Suggested Scripture: John 14: 1 – 14; Psalm 122: 1 – 9
Scripture Emphasis; Psalm 122:1-2
I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the Lord!”
And now our feet are standing inside
Your gates, O Jerusalem!
There is one prayer that I beseech Our Heavenly Father to answer as we slowly start to memorialize for posterity, the events that will define us in the New Year dawning.
It is for the blessing, which like, nothing else, would incorporate your expressed wishes to family and friends for a” Happy New Year.” This blessing will make hearts throughout our world happy, and thereby make our tired world NEW again! It is a prayer for every person on earth to experience the remainder of their days in a consciousness of God.
In the emerging new world order, technology is bursting through the limits of morality and decency. The messages of isolation, nationalism, and the flagrant expressions that abandon all reference to a global village, leave fewer and fewer people wanting to discuss spiritual matters or engage in so-called‘ God-talK.
Yet it remains my prayer that through the good-wishes expressed by families and friends worldwide, for a Happy New Year, God will reveal to all, that the one hope remaining for lasting happiness in the human race, is a return to our Origin. ” It is through faith that we receive our original position with God, the one which God destined for us at the creation. In gaining our original position with God, we gain our own genuinely human life.” (2) It is this thought that the ancient Psalm writer David captures in the words of the text quoted: ” I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into “the House Of The Lord.” Nothing can bring more happiness into the life of the well-wisher and to the recipient, than to hear it said, whether it be immediately, or later: ” I was glad that you said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord!”
It is noteworthy that some of David’s acquaintances knew the immeasurable influence of being conscious of God in one’s life. It is the conclusion widely accepted that the thought, which follows, is the greatest ever expressed by humankind:
“Augustine of Hippo, 354 AD ( Confessions 11:1) wrote:” You, O God have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in You!”(3)
Our text further enlightens another critical tenet of faith: ” I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord! And now our feet are standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem!” There is here the powerful suggestion that an immediate conveyance from all worldly restrictions to the liberty of Heavenly expanses follows the acceptance of an invitation to seek God.” And now our feet are standing inside Your gates, O Jerusalem!” There are many illustrations of the gratifying results that follow a seeking of the Presence of God.
Many years ago a parishioner of mine was in the late stages of stomach cancer. Her many hospital sojourns, over time, resulted in many people coming to visit and to seek the inspiring company of this remarkable lady. The time comes when a limitation on the number of visitors is necessary. Towards the end, only family, and the patient’s clergy are allowed to visit.
On one particular morning, a fellow clergy and I happened to meet in the hospital chapel. Almost instantly, the conversation evolved concerning our dearly loved friend! A member of the nursing staff discreetly approaches and, with evident concern, whispers, ” Please go and see Judy! She had a terrible night last night! Without a moment’s hesitation, we hasten to Judy’s room! The tousled bed coverings suggest that the occupant had not rested. Telling signs of the night of struggle still clung to her. “We see that the night was a difficult one for you, Judy,” my friend suggests, more to break the silence than anything. And then, in a voice dimmed by pain, she said: ” It was a horrible night! I didn’t close my eyes! ” Then summoning her resources of failing strength and looking squarely at us, she continued with an unmistakable note of triumph, ” It was a horrible night! But did you boys see the sunrise this morning! I saw the most beautiful sunrise I have ever experienced in all my life,” she smiled as she pointed through her window toward the eastern sky. ” I know that everything will be OK”!
There it is!! a conveyance from the limiting grip of pain to the experience of seeing the Face of God!
I wish you all A Happy New Year, with God’s blessing on you and yours!
A Prayer To Follow This Meditation
Father, with sincere gratitude, I commit my New Year dawning into Your gracious keeping. I desire, above all else, for each day, that You have given to me, as it falls into Your sunset, that it may bring You happiness and delight. My happiness depends on Your Happiness! The work of my hands, the thoughts of my mind and, the love in my hear must all bear Your citation:” and God saw that it was good.” (4)
That translates into a single petition: Father, make me Anew! ” With Your Spirit recreate me strong and pure and true.”(5) I ask you now to deepen the capacity of my inner being and let it contain less of worldly influence and more of the Spirit of Jesus. Indeed ‘You have made me for Yourself,’ let this be the year when I fully embrace that fact so that I can help make this a Happy New Year for You and all I meet everywhere.
Father, bless us and keep us. May Your face shine upon us. And may Your abiding Presence with us forever give us Peace. Amen.
Hymn: Nearer, My God To Thee
EDITORIAL NOTES
1. The Scripture references herein are from Good News Bible
2.reference a work by Emil Brunner, MAN IN REVOLT
3.Quote by Augustine of Hippo https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/42572-thou-hast-made-us-for-thyself-o-lord-and-our
4. Quote, from Genesis 1:31 Holy Bible
5.Hymnary, God Who Touches Earth With Beautyhttps://hymnary.org/text/god_who_touchest_earth_with_beauty#pagescans