New Day, New You

January 3, 2012

Happy New Year’s. There’s always something wonderful about the first new day of the year. So many people celebrate New Year’s Eve with parties and by going places like time square…we usually watch the count down on TV if we manage to stay awake.

Readers Digest & Better Homes and Gardens Columnist, Bill Vaughan said, “Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to.”

He also said, “An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”

Whichever you are, celebrating the New Year is a global event. It’s fun to watch some of the celebrations from around the world.

January 1, 2012
Isaiah 43: 18-19; 25, New Day – New You
Mary Scheer, Brewster Baptist Church

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I wondered how all the traditions for the ways we celebrate got started. Did you know that;

The celebration of the New Year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago timed with the first day of spring.
The early Catholic Church condemned the festivities celebrating the New Year as paganism.
But as Christianity became more widespread, the church began having its own religious observances.
New Years is still observed as the Feast of Christ’s Circumcision by some denominations.
Have you ever wondered why a baby is used to signify a new year? That tradition started in Greece around 600 BC, when they celebrated the annual rebirth of their god Dionysus.
The use of an image of a baby with a New Year’s banner was brought to early America by the Germans.
Traditionally, it was thought that one could affect the luck they would have throughout the coming year by what they did or ate on the first day of the year. For that reason, it has become common for folks to celebrate the first few minutes of a brand new year in the company of family and friends. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year’s Day would bring either good luck or bad luck the rest of the year.
One of the longest held New Year’s traditions is the Champaign toast at midnight to ring in the new year.
Toasting can be traced back to the ancient Romans and Greeks who would pour wine, to be shared among those attending a religious function, from a common pitcher.
The host would drink first, to assure his guests that the wine was not poisoned as poisoning the wine was a fairly common practice in ancient times.
In those days the wine was not as refined as it is today so a square of burned bread (toast) would be floated in the wine bowl and then eaten by the last person to drink. The bread was put there to absorb the extra acidity of the wine in order to make it more palatable.
To avoid being the last to drink and thus having to eat the acidic burned toast, people would drink at the same time. Eventually, the act of drinking in unison came to be called a toast.
The song, “Auld Lang Syne,” (Old Ang Sye) that we hear every year at the stroke of midnight was at least partially written by Robert Burns in the 1700’s and from an old Scottish tune that literally means “old long ago,” or “the good old days.”
Other traditions includes making New Year’s resolutions which dates back to the early Babylonians who’s most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.
Speaking of resolutions, someone said, “The man who does not at least propose to himself to be better this year than he was last, must be either very good or very bad indeed, And only to propose to be better is something for there is no such thing as a stationary point in human endeavors; he who is not worse today than he was yesterday is better, and he who is not better is worse.” unknown
We can pretty much tell it’s New Years by all the commercials for diet programs, aimed at folks who made a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight.

Every year, many folks make the same resolutions and every year many experience the same failures.

One author said the simple fact that it’s the beginning of a new year is not enough to make a resolution work. He reasoned that if the beginning of a new time period were enough to motivate people then there are plenty of other beginnings we can celebrate also, “12 times each year a new month begins, 52 times each year we start a new week and 365 times each year we start a new day.” (frugalbabe.com)

In an article on the science behind failed resolutions, Jonah Lehrer said a study of 3,000 people showed 88% of their resolutions fail. And one of the reasons our resolutions often fail is that we strive to achieve them by strength of will, and will power alone is not enough. (WSJ.com)

Fortunately, believers have more than will power to help us achieve greater things. We have the power and promise of God who said the old has passed away and the new has come. Listen to Isaiah 43.

Sermon Scripture: Isaiah 43: 18-19; 25 (NLT)

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (Isaiah 43: 18-19; 25)

The Apostle Paul said, “therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come, the old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Cor. 5:17 NIV)

In talking with the Ephesians about what it means to be a new creation, he went on to say, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires…and put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (from Eph. 4: 22-5:2; Col 3: 1-17; Gal. 5:13)

The good news is that we can keep our resolutions, and we can be better people. Regardless of what stage in life we are at we can be even better, we can be new!

We have to make time to reflect and clean our mental, emotional and spiritual houses. Ephesians gives us steps for doing this, sort of like a list of resolutions.

