January 1, 2009 at Saint Mark in Norman, OK
Numbers 6:22-27 + Psalm 67 + Galatians 4:4-7 + Luke 2:16-21
There is no way to turn the calendar page without some sense of hesitancy and caution. We live in historic times, and it is yet to be seen how we shall emerge from these times and what life will be like ten years from now. There is little doubt that an age of hedonism and conspicuous consumption is probably at an end. The “good life” as some who could afford it have called it is on life-support called “bail-out”. The prognosis is not good for those who want no change or challenge to privilege and power. Those who have profited at the expense of others are now publicly ridiculed and challenged by those who have worked for their comforts.
I think of these things and mention them here because it is January; a month named for the god, “Janus”. He had two faces, one looking forward, the other back. Perhaps Janus describes the way we must live in the ninth year of the 21st century. We can and ought to look back, but if we fail to look ahead, there will be little reason celebrate today – because our celebration cannot simply be about the past. It must also contain the seed or the promise of the future.
The church proposes a model of January life with this Feast in Honor of the Mother of God. She was a woman who had two faces in the best sense of that phrase. She could and did look back. She lived the tradition of her faith. Her presence in Bethlehem and her journey to Jerusalem’s Temple make that perfectly obvious. She lived with the expectation of God’s promises being fulfilled. She knew the prophets and the Torah. Her prayer reveals that deep knowledge.
At the same time, she looked to the future with a heart open enough to allow God’s will to accomplish things in unexpected and out-of-the-ordinary ways. The message of an angel encouraged her to have no fear, to trust, to believe, and to live in such a way that unexpected surprises became opportunities for God’s plan to unfold.
If Christmas is a way of life rather than a date on the calendar as I proposed to you a week ago, then we are January people who look back and see how God has cared for us and brought us to this day. We look forward as well without fear because the past tells us fear is useless and that faith is what we need. The simple truth is that without Christ or potential for a bright and joyful future is very limited. There is no better way to look forward to this new year than by looking back and deeply into the mystery of this covenant of Christ’s Body and Blood. Broken and shared for us, it is the only reason for a new year and new hope.