreed with those who made the choice to eat the meat offered to idols he did not insist on eating it himself. His choice would be to abstain, not only because it offends others in the church, but also out of concern for others in the church that are less mature in the faith. He was concerned that his example may cause those less mature in the faith to stumble in their Christian walk. For Paul, the issue of freedom from and freedom for focuses on respect and love for the others in the church.

As well as their love and concern for each other there was one other aspect which Paul wished to raise with the people of Corinth and that was not only their knowledge of God but God’s knowing them. You see, our concern and that of the Corinthians is, "Am I doing what God desires?" and that is an important question. But a far more important question for Paul is God’s knowledge of us and how God treats us, in spite of our failings or lack of best intentions. The weak person, whom Paul refers to, is a brother or sister in Christ.

Each Sunday as we worship God together here I attempt to narrow the gap between you and God. If you leave here feeling that in someway you have experienced an encounter with the Holy then I am satisfied. If through some means, whether it be preaching, praise or prayer you experience the Gospel as being more relevant to your daily living I am even more satisfied.

So often, like the members of the Church in Corinth, we worry how God feels about us. The answer to that question is to be found in Jesus description of God as the Waiting Father who rejoices and holds a great party when the unwise Son returns home. The Father in the Parable, loved the Son from the beginning, but only as the son accepted being loved did that love become a life-changing force in the son’s life. At the heart of God lie forgiveness and understanding, compassion and concern for our well being – not judgement and condemnation.

This is the message Paul was trying to impart to the congregation in Corinth. Paul tells his readers that the one who loves God is "known by him." This same message is just as relevant for us today as it was when Paul wrote to the people of Corinth centuries ago.

To God be the glory. Amen

David Coster

Sunday 22nd January

Who Me? - Jonah 3:1-5, 10 & 1 Corinthians 7:29-31

We are just about through the first month of the New Year – a leap year. We have moved from Christmas into Epiphany, that time when we celebrate the expansive light of Christ reaching into every single corner of our world and the lives of its people. A world at times which seems to have light overcome by darkness!

Yet each of us is here this morning because in some way we know the light of Christ shining on us and within us. We have heard his call to ‘follow’ and, each of us in our own way have attempted to do just that. Yet even as we follow we are aware that there are millions of others who deny the Lordship of Christ or claim some other person or entity as their "lord."

We are people who find meaning and relevance for our lives in following Jesus because we believe that he shows us the most of God we can ever expect to see or understand. To the question, "What is God like?" we answer, "Have a look at Jesus. He will reveal to you the most of God you will ever see."

The next question to be asked is, "Who is this God for – all or just some?"

The answer to that question we find in our readings for today.

Jonah was probably the most reluctant person ever to hear the call of God. Jonah ran from God the first time he heard the call of God to go to Nineveh with a message for the people of that city.

Jonah’s reply to God was brief and to the point, "You must be joking."

The Book of Jonah is probably the only prophetic book without pronouncements and theological claims. It is a story; a story about a reluctant prophet.

The Book was almost certainly composed during the first half of the eighth century BC (2 Kings 14:25) when King Jeroboam II ruled. This was a time of fierce nationalism in Israel and hatred towards Nineveh was intense. Why? Why would one people hate another?

The answer was simple: because the people of Nineveh held power and influence. Nineveh was after all the great Administrative Capital of the Assyrian Empire built on the banks of the Tigris River towards the north of the country.

Most of us here know the plot of the story. Jonah is commanded by God to go and preach a very short message to the people of Nineveh. Jonah of course refuses, because Jonah, as a Jew, knows full well the many horrible things the Assyrians have done to his people. Jonah also knew that God's message was a call to repentance or a change of heart by the people of Nineveh and Jonah wasn’t in favour of this. Jonah didn’t want God to be merciful – Jonah wanted God to exact vengeance on the people of Nineveh. Jonah therefore set off in the opposite direction to the one in which God asked him to go.

