Trinity Blog

The Holidays Are Over

Lamentations 3:22-24

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
    his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,
    ‘therefore I will hope in him.’

Another holiday season is over.  We have taken down the trees with the ornaments that took much time to hang.  The wreaths, snowmen and angels are in their boxes for another long wait.  The pies, cookies and candies have been eaten.  The football games have been played, won, or lost.  The cards, wrapping paper, and boxes have been recycled.  The kids and grandkids are back in school.  The holiday season is over, and we are settling in for another long winter season.

But while the holidays are over, we do have one thing that never ceases or comes to an end.  The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end.  God’s covenant with God’s people never ceases and never comes to an end.  We might enjoy the end of the Christmas music on the radio station, but we will never have a time when the steadfast love of God stops loving and creating.  We might struggle with the sadness of an end to the joyous season, but we will never have a time when the mercies of God cease.  The holidays may fade from view, but the good news of the Gospel is that the Grace of God never fades, cease, or stops.

But the Gospel is not just that God never ceases, but also that they are new every morning.  We have a portion for each day that is refreshed daily.  Steadfast love for today.  Mercy for today.  Another chance to be faithful to God.  Another opportunity to act as a covenant community.  While we might enjoy the forgiveness of yesterday and last year, we also enjoy the portion for today and 2023.  Love and mercy for today and this year, fresh for this day and fresh for every day to come.  Daily bread and daily forgiveness but also daily calling, daily mission, daily prayer, daily service, and daily faith.  God’s grace is new every morning, and so must our faithful response be new every day.

Perhaps this response is what is written, ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’  We can live this day with today’s portion granted by God.  Fresh and new is what God gives us for today, but do we responsibly use that portion to hope and live in God for today?  What about our attitudes, do we have hope and joy, the portion of God, or cynicism and despair?  What about our thoughts, do we think on love and righteousness, the portion of God, or selfishness and self-absorption?  What about our actions, do we act in truth and justice, the portion of God, or are we consumed by inaction and wrongdoing?  What about our re-actions, do we respond with grace and blessing, the portion of God, or do we respond to others with hate and suspicion, knee-jerk reactions?  We are graciously given a fresh portion of God every day, to what end and in what responsibility do we use them?

My friends, as we begin a new year and new day, the Gospel reminds us that while the holidays and all the special traditions they convey are over, God is never over, never ceases and never runs out.  That love and mercy is fresh every day with a fresh portion of Grace.  But the Gospel also challenges us that we can respond to what is given to us daily, by daily giving faithfulness and obedience to God.  What will you do today with what God gives you today?  What will you do with 2023?  Great is your faithfulness, O God; by your Word and Spirit, may our faithfulness be just as great.  Amen.     

The Alarm Clock

11 Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12 the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13 let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

If you ever needed to wake up at a certain time, you set an alarm.  Many years ago, that was a mechanical device which you had to wind and then a bell rang at the correct time.  Then we had the electronic device which was programmed to turn on the radio or a very annoying beeping sound.  The problem with this was if the power went out, so did your alarm.  Now we have phones with a clock app, which we can set for an almost unlimited number, to remind us to wake up or to do something at a certain time.  But we all have alarms to wake us up or remind us to do something. 

Just as our alarms alert us to wake up from sleep, Paul is giving the Romans, and us, a spiritual alarm to wake us up from unbelief and disobedience.  Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep.  A spiritual sleep can take many faces and names, but perhaps a few call our attention.  Spiritually sleeping could be ungratefulness and presumption for all of God’s many blessings.  Spiritually sleeping could be despair and anxiety about the state of our communities or futures.  Spiritually sleeping could be apathy and indifference to our neighbors in a time of inflation and recession.  The church in Rome had these struggles, as does the church in Ashtabula; and for this purpose, Paul wanted to sound the alarm on them, and us.  Because none of these things, and the many more ways one could be spiritually asleep, are a life living in the light of Jesus Christ. 

Paul reminds the Romans, and us, that the Advent or Coming of Christ was closer, for salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near.   Days have passed, time has come and gone and the glorious coming of Christ is closer now than then.  We are ever moving forward in time and therefore closer to the Day of Lord, and the Advent of Jesus Christ.  The dawn is growing brighter, and the darkness is shrinking smaller.  We should not therefore be hitting the snooze button and falling back asleep spiritually but becoming more and more spiritually awake. 

One lives an “awake” life by putting off one’s pajamas and putting on the work clothes.    Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarrelling and jealousy.  The clothes to be taken off are deeds of wickedness and unrighteousness like for the Romans uncontrolled drinking and constant conflict.  When we fall asleep these, and many more, are the things that we fall back into.  When we wake up, we start doing the things of Christ, like self-control and mutuality. 

