Silent Night has been sung and the candles have been blown out. We have said goodbye to 2023 and welcomed 2024. The magi have come to honor Jesus and are returning home (Matthew2:1-12). In short, the holidays are now over and our lives are returning to “normal” (whatever that might mean!) Is our normal for 2024 going to reflect an encounter with the divine, or are we going go about our lives as if the only time Jesus is significant in them is Christmas and Easter?
The time between significant events, the in-between time, can be challenging for us at best. Once all the decorations are put away and all the presents opened, it can be hard to maintain the enthusiasm of the holidays when the realities and the pressures of day-to-day life find their way back into ruling our calendars. Yet, it is into this in-between time that followers of Christ are called to live more fully. We are after all an in-between people. We live between how God acted through Jesus Christ 2000 years ago and what we hope and trust God will do through Jesus at some point in the future. We point to both of these events as significant for all of creation, but does that mean God is not acting now in the in-between time and is simply sitting back and waiting? Absolutely not!
As an in-between people living in the in-between time, we are the means through which God is acting in the world now. Jesus told us simply how to live during this in-between time. Love God. Love neighbor (Mark 12:28034; Matthew 22:36-40; Luke 10:25-37). In those two acts, we reveal the kingdom of God to a hurting world. We become a means of God’s grace for those who need it, including ourselves. Our worship, our service, and our commitment to God and one another are the witness to the world that God is still present and active with us and through us.
How are you going to continue to witness to your encounter with the divine in 2024? How are you going to love God and neighbor more fully in this year? Will you feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and give shelter to the homeless? A way to start is by helping us keep our blessing box full and volunteering at the food bank at our sister church, New Francis Brown UMC. Will you refuse to stay silent in the face of injustice? We can start by staying engaged with our local community and by being in communication with our elected officials advocating for just means to address issues like gun violence, poverty, education disparity, drug abuse, and mental health. Will you commit to deepening your faith this year? A great way to do this is to attend one of our Bible studies, Sunday school, or try out a new spiritual discipline this year such as contemplative prayer, journaling, and/or daily scripture reading. Will we see you at worship more this year? Worship is vital for our own spiritual well-being, and your presence may very well be the good news someone else in attendance needed to see that day. Will you commit to tithing (giving at least 10% of your gross income to God through the Church recognizing that God is responsible for all we have) or making a step towards it this year? Giving of our first fruits is a spiritual discipline that began in Genesis, and it demonstrates a trust in God to provide as we provide Cokesbury UMC with the financial means to continue God’s mission here in North Charleston (Genesis 4:3-7). Will we see you at various ministry opportunities available throughout the year? Our service to one another and to our neighbor, even just a phone call to check on someone, can be monumental in pointing to how God is active in the world during this in-between time.
While the world tries to convince us otherwise, the divine is in us, around us, and active in society today. After all, we all were made in the divine image (Genesis 1:27). We cannot look upon the face of another human being without looking upon someone lovingly made in the image of God. Yet, the brokenness of the world can sometime make the divine hard to see in one another, in society, and especially in ourselves. My prayer for us in 2024 is this: In this in-between time, may we see the divine in ourselves, see the divine in others, and work to reveal the divine to a hurting world in our words and our actions trusting that Jesus through the Holy Spirit continues to be with us every day in the present age and will be with us in the age to come (Matthew 28:20)!
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Bryan