A dreadful storm, being tossed overboard from the ship, and a little time in the belly of a great fish convinces Jonah that ignoring the call of God is not such a good idea. Jonah repents, changes direction, and heads to Nineveh. He finally obeyed God’s call for a prophet to head to the city of people who were in a bad way. Jonah headed to the city centre and there he preached God’s message of one single little uncomplicated sentence, "In forty days Nineveh will be smashed."

The people, including the King, listened to Jonah’s message, which annoyed Jonah considerably. Rich and poor, powerful and powerless all changed their ways at the prompting of the King. The King issued a proclamation, "Everyone must turn around, turn back from an evil life and violent ways that stain their hands. Who knows? Maybe God will turn around and change his mind about us, quit being angry with us and let us live."

God saw the change of heart of the people of Nineveh, changed his mind and let the people live. Rather than Jonah rejoicing that his message had been listened to, he was furious and lost his temper. He yelled at God, "God, I knew it – when I was back home. I knew this was going to happen! That’s why I ran off to Tarshish rather than go to Nineveh! I knew you were sheer grace and mercy, not easily angered, rich in love, and ready at the drop of a hat to turn your plans of punishment into a programme of forgiveness. How can I go back to my own people now? They all want retribution of Nineveh! I would be better off dead."

Jonah goes out of Nineveh and sulks because God has been gracious and forgiving rather than judgemental and retributive.

Basically there the story of Jonah ends closing with God rebuking the prophet for his attitude and hardness of heart.

The question for those of us today who hear this story is to ask of ourselves whether our motivation and attitudes mirror those of God or those of Jonah. Jonah didn’t want to do what God asked of him because he desired divine retribution on the people of Nineveh – he didn’t want forgiveness or restoration. Essentially Jonah wanted the people of Nineveh to get what he sees as their just reward.

God’s loving forgiveness, according to Jonah, was for those who deserved it – like the Jews and those who lived righteous lives, not for sinners. Jonah had an attitude of "them" and "us." God had an attitude of "we."

One of St Paul’s stunning theological discoveries was that God is not only God of those who believe in God, (Jews) but also of those who do not believe in God. (Gentiles) This shock of the expansiveness of God’s love is behind most everything that Paul writes, including today’s epistle lesson from the First Letter to the Corinthians.

Presumably, since Paul says that God is the God of the Jews and the Gentiles, Paul would also say that God is the God of Muslims and Buddhists, those who believe and those who don’t believe. What finally matters is not our belief in God and our love for God but God’s belief in us and God’s love for us.

Paul didn’t believe this theory of the inclusive grace of God because of some mushy concept of pluralism. He believed it because he had personally experienced God’s love in Jesus Christ. God’s revelation in Jesus Christ was particular, singular, decisive, and unique, and Paul’s expansive view of God was based up on a call by the inclusive Christ.

Paul couldn’t believe that Christ had reached out to him, a sworn enemy of the church. He was even further surprised that Christ’s love encompassed the gentiles, the sworn enemies of the Jews. This stunning surprise led Paul to say that we ought to welcome others as Christ has welcomed us (Rom 15:7; Gal3.28)

Therefore, can we say that our personal faith and that of the Church should be inclusive, hospitable, accepting, welcoming, closely tied to Jesus who died for all loves all people of the world – not just some whom we tend to agree with and like?

To God be the glory. Amen

David Coster

Sunday 15th January

JOHN 4/3-26 JESUS AND THE WOMAN AT THE WELL.

Jesus was sitting on the wall of a well in Samaritan country. He had wanted to go from Judea in the south home to Galilee in the north and the shortest way was to go through Samaria rather than up the Jordan valley away to the east. It wasn’t a comfortable journey though, and not just because of the rugged terrain. There was no love lost between the Samaritans and the Jews, who were subjected to jeers and jibes, and if close enough to be jostled there were elbow jolts and kicks to the shins, or being spat upon.

Jesus sat on the wall of the well alone. He had sent his disciples into the nearby village to buy some food for lunch. It didn’t take all of them to do that, but he wanted to be alone and have peace and quiet for a while, and individually they could get the kind of food they wanted.

