This past weekend Lauren and I went down to Bryan/College Station to visit and do Christmas with my family. On Saturday we went out to my grandma’s house to celebrate with all of the extended family. Everyone was there this year, including my oldest cousin, her husband and their three daughters. We hadn’t seen them since our wedding when their oldest was just a baby, she’s now 4. It was interesting having little ones around again because it has been a while since that’s happened. Out of all of us “older cousins” the youngest is 19. The three little ones got the chance to explore and experience many of the things that we had growing up. They went with their pawpaw, my uncle, to the plowed field by the house to build clod castles and to see how far they could throw a dirt clod. They went to the barn in the back with great grandma to see the doves that my grandpa raised. Even the old playhouse my grandpa built that we played in was once again enjoyed by kids who could actually fit in it. Watching the three girls run and explore brought back a lot of memories and reminiscing for my parents and my aunts and uncles. Much of it was centered around when we were younger…and cuter. (According to them, I still think we’re pretty cute). Most of the reminiscing was happy, but some of it was a bit sad too as we remembered the ways that my grandfather had touched our lives. Grandpa passed away in March of 2006, but, like with many people we say good-bye to, there are many things that remind us of his legacy still today.
The beginning of a new year brings us to a really interesting place. It’s a place where the past, present and future all come together. It also brings a mixture of emotions. The past year stands in the rearview mirror. There may have been some stuff that went well and some stuff that didn’t go so well. You may have welcomed someone new into your life. You may have lost someone that was close to you. Things may not have gone as you wanted them to, but you’ve grown and changed because of all the experiences. In the preparation for the year to come many of us think back to what happened the past year and wonder, what can I make different this year? In the present we make plans for what is coming up. We make resolutions and action plans to change things about our body, mind, or spirit. We want to mend relationships. We want to forget past mistakes and start fresh. The future is once again bright and hopeful (for the most part). There are things to look forward to. There is time to go out and achieve something new. Time to blaze new trails.
Our lesson from Jeremiah this morning also speaks to and acknowledges past, present and future. Remember that the people that the prophet Jeremiah are speaking to have been in captivity. The people of Israel had been conquered by Babylon and were spread out in exile. This part of Jeremiah speaks of a time when the people of Israel would be brought back into the land that God had promised to them. It will be a joyous, but bittersweet event as a large multitude will return. Everyone will come, not just the strong. Jeremiah specifically names the blind, the lame, those with child and those in labor. Those who would be on the edge of society will be lead back with the great company. The path will be straight and will be easy to travel because it’s beside the brooks of water. They will come back with weeping. Weeping for those who were lost. Weeping for the time in exile. In the midst of the weeping God will provide consolation as all of Israel is rescued from hands that are too strong for them. With God’s help their mourning will be turned into joy and their sorrow into gladness. Everyone will be satisfied with the Lord’s bounty. Their life will be like a watered garden and they will never languish again. It’s a beautiful, picture isn’t it?
I feel like I spent much of 2013 living in the past. When I should have been present in all the things I was a part of, I spent too much time wondering what others were doing. What others were thinking about. I spent a lot of time looking backward. When I reflected on this, then of course I thought about time travel. Have you ever wanted to go back in the past and fix something? When I finally started living in the present I then wanted to go back and reclaim that time I had spent thinking about the past. Man, if only I had a Delorean. Back to the Future is when time travel really became cool in pop culture. It is the story of Marty McFly who was played by Micheal J Fox. Marty gets sent back to 1955 and has to get help from his friend Dr. Emmit Brown to repower the time traveling Delorean to get back to 1985. In the process Marty also begins to rewrite history when he saves his dad and his mom falls in love with him. Back to the Future reminds us that you can’t interfere with the past in drastic ways without radically changing the present. Okay, maybe it’s best that I don’t have a Delorean.
Even if we could go back to the past I don’t think many of us would want to. Most of us are happy to remain in the present and look toward the future. No matter where we are God is present with us. In our weeping and reminiscing as we look at the past. As we make plans for how to change what has happened. As we look toward a hopeful future in which we will be redeemed by hands that are too strong for us. A future in which mourning will be turned into joy and sorrow into gladness. God is the one who is making all things new. God is present in past, present and future. In weeping, in plans, in hope, God is present. Providing consolation. Providing transformation. Providing redemption. And most importantly, providing the promise that you are God’s no matter what. God providing a way home.
So if you’re paying attention you’ll notice that I haven’t talked yet about how Jeremiah speaks to our present. Jeremiah speaks to our present by his call at the beginning of our passage to sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, to proclaim and give praise. One of the ways that we can live in the present of the New Year is to proclaim what God has provided to us. It doesn’t have to be big. Think for a minute about what God has provided you with. For me, I am especially thankful this past week for God providing me with family and friends who care about me. Whatever God has provided you with, by telling others about it and giving God praise for it we point to the promises of God in the present. All of those beautiful pictures that Jeremiah spoke of begin to become a present reality when we proclaim and give praise about the things that God provides. We have a call to be a reminder of those things. To remind each other and remind the world that God is present with us. Leading us back. Turning mourning into joy and sorrow into gladness. May your New Year be filled with the presence of God. May you find a way to proclaim and give praise this week for all God has provided you. And may you remember that God has claimed you as God’s own. Amen.
