Year in Review

 Good morning!  This is an unusual opportunity for me.  I can’t recall teaching on the last Sunday of the year.  Many times, we have been at Faithwalkers during this time.  Otherwise, we have been traveling to visit family over the holiday time.  We did have the chance to go to Faithwalkers again this year, and we returned home just last night.  Some of the thoughts from that time will no doubt make their way into the message.

Our topic this morning is “Year in Review.”  When I stop and think about this last year of 2017, I am quickly overloaded with things which we could “review.”  What do you think about as highlights in the last year?  For our area, a couple of items are significant but perhaps not global in impact.  2017 was the year of the eclipse.  It also was the year when Clemson won their second national championship in football, right?

Both culturally and politically, there are tremendous changes which have occurred in the last year.  Many things have been good.  And yet, other things have been downright worrisome.  Hopefully, these things have inspired you to pray more regularly and fervently as Paul exhorted Timothy:

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people--for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. –I Timothy 2:1-2

Another common point of reference for the passing of one year into the next is to think of those who have died in the previous twelve months.  Again, we can all think of famous and even infamous people who died in 2017.  And yet, many of you have experienced losses which may not have made the headlines but nevertheless were more keenly felt.  In 2017, three of my coworkers lost one of their parents.  And just before Christmas, a friend shared with me that a former coworker had lost a child.  Grief and sorrow can be the most overwhelming experience that we encounter.  When faced with what to say in response to death, I often think of a song by a songwriter named Eli.  The song is called, “God Weeps Too.”

God weeps too, God weeps too

Though we question Him for all that we go through

Still it helps me believe and my pain it does relieve

When I think that, God weeps too

God sees our sorrows, and He is not indifferent to our pain.  God weeps, too.  I don’t know what degree of loss you may have experienced this year.  I don’t know the depths of the challenges you have faced and still may be facing.  But know that God cares about the most intricate details of your life.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.  –I Peter 5:7

I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.  Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.  –Psalm 27:13-14

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.  –Psalm 55:22

For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.  –Romans 5:19

And so, we turn our hearts to the Lord when we are sorrowful or discouraged.  Let’s pray.

Father God, we do come with our cares and anxieties.  Thank You that You hear them.  Thank You that You care for us.  I pray for these Your saints.  May those who come seeking comfort find it with You, the God of all comfort.  Speak to us during our time together, we pray.  Amen.

I was surprised at my last birthday when a friend called me up to wish me a happy birthday.  It wasn’t a surprise that he called.  This brother is a whiz at remembering birthdays, so I would be more surprised not to get a call than to hear from him.  This year though, his call included a question.  He asked me, “What is the most significant thing you think God has been showing you this last year?”

I hesitated to share this question because I don’t really remember what I told him, and that makes me a little bit sad and a little bit embarrassed.  I mean, if it was the most important thing God taught me in a year, don’t you think I’d be able to remember in detail what I said?!  One thing I could say as an excuse is that my birthday is all the way back in September, so another quarter of a year has flowed by in the meantime.  Maybe that’s a reasonable justification of why it’s hard to remember?

One thing I do remember sharing is that God had been teaching me patience.  My life in 2017 seemed to be on hold, especially in my job.  Even two weeks ago I had a bizarre performance review.  My boss told me that most times when you take a technically-minded doer and put them in an abstract situation with no clear outcome, it usually results in extreme frustration and poor performance.  But, since I didn’t go crazy and found some useful things to do (even when I was asked to do them repeatedly), I was doing an excellent job.  I am grateful that my boss was pleased with my performance as to frustration, though I won’t say that I was successful there.  There were plenty of times when I felt frustrated.  But, I don’t know how you learn patience other than going through seasons of waiting and even disappointment.

I’m getting a bit off track from where I planned to go with this message, but have you ever thought about why it is good to be patient?  There are some practical reasons given in the Proverbs (19:11 - A person's wisdom yields patience; it is to one's glory to overlook an offense; 25:15 - Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.) and Ecclesiastes (7:8 - Patience is better than pride.)

Spiritually, though, the answer may be even more significant.  Looking through the lens of God’s patience, Romans 2:4 warns us not to “show contempt for the riches of [God’s] kindness, forbearance and patience” so that we realize “that God's kindness is intended to lead [us] to repentance.”  Likewise, II Peter 3:15 says to, “Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation.”  If God’s patience then allows people to be saved, then our growing in patience has the potential to allow us to demonstrate God’s love and “preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage” as Paul wrote to Timothy in II Timothy 4:2.  Paul told Timothy to do these things with “great patience and careful instruction.”  In this way, patience plays a key role in connecting others with Christ.