Now that’s odd, Jesus said to himself. The lone figure of a woman appeared in the distance. He could tell it was a woman for she appeared very tall, because she was balancing a water-pot on her head. No man would ever deign to carry a water-pot like that. Fetching water was women’s work, and quite beneath the dignity of any man.

‘Now what is she doing coming for water at this hour of the day?’ Jesus thought. Most women came later on when it was cooler. That also was a time to gather with other women and share the gossip, and to drink some water together like a kind of happy hour. So why was she coming at midday and alone, unless she was avoiding other women with all their taunts and accusations. Or avoiding meeting anybody at all for that matter, including being propositioned by men.

Maybe she is the woman he had heard about from the village, the one with quite a reputation. Well that wasn’t going to worry Jesus : he was used to associating with the outcasts of society. Anyway with a bit of luck she might give him a drink. He could manage that for himself by lowering the rope down into the well and pulling it up dripping, and sucking off the water, but it would be much nicer if she gave him a drink from her water-pot, and it was a good way to make contact if she obliged.

"Now that’s odd" thought the woman as she approached the well. "A man here, and all alone. I had better watch my step. At least he won’t speak to me, for no man would speak to a woman in a public place even if there is no one else around. Furthermore I see he is a Jew so he certainly won’t speak to me a Samaritan. I’ll keep an eye on him though, and I’ll draw the water from the other side of the well for safety’s sake, and keep the end of the rope handy in case there is any funny business. He has a nice face all the same, but you can’t be too careful these days."

She tied the rope to the neck of the jar, and lowered it deep into the well and when it was full she hauled it up again. The jar was heavy and she had to be strong. "Would you give me a drink?" Jesus asked. "Good gracious me, you gave me such a fright I nearly dropped the pot and it could have smashed to pieces. Ah well ok." She held the pot toward him, and he drank. Then he helped her to a drink. "So how come you a man speak to me a woman, and you a Jew to boot, speaking to me a Samaritan?" She was quite forthright and enjoyed a challenge.

Obviously Jesus was quite unconventional. He wasn’t going to let convention stop him from using his need to make contact. His need was for a drink, and so he simply asked and he got an immediate response. He had engaged the woman, and she responded, and as they connected he decided to go a bit further. "You know, if we stop and think about it," he said, "there is a sense in which this is round the wrong way. I asked for a drink and you gave it to me, and I am grateful. But really, if you realised who you are talking to you would have asked me for a drink and I would give you living water."

"Now hang on a minute," said the woman who was very practical, "that doesn’tmake sense to me. You haven’t got a pot to draw water or you would have helped yourself already. I suppose there is a sense in which this water is living. My ancestor Jacob, your ancestor too as it happens, dug this well deep down to a spring which keeps the water fresh. But how can you get it? What you say doesn’t add up, unless you are even greater then Jacob. You are not claiming that, are you?" Incredulous, she said this with a little touch of awe.

"Obviously you are intrigued," Jesus said. "Let’s take the analogy a little further," he said, as he moved a little more from the known to the unknown. "You and I both drank of this water, and it refreshed us, but before long, especially in this heat, we’ll need another drink. The water I am talking about is different. If you drink of the water of my spirit, and keep on drinking it in, you will never be thirsty again. In fact it will become in you like a spring that keeps on coming up, welling up inside you with eternal life."

"It sounds like something else," the woman said, "so how about you give it to me? It would be so great, and at least I wouldn’t have to slog it out in all this heat, and it would save me an awful lot of hassles."

"Ok," said Jesus, "but this isn’t something for you alone. It is meant to be shared, and who better to share it with you than your husband. So how about you go and fetch him?" "Well to be honest with you, I don’t actually have a husband." "Uh huh," said Jesus, "I wondered about that. I have heard of you. You have had five husbands, and you aren’t actually married to the one you are currently living with. I admire your honesty."

This was getting a bit too close to the bone even for the woman, so she changed the subject. That happens often when the truth looms and it is uncomfortable. So she said "You seem to read me like a prophet, so let me ask you a question. My Samaritan forebears all through the generations have worshipped God on this sacred mountain. But you Jews say we are wrong, and that God can only be properly worshipped in Jerusalem. So who is right?"

