New Year - Now what?

I offered the following as the sermon at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church on December 30, 2007.

This text was printed on the bulletin that Sunday:

525,600 minutes,
525,000 moments so dear.
525,600 minutes
How do you measure, measure a year?

In daylights - in sunsets
In midnights, in cups of coffee
In inches - in miles
In laughter - in strife
In - 525,600 minutes
How do you measure a year in the life?

How about love?
Measure in love.
Seasons of love.

525,600 minutes
525,000 journeys to plan
525,600 minutes - how do you measure the life
of a woman or man?

In truths that she learned
or in times that he cried
In bridges he burned
or the way that she died

It's time now - to sing out
Tho' the story never ends
Let's celebrate
Remember a year in the life of friends

- Seasons of Love
from Rent, Jonathan Larson

Singing:

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm wollen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with string
These are a few of my favorite things

It is that time of year isn't it? Christmas Day is past and the New Year is around the corner. It is the time for generating lists of our favorite whatever for 2007. The news and entertainment shows will be counting down the top videos, the top news stories, news makers, and fashion mistakes of 2007.

I enjoy "The Sound of Music" - and I enjoy that the favorite things are not large diamond bracelets, fur coats, and Bentleys. The song reminds us of the joy in the simplicity of life.

I see some parallels between the lyrics to "My Favorite things" and the lyrics printed on the front of our bulletin today. We value our favorite things and we mark the passage of time by anniversaries of the events, things, and people that are important to us. We measure the year in the birthdays and anniversaries of ourselves and those we love. I wonder how Jonathan Larson who wrote the lyrics printed on our bulletin measured the seven years he worked to bring "Rent" to the stage. I wonder what went through his mind as he died just short of his 36th birthday of an aortic aneurysm on the night before previews were to open at the Off-Broadway New York Theatre Workshop?

Since my partner, David, passed on January 2nd of this year I have found myself measuring the year by the passage of the strangest events. The anniversary of his cancer diagnosis. My first birthday since he died. His birthday. The first time I ran out of - you name it... paper towels, coffee filters... Bizarre things - The first trip alone to our favorite restaurant. And then in December the first seizure - the first trip to the hospital - having to call and tell his mother - coming home - second seizure - Our Anniversary - Coming home again on Christmas Eve - and I remember the support of friends and family who were close, who ordered the house, who walked the dogs, and anticipated every need and took care of it without being asked. It has been a surreal year and I am sure these events have shaped what I have to say today.

If part of my comments so far paint a bleak backdrop I do so only to call attention to the joys of every day life - the first crocus of the Spring, the sound of rain and thunder during the evening thunderstorms of summer, the incredibly vibrant colors of the leaves this fall, the coolness of Winter. The cycle of the seasons reminds us of balance - a balance between saving for the future and the beauty and joy brought from the gift of flowers today. So it is with my comments this morning. I hope to emphasize the importance of the daily joys and the lavish blessing of God's creation - Perhaps this contrast is required to call attention to the abundance around us because we are so bountifully blessed that we seem to grow numb to the goodness around us. Perhaps it is recognition of this embarrassment of riches which motivated Thoreau to write "It requires more than a day's devotion to know and to possess the wealth of a day."

There will always be babies with their tiny toes and their laughing, cooing, and yes their bawling - but babies grow up. There will be other blessings that follow - but savor the blessings you have today. Breathe them in deeply because I have realized over the past year that the things you do NOT take for granted are the things that leave the most indelible mark upon our mind and soul.

Our everyday living occurs in the context of cycles within cycles - minutes within hours within days within weeks, months, years, birth and death. The liturgical calendar reminds us of this cycle. This is the season to celebrate the birth of Jesus. But as surely as there is the birth and Christmas there is Good Friday and ultimately Easter. The writer of today's lectionary passage suggests for us the reason Jesus was born. I read from the Cotton Patch version of Hebrews chapter 2 verses 10 - 18:

For even though he has ultimate authority over everything and everybody, it
was nothing but right that he, as the head of a remarkable deliverance
movement, should take the lead among his many followers in going all the way
in suffering the cause. For he who calls for commitment, and
they who respond with commitment are all together in the same
boat. That's why he isn't ashamed to identify himself with them as his
brothers. To quote another scripture:

I will tell my brothers your name,
I'll join with them in congregational singing.

And in another place:

I shall put the utmost confidence in him.

And still again

Here I am with the dedicated band which God has given me

Since the "dedicated band" were frail mortals, he himself became one, too, that by dying he might break the grip of the one who controls death - that is, the devil - and set free those people who, all their lives, have been dominated by a fear of death. It is as clear as day that his real concern is not with angels, but with plain ordinary human beings. That's why he became just like one of "the breathern," and is such a gracious and dedicated spiritual leader. He is completely devoted to God's work and able to deal effectively with the sins of his followers. Since he himself has been tempted and has suffered so deeply, he knows how to sympathize fully with those who are also being tempted.