One key point which stayed with me from this week’s Faithwalkers conference was the encouragement to invite the Lord by His Holy Spirit to live the life He would want me to live through me.  We can have confidence that this is God’s desire according to Romans 8:9, “you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.”  God’s perfect Spirit can certainly handle any circumstance far better than we can even though we tried to do our absolute best with the best motives.

Back to the thought of what God has been teaching us over the last year, I wanted to at least bring before us what we’ve been studying on Sunday mornings.

Fred started off the year looking at the Signs of Christian Maturity in a single message which hinged on Ephesians 4:13.  In that verse, we see that God has given us leaders and teachers to build up the body of Christ “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”  We would do well to keep that goal fixed in our minds each day, growing and learning.

Up until Easter, we concluded our series on I Corinthians covering chapters 13-16.  That series was titled “Of First Importance,” making reference to I Corinthians 15:3-5 where Paul said, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared …” to the disciples.  This we can meditate on as we come to take communion following the message.

We had a multi-week series at Easter looking at the account of the crucifixion and resurrection as told in Matthew 26-28. The series was called Jesus the Overcomer.

Through the spring and summer, we studied through the first half of I Samuel in a series titled “Prophet and King.”  In that series, we looked at the lives of Samuel, the last judge of Israel, and Saul, the first king of Israel.  If you remember, the logo for that series showed the letter G cracked and askew.  We saw many warnings in the life of Saul about how to conduct ourselves and depend on the Lord rather than putting on a show and striving to do things on our own.  At the conclusion of the series, we saw the anointing of a new king.  We will look into the life of that king, King David in the new year.

We had a message in late summer looking at the creeds of the faith as we considered our own statement of faith.  Then, through the fall, we have completed a series on spiritual warfare looking deeply at the verses in Ephesians 6:12-20.  This was accompanied with a 9:45 small group time where we listened and discussed the C.S. Lewis book The Screwtape Letters.

We had two messages about Christmas as we came to the end of the year.  The first encouraged us to “Treasure and Ponder” what God has done for us by sending His Son.  The second encouraged those who have not received Christ to receive the Savior and believe in Jesus.

You can always go back and listen or look at the transcripts for these messages.  It would also be good to take time to look through your notes and verses and prayers from 2017.  It is good to reflect on what God has done.

One last thought before we close.  I think most have heard the saying that “Jesus is the reason for the season.”  This is a good reminder in a culture where Christmas often comes without Christ.

During the holiday time, our family stayed a couple of nights in a hotel.  Since we were waiting for some activities later in the day, we watched some Disney channel programming.  On the one hand, it was encouraging that they had Christmas programming to begin with.  Unfortunately, they did not keep Jesus in their Christmas.

The program was a montage of different characters experiencing a Christmas holiday in different ways.  Some were trying to host the perfect party.  Others were trying to get into Santa’s workshop and switch their names from the naughty list to the nice list.  Others were trying to manage their disappointment of accommodating the Christmas wishes of others.  In every story, one or more of the characters felt downtrodden and discouraged, without hope.  Worst of all, the solution which was given to solve their problems was to try harder.  Just be good.  Accept others.  Just be grateful.  Simply do the right thing.  Fulfill a ritual.

If we are honest with ourselves, we know that we can’t “just do the right thing” all the time.  There is something in the way of our ability to make right choices, to always be thankful, patient, loving.  Apart from Christ, we can do nothing.  (John 15:5)

And so, I want share something with you that someone else shared with me this Christmas.  It might surprise you.  It’s something that could even be a bit shocking.  “Jesus is not the reason for the season … you are.”  Jesus came as a baby into that stable to be laid in a manger because we were in desperate need.  We need a Savior who can give us life, who can put His living Spirit in us.  This is what we celebrate, and why we take communion now.  As II Corinthians 2:14 says,

Thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ's triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere.   –II Corinthians 2:14

Let’s pray.

Lord God, thank You that You have saved us and all those who have believed in You.  Help us to spread the aroma of the of the knowledge of You everywhere we go.  Live through us by Your Spirit enabling us to love others, to be patient, to glorify You more than we ever could in our own strength.  This we pray in Jesus’ Name.  Amen.