"Good question," Jesus responded, going along with her change of subject. "It is actually not a case of either/or, but one of both together. In the old days when the Assyrians overran your country, and settled, there was not only intermarriage between the races, but the religions got rather mixed up together as well, so your religion isn’t as pure as the Jewish faith. All this is the basis of hostility between our peoples. But what really counts is that people worship God in the right spirit. When we worship, our spirit tunes in with the spirit of God, and we get caught up with each other, spirit on spirit together. But there is more. Part of it is worshipping God in the spirit of truth, That means being honest before God, just as you were honest with me about your partner. When we are honest before God we expose our real selves to him. Before God we are true to ourselves, and God sees our real selves and is glad. That way worship brings out the best in us.

"So when we worship in the right spirit, it doesn’t matter where it is, whether it is here in this place, or in Jerusalem, or anywhere at all. God is spirit, and those who truly worship him do so in spirit and in truth. That is what God looks for, and is delighted when it happens."

"Well," said the woman, "I can’t grasp all that fully, but one day when the Messiah comes, as both of our peoples believe, he will explain all this and more of our questions, in ways we can easily understand. So one day we will get all the answers when he comes." "He is here already," Jesus said. "I am he."

Wow!

Now I want to draw out two more things briefly from this story.

The first is that like the woman we usually have questions and one day we hope to get answers. A few years ago I I conducted the funeral of a man who had had a whole load of difficult events fall on him one after the other. I had known him for a long time, and as we recalled some of his earlier years it was clear that he carried a lot of loads in his life, including some events that were horrific. He said to me that although there are a few answers, there are more and more questions. I am sure you know the feeling.

I sometimes say that when I die and come face to face with God, there are a number of questions I want to ask. Yet even with Jesus explaining things to the woman, she still couldn’t really understand. And what he said isn’t easy to grasp. Rather it is something to keep on pondering over about drinking his living water, or worshipping in spirit and in truth.

However the encounter at the well shows us that in the presence of Jesus, the questions and the answers are not the most important things, important as they are. The more important thing was the personal contact between the woman and Jesus, and the relationship that developed between them. That was important for the woman and it was important for Jesus too. So Jesus says to us something of what he said to her : "In all your questioning and searching, I am the one you are looking for. I am he, and I am here. Let us establish and deepen a relationship that is satisfying and very refreshing."

So any time we come before Jesus, the experience of his presence is such that the questions don’t seem so important, and tend to fade away, as the relationship of mutual love takes over.

Secondly, Jesus needed a drink, but waited to see if the woman would meet his need. She could have refused him, and if she had we would be deprived of a wonderful story, in which Jesus uses the occasion to get across something important to us too. When we drink of the water of his spirit, we will not thirst. His water of life will well up inside us in its abundance of eternal life. The more we draw off him the more the spring wells up in us. Wouldn’t it be great if we could live off a full reservoir of eternal life!

But we are human and it doesn’t always work out like that. The living-water supply tends to come and go. Sometimes we feel great and greatly blessed by God and we are grateful that the well is well-supplied. Other times we know the well is there, but the water seems out of reach. We can go through some pretty dry patches.

It is some years since I read Thomas Greene’s books "When the Well Runs Dry," and "Drinking from a Dry Well." The main thing I remember from those books was him saying that when we experience spiritual drought, when we feel we are in the desert and nothing is happening or going right, stop and look further out and around about us in the garden of our lives, and see in what other ways altogether there is growth and colour in the garden. If God doesn’t seem to be there in some ways, there will be signs of his watering in other ways in our life.

For that, thanks be to God.

Amen, so it shall be.

Ivan Pierce

Sunday 8th January - Christmas 2

When God Speaks! - Psalm 129

In today’s reading from Psalm 29 the psalmist cites the unique nuances of "the voice of the Lord." The Psalm is a hymn of praise organized in three sections describing a storm travelling across a landscape. The Divine Voice is a main focus in this poem with the noun “voice’ occurring eight times. The author pleads that the people will hear the voice and recognize their dependence on the One who speaks – God.

