Well, well, well. Happy New Year!
Did you know that mountains are not just funny; they are "hill areas". Yes, I hear you groaning. And I like to start a new year by having some fun.
Some of you will know what I am doing. I can envision others of you looking really puzzled. Well, here's the thing. In church circles we do things a bit differently. This is the end of the year as we reckon it. Next week, we start a new year and a new season. And that is because we begin with the four weeks of preparation that lead us spiritually as well as literally to Christmas Eve. We also take time right now to evaluate where the last year has taken us.
For many of us it was a year of financial tightening. Or squeezing in many cases. Interest rates and inflation really hit us forcefully. I haven't seen this pressure since the great interest surge of 1979 to 1982. Spending power dropped. Debt financing rose for many of us. And a lot of us are learning how to manage paycheque to paycheque. Our reading from the gospels reminds us of who we are as Christians.
Jesus gives us the example of the kingdom in the lesson of Matthew 25. We are called to be ready people who willingly care for one another, especially those who are on the margins. Verses 31 to 46 point this out specifically. And remind us of Genesis 18; Micah 6 and Deuteronomy 10. I am reminded here that we all have been strangers at one point or another in our lives. And hopefully we find people like Will Rogers. Some years ago I read his remark and it has stuck with me ever since. "A stranger is just a friend I haven't met yet." And it is true. A woman who runs an AirBnB in Arizona found this out. She tried to invite her grandsons for American Thanksgiving. She wound up inviting a stranger instead when she got the email address wrong. He came and she has had him over for the last 8 years every Thanksgiving. They have become great friends.
When we risk, marvelous things can unfold. When we risked putting a bathroom in the garage renovation we did last summer, we got the blessing of finding an aging and crumbling sewer line from the house. Saved us from having a mess of a septic field in our backyard.
Soon it will be Advent. Soon God will show us risky love beyond what we can imagine. For now, what has the past year looked like for you? Our Triune God was there every day, even when we did not know it. Time to pause for a moment. Pr. Scott
