Sunday Christmas 2 Year C -  3/1/10 a.m.

    Ephesians 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.  11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession - to the praise of his glory.

     

    On Monday 28th December 2009 New Yorkers and visitors have said goodbye to bad memories from 2009 by shredding documents, letters and photos in a public ceremony.  Hundreds of people flocked to Times Square to destroy mementos and papers representing unpleasant experiences.

    Items included everything from photos of ex-lovers to redundancy letters and newspaper articles chronicling the failings of beloved sports teams.  For items that could not be shredded the organisers, the Times Square Alliance, provided a sledgehammer and a large waste-container.  "Good Riddance Day" was the third annual event of its kind.

    The winner of a $250 prize for most creative item shredded was 12-year-old Alissa Yankelevits of Los Angeles, who is visiting her grandparents in New York. She shredded the memory of a counselor on a school trip who was later featured on the TV show "America's Most Wanted."  "I just spent a week with him," Alissa said. "It was really terrifying because I just found that out." What are you saying 'good riddance' to this year?

     

    New Year, new start? Resolutions. Power to carry them out? Do we have an image of what we would like to be or feel we ought to be?

    Contra epistle for today.

    God sees us as holy and blameless in his sight" verse 4.  

    We are his adopted children, verse 5.

    We have not had to earn this, it is a free gift, verse 6.

    He chose us because of his love, verse 4b-5, not because we are loveable or deserve or have earned love. But because he is love. He is a gracious and generous God.  He has made us his children. Today's gospel confirms this;  John 1.12, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

    This will result in us

    1. Receiving "every spiritual blessing in Christ", verse 3. Every, not some blessing. This includes;
    2. Being forgiven, verse 7.
    3. Knowing God's will, verse 8-9.
    4. Being united with Jesus. Verses 4 and 7 says that we are "in him".  We are united with him through trust in him. Because we are in him God sees him instead of us, so we are "holy and blameless". He is already our head, but one day everything and person will come under his authority, verse 10.
    5. Receiving the Holy Spirit, verse 13. The Holy Spirit gives us the gift of trusting in Jesus.  He makes us more like Jesus.  He gives gifts so we can serve Jesus.
    6. In the future there is also the certain promise of the return of Christ to reign and to redeem those who belong to God, verses 10,14.
    7. Praising God, verse 3.  The reason why worship is so important is that it reminds us of God's great mercy to us. Something we have not and cannot contribute towards. It reminds us of his greatness and reliability. It should lead to God being glorified.

    Verses 3 and 4 are the Scripture verses for the year on the cards being given out this Sunday.  It is a tremendous encouragement to read these words which declare the blessings that God has given us in Jesus.

    We are destined to be perfect. "Holy and blameless" in God's sight.

    We are his children.

    Unlike the vast majority of people who fail to uphold their New Year's Resolutions we have the power within us to complete the task God has given us. We have God's Spirit. He will bring about our redemption.  He is the deposit, the downpayment that guarantees there is more to come for us.

    What ever the New Year may bring we can be confident that God the Father loves us, that he is in control, and that one day he will bring all his children to be with him, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, forever, in paradise.