As in the Book of Genesis the poem reflects God’s power and rule. Natural experiences such as thunder storms booming and flashing across a lake, cedars breaking in the wind and oak leaves swirling in gusts until their branches are stripped bare are more than just video footage for the Weather Channel and the Network News. These are all expressions of God’s creative power.

Psalm 29 describes a frightening storm that not only interrupts routine but must have been life threatening. The Psalmist sees past fear to hear God’s voice, sensing God’s strength in the storm. The storm is a natural event which reveals the power of God.

Once the storm passes there is once more peace. Our God who speaks and creates out of nothingness also speaks peace following our storms.

On Friday afternoon, while I was writing this sermon, I heard the rumble of an approaching earthquake. Very soon my chair was swaying along with the building. Thank goodness, I thought to myself, that was only a quake of short duration but it was a 4.93 mag. Peace and calm quickly followed.

Storms and earthquakes, fire and flood are very disruptive to our lives and sense of wellbeing. The people of Japan, Wanaka, Nelson, Golden Bay, Bay of Plenty, and South Australia all attest with those of us in Christchurch, and the Psalmist, that such natural events cause both anguish and uncertainty in our lives.

As people of faith we need to be honest not only with ourselves but also with God. God’s voice may speak peace but when the waters are rough our fear can beat a rhythm louder than the pulsing of the Holy Spirit.

The voice of God is powerful seeking our listening ear, but the voices of desire, comfort, success and power call very seductively and persuasively to us.

The voice of God may flash forth in flames of fire to light our path and warm our hearts, but at times we prefer to walk in the shadows and linger outside in the cold.

As someone once said, "Character is who we are when no one is looking." Maybe we could add to that Faith is how we respond when our secure world is shaken. That is not to say we don’t grieve loss – we do. The question for each and every one of us is – after the storm, what then?

We pray:
O God, the stormy noises of this life distract us with their crashing waves of worry, breaking trees of terror, flashing signs of fear, and swirling winds of separation. Speak peace that calms our anxiety, keeps us on task. Give us the strength and listening ear to distinguish and hear your voice amidst the clamour that threatens to drown you out,”
Amen

David Coster

Sunday 1st January 2012 - Christmas 1, Epiphany, New Year’s Day.

God’s Time! - Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 & Matthew 2:1-12

This is one of those rare Sunday’s in the Christian calendar when Christmas, the first Sunday after Christmas (known as the Holy Name of Jesus or Holy Family Sunday), Epiphany, and New Year’s Day all fall together on the same Sunday. This provides me with three different sets of Scriptural readings to choose from – one could say an eclectic mix.

Each of the readings provides a different theme. The first Sunday after Christmas has a focus on the holiness of Jesus and the holiness, or choice by God, of the family into which he was born. Epiphany speaks of the wise men or magi coming to pay homage to Jesus. Epiphanies are sudden realizations and intuitive new understandings of ordinary occurrences. They are often viewed as the coming of a brilliant light with power to transform – a gift from God. On Epiphany Sunday, we celebrate the magi being lead by the light of a star to the place where Jesus was, and rejoicing that God is revealed among us in unexpected places and in the person of Jesus.

But there is more to the story of the visit of the Wise men than their coming to offer gifts and pay homage to Jesus. We know that despotic rulers brook no opposition (Syria, North Korea and Zimbabwe are modern examples of this) and Herod didn’t break the mould. He was well known for his ruthlessness, having had one wife and two of his sons as well as numerous political rivals killed. In his final years his paranoia was infamous. He was a devious old man who did what was necessary for him to remain in power. If it meant killing one more infant who could be a possible potential rival then Herod would do this. It is part of the wonder of the story that God knew Herod’s heart and motives better than Herod did him self and warned the Wise men in a dream of the real intent of Herod towards Jesus.