This Advent season what do we need to take off and put on, if now is the time to awaken?  Perhaps the things of the light could be a hopeful outlook and choices or a reconciliation between yourself and an adversary or a peacemaking between enemies.  Perhaps it could be a joyous attitude and encouraging others.  But perhaps most assuredly, the greatest thing of the light is to love God and to love each other sacrificially.  This is what putting on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires means.  The greatest light to put on is Christ and that means putting on self-sacrificing love.  This advent season we all could use less of our self-interested, sinful ways and we all could use more self-giving ways of Christ.  The alarm is now sounding, now is the time to wake up, now is the time to put on Christ and live in the light.  Now is the time for hope, peace, joy and most importantly, love.  Amen. 

Letting the Dogs Out

Yet even now, says the Lord,
    return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 rend your hearts and not your clothing.
Return to the Lord, your God,
    for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love,
    and relents from punishing.  Joel 2: 12-13

Growing up, I had two dogs.  When I was working late, I had the responsibility to let them outside before we went to sleep for the night.  One evening I came home as usual and let the dogs out.  After fifteen minutes or so, I went to let them back in and I could not find them.  Usually, they were waiting by the door when they were done.  I called and nothing happened.  I took a flashlight and scanned the yard thinking they couldn’t hear me, but I couldn’t find them.   I went back inside with the full conviction of leaving them outside the entire evening for wandering away.  I waited about an hour or so and checked outside the back door and both dogs were sleeping in the flower bed.  They wandered off but eventually returned to be let in.

Just as my dogs wandered off from me, so too do we wander off from God.  They caught the smell of a deer and ran off and when they came to themselves, they came back home.  We do the same thing; something catches our attention or desires, and we wander off from God and from our Covenant community.  In the prophet Joel, the Covenant People of God, Israel has wandered off from faithfulness and obedience to God.  Just as I called out for my dogs to come home God calls out to his people who have wandered off with Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me.  We might be tempted to think that God has wandered away from us, but the truth is that we are the ones who wander off from God and need to return to God.

But how do we do that?  How do we make a sincere returning to God despite everything we have done to God and against God by wandering off.  Return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.  It is not our physical bodies that have wandered off from God but our hearts and minds.  So, a mental and spiritual return to Christ needs to involve those things.  So, we return with all our heart, not just a fraction or trace but all our heart needs to come back to God.  Fasting, weeping, and mourning are all signs of remorse and regret.  We return with God with a broken and contrite heart convicted of breaking God’s heart by leaving. 

Many among church people believe and understand that remorse involves a bodily sign: a rending of clothes, sackcloth, and ashes.  We are embodied souls with a complete unity of our inner and outer selves.  We are not two, body and soul, but one, embodied souls.  So, whatever we do in one we do in the other, or at least that is the hope.  For many, remorse is an outer display, but nothing ever changes in their hearts.  The prophet reminds us that whatever we do we must do as a whole person, rend your hearts and not your clothing.  Doing something with our outer person but neglecting the matters of heart, mind and soul are useless.  True remorse is a soul and body endeavor, and the more important element is not what we do with our clothes but the transformation and repentance from the Heart. 

We have understood how we are to return to God, but do we truly understand what we are coming back to.  The text says, Return to the Lord, your God.  The LORD is the covenant name of God.  We are not just returning to God, but we are returning to the life and lifestyle of being in Covenant with God.  We return to a connection and binding of ourselves and God.  We are re-newing our vows made in Baptism to turn away from sin, to turn toward Jesus Christ and to be his faithful disciple.  This simply means that we return to following Christ, our sins are forgiven, and we are made new.  Or simply stated, we commit to wander away no longer. 

But the good news of the Gospel or why we can return is because of the character of our God.  Return to the Lord, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and relents from punishing.  God is gracious and merciful and our wandering off is forgiven.  God is slow to anger in loyal and unmovable love.  God does not want to punish but to correct and discipline.  The Gospel is that we can return because we are loved, forgiven, and made new by the Grace and Love of God given in Jesus Christ. 

Friends, we will wander off as we each struggle with our natures.  But God has opened God’s-self up to always accept a returning sinner.  But we need to return to God with all our heart in signs of inner remorse.  We are also returning to our covenant life together following the was of Jesus Christ.  Perhaps then through Christ and the Holy Spirit we can learn to stop wandering off and learning to stay with Christ.  But if we do, Christ promises to always take us back, if we return to him with our whole heart.  Amen.