Colts Neck Reformed Church

John 8:12-25; Matthew 2:1-12

Hello Again and Happy New Year!

As the New Year begins, I wish you God’s blessings of happiness and health.  As I reflect on the incredible gift of new beginnings that God offers us, I pray that 2012 will be a year of new beginnings and fresh starts for you too. Just as Christ offers us the wonderful promise of a clean slate and reconciliation with God, may we see this as an opportunity to wipe clean the slates in our lives that need new directions and starting over.

As the calendar year begins in church (our church year actually began the first week of Advent!) we have turned our sights toward a new sermon series, the “I am” statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John.  Scott Brown led us to ponder the saying, “I am the bread of life” as we surrounded the Lord’s Table on January 1st. And on January 8th, we focused on Christ’s proclamation, “I am the light of the world.”  Without rehashing my entire sermon, allow me to offer two thoughts here:

One on the significance of these claims in general and this claim in particular,

• And, the second reiterating a faith practice that we might share in this year together.
•  There is a certain built-in significance to these “I am” statements as I mentioned in the sermon.  In Exodus 3:13-15, Moses asks God what he should say God’s name is when the Israelites ask.  In Reply, God tells him what we translate as “I AM the (or “who”) I AM.” (Exodus 3:14) So, when we see Jesus tell the Pharisees that they will die in their sins unless they believe that Jesus is the I AM (John 8:24), we know he is making a really big point. With that background, we encounter Jesus saying, “I am the light of the world.”  As we celebrate Epiphany and the divine revelation and physical manifestation to the wise men who visit Christ soon after his birth, we too are offered a moment of divine insight. The Pharisees who desire proof of Christ’s statement are the example of what not to do for us. We are called by Jesus to allow him to testify with God the Father about who he is.  We are told that we can stop looking for a light to lead and guide us, that Jesus is it.
• It is often difficult not to want proof about Jesus and who he claims to be. I mean, how hard would it be for God to offer us just a little miracle now and again to keep us on the right path?  But, Jesus tells us he is all the proof we need.  In order to help ourselves see that, I offer the following exercise for the New Year (which is still worthwhile even if it only lasts a month or two for you with commitment phobias!):
• Find a small notebook and keep it in the same place for the foreseeable future.
• Appoint a time once a week that will be the easiest for you to have five minutes for some note jotting.
• Each week at that time, jot down the thing that was most difficult for you, what was hardest about that week, or where you thought God didn’t seem to be listening to you or paying attention.
• Second, jot down the thing that inspired you most that week, the time you felt most spiritually fulfilled, or just the best thing to happen to you. 

My hope and conviction is that as we look over our past weeks’ writings, we will find that God is there even during difficult times as God is there in times of celebration and joy too.  Perhaps this small notebook exercise will help all of us “prove” to ourselves that Christ is our light, in case we remain unconvinced.

I hope you find yourselves walking in clear paths and avoiding any walls shrouded in darkness that may keep you from where you want to go.  May Christ be the light that guides us every day and offers us new beginnings this New Year.

Until the Next Time,

Chris Vande Bunte