We are instructed that Jesus lived a life full of the human experience. That He understands and has complete sympathy for us as human beings. We, by looking at the life of Jesus, might also learn how we could more optimally live.

Jesus is the main character throughout most of the New Testament. Most of the stories of those around him are told only where it sheds some light on the life of Jesus. We each play the lead role in our own story. But we do not have the benefit of many years of editing where our life overlaps with the lives of others. We each choose from moment to moment what we are going to let take precedence - will it be our story or the story of another. In choosing to subjugate our story to that of another person we become a minor character in the story of their life. In choosing to share our stories as equals we become partners in life - negotiating when one individual's story should take precedence over the other - and when the individual stories of the two people should be downplayed so the story of the partnership can have the focus.

Speaking of stories - as a child I loved Star Trek. My favorite character on the show was Spock. I admired his unflappable, highly analytical, logical approach to the problems that faced the Enterprise. My cousin was a big Kirk fan. But the main character was neither Spock nor Kirk. Each episode begins with the narrator speaking the words "These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise." But the Enterprise does not have a story worth telling absent the stories of those who choose to share their lives to give life to the larger story of the ship and the search for new life forms, new civilizations, and to boldly go where no one has gone before.

Is this not just as true for the Church? If we do not continue to fulfill our calling to be the active presence of God on Earth what happens to the story of the church? We share a vitally important calling and because of its importance it is easy to make the leap to it is a weighty calling. But we might do well to remember that the story of our faith transcends the physical life of each one of us - it even transcends the earthly life of Jesus. The larger geo-political situation after the death of Jesus was very much like it was before his birth. He spoke out for change. He railed against the establishment but at the end of his life he was not recognized by most of his own people to be the Messiah. Yes Jesus spoke in public arenas but he healed one at a time. He retreated to spend time with those closest to him and he spent time in solitary prayer.

Many of us want to change the world in our lifetimes. Our culture encourages us to "be all we can be." Perhaps this at times causes us to take upon ourselves a far heavier burden than any one person can carry alone. After struggling to bear this burden for a while we begin to focus more on changing things and people other than the one thing we can change - ourselves. Eventually we find ourselves frustrated that our spouse, or friends or our co-workers will not bend to the vision that we have for their better life. In our quest to make the entire world a better place we forget that just as we are the main character in our life so are they the main character in theirs. We forget that while we may have the power to make decisions for our lives and change our behavior - we do not have the authority to enact such change in the lives of others - and how much of the stress and unhappiness in our lives comes from this? How different would life be if we put down the burdens that we may have never been asked to carry?

How different would our lives be if we were able to recognize these situations and redirect the energy to being present - to trying to understand how to fully embody the joy of the moment? If we really paid attention and tried to understand what is it that someone needs - do they need a kind word? Do they need a hug? Do they need to be left alone?

Could it be that part of what Jesus lived for - to break the bond of death - was to show us how to live such that instead of fearing death we live in such a way that when death comes we can say I am ready - I paid attention. I did what I could in the time that I had. I did not waste the moments I had worrying about what would happen in the time to come. Perhaps by being in tune with the present and the people in our lives we do change the world for those people. Could it be that by living this way we become the salt that gives savor to life and draw people into the joyful existence that is part of the promise of our faith?

Mahan once told me there are four things required in life:

1. Show up.
2. Pay attention.
3. Speak the truth in love.
4. Don't be too attached to outcomes.

I never understood why number four? Why not just 3? I like the first three. The first three are good - but the fourth one is hard. The way David lived the last 23 months of his life helped me understand why it is important to not be attached to outcomes. The outcome was pretty much a given. We could have spent every day dreading it - trying to change it - Bemoaning the facts. But he did not spend those 23 months trying to deny the inevitable. He sought treatment to prolong life as much as possible but he continued to LIVE. He continued to enjoy each moment. He enjoyed watching the birds in the yard. He continued to enjoy our dogs. He took pleasure in the company of friends. As anyone would - he occasionally commented on his frustration with the situation - but he did not let that consume him.

I find myself wishing I could better follow his example - it is a challenge some days to not focus on his absence. I find the words of J.K. Rowling's character Albus Dumbledore to be challenging encouragement where he says "It does not do to dwell on dreams... and forget to live."

So here it is the end of 2007. 2008 is just around the corner. Where are you in your story? What were your top joys for 2007? Do those words of Thoreau resonate with you? Do you feel haggard from the demands of life and a hectic holiday season? How many demands have been self selected?

How will you grow the story of your life in 2008?

If you know what that change is, then you know how to change the world in a way that no one else possibly can.

Here it is. We have been given the gift of a New Year - Now what?