In order for us to bring God with us into the New Year we need to understand who God is in our life right now. Not when we were little…not 2 years ago, but right now. We cannot think about bringing God with us into the New Year until we determine who it is that we are bringing with us.
When you close your eyes and try to imagine Jesus, what does he look like? Take a few minutes and try to really imagine in your mind what Jesus looks like. When you are ready open your eyes.
Was your vision just black? Unable to really pull up a vision of Christ? Or were you able to just make out a figure off in the distance, but it could be anyone since your vision is not clear? Were you able to rid yourself of the darkness and make out a vision of Jesus, but he is so far away that you really can’t get a good look at his features and you really can’t hear his voice? Or is Jesus walking towards you close enough that you can make out what he looks like, what he is wearing, the expression on his face the sound of his voice. You are anxiously waiting until he gets closer to you. Or is Jesus close enough for you to touch him. Close enough that you are able to sit down, face to face, with your eyes locked on each other and your hands clasped together. You can look into his eyes and you can hear his voice and most of all you can feel the love coming off of him? Which Jesus were you able to imagine? Which one do you want to bring with you into the New Year with you? In order for us to bring God with us into the world, we need to have an understanding of who we are bringing.
The world needs God right now…the world needs us right now. We just celebrated the feast of the Epiphany. Jesus was born during a time of great distress. The people were waiting for someone to come and lead them out of the mess that had been created. They needed a Moses to bring them out of slavery and into the promised land. They were waiting for God to answer their prayers. They were waiting for a miracle. Does this sound familiar? Look around at the world and we are also in great distress. The pandemic is continuing on and it does not seem to have any end date in site. People are separated from their loved ones and for many it has been a long time. There are wars, hunger, poverty, uncertainty and so many losing faith, leaving the church, losing site of God. God answered the prayers so long ago. He sent us his son. Those Holy Wise men followed the brightest star they had ever seen, and it led them to the brightest star who would ever live. The King of Kings. The Son of God. They knelt down in front of him, placed gifts at his feet and when they left they brought Jesus with them in their hearts. The story of this visit is a good example for us in how we can bring God with us into the New Year…so again I am going to ask you to close your eyes…and just imagine…
—- Jackie Sullivan
