Reverend Ref +

YEAR A - ADVENT I

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Maybe you’re wondering what’s going on; but if you were here last week, you know. Last Sunday was the last of the year – Christ the King. Today is the first one of the new year, Advent I. So again, Happy New Year!!

Now, you may be asking yourselves, "Why are we wearing these funny hats and blowing noisemakers?" I mean, that’s not really dignified attire or actions for church, is it? I’ve mentioned before that this isn’t simply a place to come and sit on Sundays. This place, your faith, our religion, is life. And life is full of celebrations. If people can go and scream and yell while Montana whups their first round opponent in a playoff game, and if people can act silly on New Year's out there, then why not here? And New Year’s is part of our life.

As I talked about last week, today we begin the cycle from expectation to proclamation, through temptation, repentance, death and new life, and finally living that new life every day in an old world.

New Year’s is an exciting time, isn’t it? Everything seems to be abuzz with promise, potential, dreams and challenges. New Year’s resolutions run rampant – become more assertive, quit smoking, lose weight, eat better, go to the gym, find a better job, travel more. The list is endless. Most of the time it’s about making changes for the better. Rarely do you hear someone resolve to eat more dessert and drink more beer. But how long do those resolutions last? Like trying to read the bible all the way through and never making it past Leviticus or Numbers, resolutions rarely seem to get through February or March. What happens? Why are all of these good intentions so short lived? I think it’s because we have to deal with the same stuff day in and day out. Our intention to change is tempered by a world that requires the same thing every single day.

Let’s take a little poetic license here. Pretend for a moment that all of those rumors about Jesus and Mary Magdalene are true. You know the ones. And if you've read "The DaVinci Codes," well, first I'm sorry, and second, he says they aren't rumors at all, they are true. Anyway, pretend for a moment that Mary and Jesus were in fact married. Can you see this conversation happening:

It’s the end of the day. Jesus walks into their house. Mary say, "Hi honey! How was your day?"
Jesus replies: "Same as always: get up, eat, heal a few lepers, argue with the Committee on Ethical Standards, feed a bunch of hungry people, come home, eat, read the Torah, go to bed. Mary, do you think I’m in a rut?"

Granted, it’s a stretch. But over his three year ministry, Jesus exhibited a trend of living life on the edge. On the edge between this world and God’s kingdom. On the edge between living in the sameness of this world and living into the newness of God’s kingdom. How would this world be different if he had simply looked at each day as if he were in a rut?

More than anything, I think that it isn’t willful disobedience that gets us into trouble, although there is enough of that to go around. No, rather than willful disobedience, it’s the repetitive monotony of everyday life that leads us to ask, "What difference does it make?" We are lulled into a false sense of security. Our senses are numbed by everyday life and we are unable to see each new day as just that, a new day.

Know this: we can make a difference. What we do does make a difference to somebody, even if we don’t see it. A difference in the lives of the hungry by donating to the food bank. A difference in the lives of someone in the Third World by sending a shoe box. A difference in our families by saying, "I love you." A difference in our parish by volunteering time and/or tithing. But doing the same thing every day, over and over and over and over – get up, eat, go to work, come home, eat, go to bed – lulls us into a sense that nothing will change, nor will anything be different.

But things will change. According to the gospel, they were about to change in the days of Noah, but only he recognized the change coming. Everyone else was stuck in their rut. They were too busy with their lives to pay attention to God. And they will change in the future, when the Son of Man comes to take away the faithful workers. Those who recognize that there is something else to work for than a weekly paycheck.

And they will change here, this year. Things are different in the Diocese of Montana. The bishop has called this "a new day." Things are different in this parish. We will make a difference.

The new year is upon us. Don’t let this one lull you to sleep. Stay awake and be watchful. Look forward to the new year. But instead of making a resolution for the year, make a resolution that lasts for a week, or a weekend, or a day, or a few hours. Use whatever increment you need in order to keep it fresh and new. Because if it can’t stay fresh and new in your mind, then it runs the risk of being pushed to the back of your mind and we end up being lulled to sleep by doing the same thing every day.

What will this New Year bring. I don't know. But I know it will be exciting.

Happy New Year.