The story of the worship of the Wise men and their humbling of themselves before Jesus manger is the first indication that what God is doing through Jesus is for all people of the world, and not just a select few.

The reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes is one of our New Year’s Day readings. We very rarely read it simply because it is in the Lectionary only for New Year’s Day. Why the authors of the Lectionary put this reading from Ecclesiastes down for New Year’s Day I am not too sure. It is one of the most familiar and yet most depressing books in the Bible. In a way it is beautiful poetry but it can also be seen as rather meaningless because it views life itself as meaningless. There is a time for this and a time for that. But what does it all add up to? According to Ecclesiastes it all adds up to very little. We get up in the morning and go to work. We come home in the late afternoon. So What? We build a nice home and a great retirement fund. The earthquakes demolish the home; the garden is drowned in liquefaction and those who were responsible for our retirement scheme have lost the lot on less than wise investments. "What’s the point? What does it all add up to?" asks Ecclesiastes.

Well what would you say? Does the morbid Ecclesiastes have it right? Is 2012 going to be simply a repeat of 2011 for other than the year rolling over and we becoming another day older, nothing really changes? Earthquakes, ferocious storms, tsunami’s, acts of terrorism, war, famine, the threat of bird flu, corrupt businesses and governments, collapse of financial markets – all have been part of 2010 and 2011. Does the fact that we have rolled over to another year – advanced by one day alter things in any way? If you agree with Ecclesiastes then you are going to say, "Not at all. What we have had in the past is what we are going to get in the future!"

I don’t know whether you have noticed that in the Book of Ecclesiastes God doesn’t play much of a role at all. God is simply mentioned as the one who gives us our days, and God has been busy from the beginning of time, but the writer just can’t figure out what God has been doing or what God does among us. God has put ‘past and future’ into our minds. God has created us as people who know the passage of time, and yet God has also created us as people with limits: "They cannot know what God has done from beginning to end."

To give the writer credit, at least he is honest. There are times in our lives when we feel just like the writer of Ecclesiastes feels. We get up. We go to work. We come home. We sleep. We get up the next morning and go to work – the cycle seems endless and what does it all add up to? We gather up stones, we toss stones away. We make peace and we make war. What’s it all add up to? Nothing other than the survival of the fittest and most powerful!

Many religions in the world take a circular view of time. Time keeps going in an unending, repetitive cycle. Past, present future, past present, future. The goal of religious belief is to rescue us from the unending cycle of time.

As Christian we have a very different view of time and God’s activity within it and our lives. As Christians we join with Jews in believing that God doesn’t withdraw from the world and time, but rather that God enters our time to redeem it and make the world a better place for us to live.

The great affirmation of Christmas is that God did not leave us to our own time, an endless cycle of just one thing after another. In Jesus God entered our time to stand with us. Because of this the life of the world and our lives actually have significance and meaning. They may not always go smoothly but they have significance and they have meaning.

That first Christmas eve in Bethlehem, when Jesus was born of Mary, life for the world and the people of all the world changed. It is as if God said, "Enough! It is time I acted." The shepherds heard an announcement from the angels that God is doing a new thing, God is coming from heaven to earth and dwelling among us – which is the reason Jesus was called Emanuel – which means God is with us.

That is quite a different life and world view from that of Ecclesiastes. Rather than the world and our life in it being viewed as depressing, it is joyous and hopeful. Of course we will repeat in 2012 many of the things we did in 2011. Our schedules won’t change just because one year has rolled into the next. We will continue to take our medication, we will continue to think many of the same thoughts as previously, and we will be faced by many of the same challenges as in the past.

And yet by the grace of God there will also be newness for, by the grace of God, God loves us. And because God loves us there are certain gracious moments when God intervenes for us. God steps into our time and that divine stepping into our time can sometimes be quite disruptive and sometimes reassuring. Just look at what happened with Jesus’ birth. Wise men rejoiced and Herod moaned.

As we begin this New Year, we begin with and hold onto the faith that we are not alone. God is with us, God makes time for us, God takes time for us, and ultimately our days become God’s days.

To God be the glory. Amen,

David Coster