The prospects for 2009

"There is hope for your future," declares the LORD (Jeremiah 31:17).

Another year has ended. What did you learn during these past twelve months? Are you smarter than you were a year ago? Have the new skills that you’ve learned made your life less complicated? Are you confident that when emergencies arise, armed with the knowledge you now have, you will be able to meet them without making a mistake?

Are you wiser than you were a year ago? Have you improved in your ability to look at the problems in your life and understand what is causing them? Have you learned to take time to analyze each situation instead of making rash decisions? Are you better at making choices that have long-term benefits, instead of simply taking care of the immediate problem?

How have your people skills improved over the past year? Are you a better judge of character, able to spot when people are lying to you, or hiding the fact that they are hurting inside? Are you more patient, more understanding, more forgiving than you used to be? Are you more inclined to speak words of love out loud, or to show the contents of your heart by acts of giving?

Are you happier than you were last year? Are you more content with your financial situation, the state of your family, or your health? Are you happier with the way your community, state and nation are being run?

What has happened in your life? Did your family grow through weddings or births, or did it shrink because of death? Was it a quiet year, or were you faced with some hard decisions? Was it a year of peace and stability, or a year of stress and chaos?

When New Year’s rolls around, some people look back on the ending year with a touch of nostalgia; others are just glad that the year is over with, and fervently hope that the coming months will be better. But the underlying question that no one can truly escape is this: what does it all mean? Why did 2008 unfold the way that it did? What real hope is there that 2009 will be any better?

2008 was filled with good and bad. The bad things happened because we are all plagued with evil desires and the inability to keep those desires under constant control. Some bad things happened because of the dark desires of people who we have never even met. Friends and loved ones have died overseas because there are individuals over there who hate Jesus, hate freedom, and are willing to kill anyone who does not agree with them. People we have never met drive up the cost of the goods we purchase by shoplifting instead of taking out their wallets and paying.

Some bad things happen because of the dark desires of people we love and trust. People have had their lives shredded by a partner who cheated on them or filed for divorce. Children have been abused or neglected by parents who could not control their anger, or were emotionally unavailable because of addiction, or just couldn’t be bothered with the responsibility of being a parent. Friendships have been destroyed by the betrayal of repeating something that is sensitive and private.

Some bad things happened because of our own dark desires. When we spend money foolishly, we have no one to blame but ourselves for the problem of indebtedness. When we abuse our bodies through smoking, overeating, or sleeping around, we have no one to blame but ourselves for getting cancer or heart disease or AIDS. When we treat our loved ones as if they only exist to make us happy, we have no one to blame but ourselves for eventually finding ourselves abandoned and alone.

But the good things that we experienced in 2008 came from God, the God who made us and who loves us every day. He showed us His love through the hands and voices of those who served Him: a card of encouragement sent in the mail. An offer of help from someone with changing a flat tire along the road. A friend who loved us enough to tell us that we were acting like an idiot. All these acts of kindness were done by people, but were prompted by God out of love for us.

God showed us His love in 2008 through the care of His angels; each time that a small boy was lost, but someone looked in just the right place at just the right time to find him before something bad happened—it was an angel who kept that child safe, and guided an adult to the rescue. Each time that you were seriously considering saying or doing something that you knew you shouldn’t, when suddenly something happened to distract you—that was an angel acting to draw your attention away from the temptation. Because they are invisible, you cannot see God’s angels protecting you from the attacks of the devil, the dangers of the world, or your own dark desires—but they are there, at work constantly.

And, God showed us His love in 2008 through miracles--miracles ranging from subtle to awesome, small to overwhelming. How can people believe in a God who cannot be seen, touched, or experienced in any physical way? It takes a miracle—the miracle of faith. It takes a supernatural gift of God to assure people that He really exists, really loves them, and is really involved in their lives every day. Faith is not something that we can create on our own; St. Paul writes, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).

How do Christians receive the gift of faith? Through another miracle, the miracle of baptism. To our rational, scientific minds, it seems impossible that a child’s life could be changed by the application of water and the words "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." And yet lives were changed in 2008, changed forever through this sacrament. In Romans chapter 6 we read, we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Only a miracle of God could use such simple things as water and God’s spoken Word to free us from evil’s stranglehold and live instead as followers of Christ.

How does Christ build this faith in His followers? Through another miracle, the miracle of the Lord’s Supper. Our Lord gave the following instructions the last night He ate with His disciples before His death: While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:26-28). Throughout 2008, countless Christians met together to honor His command do this in remembrance of me (Luke 22:19). And when they gathered together, they received more at the Communion rail than just bread and wine—by Jesus’ promise, they miraculously received the Savior’s own body and blood as well. They received the bread of life, the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die (John 6:50); they received the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. And by this miracle their faith was strengthened—strengthened to face the hardships of 2008. Doesn’t it amaze you, how some people can have hope when things look hopeless, peace in the midst of chaos, calmness in the face of tragedy? Such behavior is evidence of a miracle—the miracle of a strong faith in Jesus.

This is especially important when a loved one is facing death. It is natural to cry in fear or scream in frustration, to beg God for a reprieve or curse Him for taking away a precious life. How then can we account for the Christian who welcomes death, not because she is in terrible pain and only wants release, but because she has lived a full life and wants to see her Savior, and those she misses who died years ago in the faith? How can anyone face death with open arms and peace in her heart? It is only possible by a miracle of God. Only the promises of God can give comfort in face of death, comfort that paradise is waiting and Jesus stands at the entrance, His arms open wide, a smile of welcome on His lips and the warmth of love glowing in His eyes. Only a miracle of God could lead St. Paul to say, to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better (Philippians 1:21).

Yet the greatest miracle of all is this: God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). God is holy; He hates sin. How inconceivable it is that God would even consider forgiving us for doing everything in our power to make Him hate us! How unbelievable it is that the Maker of the universe would send His own perfect Son to die for our sins so that we could be spared the punishment of hell! What greater miracle is there than God’s love for us? What greater miracle is there than that His Son, immortal, all-powerful, and glorious, should take on humanity’s form to experience humiliation, pain and death? What greater miracle is there than God’s Son rising from the grave victorious over our sin and the death that it leads to? What greater miracle can there be than the Almighty King of creation saying these words to you: "Friend, your sins are forgiven" (Luke 5:20).

2008 was filled with good and bad. The outlook for 2009 remains the same. It will be a year of terrible disappointments and gut-wrenching sorrow, because the world is filled to overflowing with sin. But it will also be a year of victory snatched from defeat, unexpected joy in the midst of sorrow, reassuring peace and hope found in the ruins of shattered lives. Sin will still be evident everywhere, but God will also be at work through His Son Jesus, forgiving the despairing, mending broken hearts, giving healing where doctors have given up all hope, and welcoming the dying into a place where they will never again know pain or sorrow. We can expect 2009 to be another year in which Satan tries to wear us down with evil, but the light of God’s grace in Jesus will rescue those who believe, and give them reason to live through the coming year with joy in their hearts.