To put off the old self;

Put off falsehood. It all starts with an honest assessment of ourselves and where we’re at with our values, our relationships, etc.,

A while ago I was looking at someone’s picture on face book and they were standing in an angry stance, with baggy pants, hat turned a certain way, and gesturing in a way that displayed newly tattooed fingers. I said, “wow, is that person in a gang?” and the person looking at the picture with me said, “no he’s a poser.” I said, “What’s a poser?” “that’s when someone tries to look like someone or something they’re not.”

Are there times we need to check to see if we’re trying to look or act like someone or something we’re not? So, he tells us to start with an honest assessment.

The list continues, “In your anger do not sin” Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and thereby give the devil a foothold.
Who doesn’t get mad? But has your anger ever gotten the better of you? Has it affected your relationship or anything that was important to you?
It isn’t that we have anger, it’s how we deal with it that can help us or hurt us.
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander along with every form of malice. (I wonder how many people have any of these on their New Years resolutions?)
Encouraging an attitude of responsibility and generosity, Paul continues, Don’t steal, but work so you will have extra to share with those in need.
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths. James says the tongue is the hardest part of the body to control.

If we try to put the new on top of the old self, there can be a clash of inconsistency that makes us less genuine and less effective.

To put on the new self; (two things; Be loving and have a good attitude)

Be loving

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Gal. 5:13)
Speak in a way that’s encouraging and helpful for others. Be an encourager.
Be kind and compassionate to one another
Be forgiving just as God forgave you
Follow God’s example extending compassion, kindness humility, gentleness and patience
Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts
Be grateful
Let the message of Christ dwell among you

Have a positive attitude

Allow yourselves to be made new in the attitude of your minds. Is there an area we need to think about in a new way?
Just as God chooses not to remember our mistakes, it’s an act of grace to practice intentional forgetfulness when it comes to others mistakes.
It also gives us power over our past. We can choose how the past affects our life and choices today.
Paul says, do not dwell in the past, don’t live there. Maybe that means letting go of something we did or that someone else did so we can move forward.
You know where trouble starts, it starts in the heart. That’s where anger and grudges make their home. He says, having been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think on the good.
And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

God doesn’t leave us to work things out by ourselves, he has blessings for us that are new each day; He said, I will;

Put a new song in your mouth – Ps 40:3
Give you a new name – Is 62:2
Have stores of compassion that are new for you every morning. Lam 3:23
Extend new Justice every morning – Zeph 3:5
Each new day holds the promise for victory – Zeph 3:5
Give you new birth through faith– 1 Pet 1:3
Provide a new covenant in grace – Heb 9:15; 12:24
And invite all into a new relationship with me – Ro 5:11

Genuine change is possible with God’s help.

Jesus spoke of this promise on the first day of his public ministry. He went into the temple and read from the scroll that was opened to Isaiah saying,

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recover sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, and proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Lk 4:18-21)

Jesus teachings were always about how to live fully and full of faith.

That’s what one man learned when he met Jesus. There was a pool of water in Jerusalem and every so often an angel would stir up the waters and whoever got in the water first was healed of their ailment. While walking by one day, Jesus saw the man lying by the pool waiting for another chance for things to be better. He told Jesus he had been there for 38 years and every time the angel came and stirred the waters, someone always beat him down into the pool, someone else always got his chance for a miracle. Jesus said, today is your day, pick up your mat and go. He responded to the words of Christ and received his miracle and walked away a new man. (Jn 5)

Is there anything you’ve been hoping to change? Has it shown up on your New Year’s resolution list more than once?

Today is our day to put our old selves, our old lives into proper context, & let go of the stuff from the past that isn’t healthy or helpful and respond to God’s invitation for a fresh start.

Now is the time to for new habits in devotion, and new growth in faith.

ThffTThisFootnotes:

Colossians 3:4 Some manuscripts our
Colossians 3:6 Some early manuscripts coming on those who are disobedient

May this be your moment of response and renewal to new life in Christ.

Let’s Pray:

Dear Lord, thank you for the reminder today that you always offer a fresh start to those who come to you. Forgive us for the mistakes and failures that have hurt us and those we love and for the things we let create distance between us and you. Thank you for your willingness to forget and help us to extend that same grace. Help us as we work to put off the old and put on the new. Help us to maintain a good attitude, to live daily in the power of your presence and give us victory in the areas where we need it. Bless this year and all that lies ahead, in your name we pray. Amen.

BLESSING: (from Phil 3: 12-13; 1:6 TNIV)

The blessing is from Paul’s words of encouragement to the Philippians. He said;

“one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” And, He who began a good work in you will see it on to completion.

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