Where to Start...
By Rev. Heidi L. Barham | January 7, 2024
Click here to listen to the service
Read Genesis 1:1 – 5
It seems hard to believe that we are already seven days into the New Year… and at the first Sunday of 2024… at the beginning of a year that we pray is filled with both promise and possibility… the promise of new opportunities… and the possibility of us doing far more than we could ever imagine…
But the question is WHERE TO START…
That often feels like the $64,000 question that plagues us when we are faced with a task of monumental proportions… like looking for a new job… or cleaning out the garage or the attic… or writing a thesis for a college degree… or moving into another new year…
WHERE TO START
It is a question that we may have to answer when having difficult conversations with family, friends, or colleagues… conversations about critical decisions that need to be made or when we have to deliver unpleasant or tragic news…
WHERE TO START
It is a question that I find myself asking each week when it is time to begin writing the sermon…
WHERE TO START
Well today, I want to suggest that the best place to start is, “in the beginning…”
And that takes us to our text for the morning which comes from the book of Genesis – often referred to as the book of Beginnings. Listen again to the first verses of this text… but this time as they appear in the Message Paraphrase, “First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.”
In other words, as my grandmother would say, God was starting from scratch… and that’s not all that surprising because God is God after all… so, He knew exactly WHERE TO START.
Now the book of Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, gives us a view into the beginning of the heavens and the earth and all that was created… the beginning of life… and there is a direct parallel that can be made to the Gospel of John… the first book of the New Testament… that gives us a view into the beginning of new life… life in Christ.
It is in John’s Gospel that we find these words:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:1 – 5).In this passage, we find a complimentary image of the life and light that we read about in Genesis – it is this light that shines in the darkness and which the darkness cannot put out.
In fact, the Message says it like this, “What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.”
In Genesis, we read about the creation of all life and the light that we see every day… [well most days that is, if you are in the Cleveland area] …and that light is what we call the s-u-n. It is the light that is a life-sustaining force for us and for the creatures and plants that live around us.
In the Gospel of John; however, the Light that gives Life is the Light of the
S-O-N, Jesus the Christ, who is the everlasting-life-sustaining force in our lives.
And just as God knew WHERE TO START in Genesis when He created something out of nothing… the Scriptures tell us WHERE TO START… by accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior… as He takes lives that seemingly amount to nothing and then turns them into something.
Just think about that for a moment. Life before Christ at best is empty, formless, and void. Life with Christ; however, is full and complete. As we read in John 10:10, Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
WHERE TO START… start with Jesus.
In “The Inspirational Bible: Life Lessons from the Inspired Word of God,” which was edited by Max Lucado (one of my favorite writers), there are words of inspiration that accompany various passages of scripture.
This morning, I want to share an excerpt from what was written as a companion to Genesis 1:
From the pallet of the Ageless Artist came inimitable splendors. Before there was a person to see it, his creation was pregnant with wonder…For all the glorious things God created in nature, for all the power and majesty that His creation displays, we are still His greatest masterpiece… created by love… created in love… and created for love.
Mundaneness found no home in his universe…
Probe deep within him. Explore every corner. Search every angle. Love is all you find. Go to the beginning of every decision he has made, and you’ll find it. Go to the end of every story he has told and you’ll see it.
Love…
He created a paradise. A sinless sanctuary. A haven before fear. A home before there was a human dweller. No time. No death. No hurt. A gift built by God for his ultimate creation. And when he was through, he knew “it was very good.”
But it wasn’t enough.
His greatest work hadn’t been completed. One final masterpiece was needed before he would stop.
Look to the canyons to see the Creator’s splendor. Touch the flowers and see his delicacy. Listen to the thunder and hear his power. But gaze on [humanity] – the zenith – and witness all three… and more.*
(*From “In the Eye of the Storm” by Max Lucado.)
If you really want to know WHERE TO START… do what God did… start with love.
Now, it is not uncommon, during the first days of any New Year for us to find ourselves thinking about new beginnings… making resolutions to wipe the slate clean on the past and start fresh.
Some of you may have heard me say in the past that I am not one who generally makes New Year’s resolutions.
And one of the main reasons that I choose not to make New Year’s resolutions is that there are very few people, including me, who end up keeping the resolutions that they make. In fact, I think there are some people who actually find pleasure in seeing just how quickly they can break the resolutions they have made.
While sadly, for others, the feeling of defeat that comes from having failed to keep their resolutions can be almost unbearable.
Resolutions aside… I think that the beginning of a New Year is a good time for us to reflect on the new life that we have been given in Christ… and to seize upon the opportunity to turn the page on the calendar and once again start fresh… to start with love.
It is also a time for us to let go of the things that have held us back from reaching our true potential… things like fear, anger, and resentment… while at the same time taking hold of the promises that God has for us… promises that start with His love for us.
Promises that reassure us that things will not always stay the same… greater things are in store… and no matter what we may have done or not done in the past… God loves us anyhow.
Promises that a New Year brings new hope like we find in Isaiah 43:19, where the Prophet writes, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Promises that the New Year will bring with it new mercies like we find in Lamentations 3:22 – 23, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.”
Promises of new life in Christ like Paul wrote about over in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold, the new has come.”
But at the start of this New Year, as we think about the promises of God, it is also the perfect opportunity for us to reflect on the promises we have made to God.
Promises that go beyond mere New Year’s resolutions… but instead lead to a full surrender of ourselves to the Lord. Promises that result in the letting go of our will in order to follow God’s will.
And yet, for some, that idea of surrender is a difficult one to come to grips with… perhaps because we don’t know WHERE TO START.
Now in his book “Believe and Belong,” the author, Rev. Bruce Larson tells the story about some people who were struggling with the decision to surrender their lives to Christ.
He took them down to the RCA Building on Fifth Avenue in New York and showed them a gigantic statue that depicted Atlas struggling with carrying the world on his shoulders. After that, he took them across the street to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and showed them a shrine of Jesus as a boy of eight or nine, holding the world in one hand (Power Books, 1982).
The moral of the story is that we can struggle and try to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders or we can say, “I give up, Lord; here’s my life. I give you my world, the whole world.”
You see, despite reports to the contrary, the Lord never intended for us to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. All of the things that we have struggled with for far too long… we can surrender them all to the Lord… but WHERE TO START…
In Matthew 11 (28 – 30), we find these words of Jesus recorded:
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.That sounds like a great place to start in this New Year, resting in Jesus, taking on His easy yoke and carrying His light burden…
I love the way the Message Paraphrase puts these verses:
Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.WHERE TO START… how about starting with keeping company with Jesus… walking with Him… working with Him… trusting Him to carry our burdens… especially those that we might have been tempted to bring with us from last year into this one…
But in the words of Elsa in the movie Frozen, let me suggest it is time to “let it go, let it go…”
It is time to let go of the negativity… let go of the guilt and shame… let go of the grudges and resentment… let go of all the “stuff” that weighs us down and holds us back…
As the writer of Hebrews put it (12:1), “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”
WHERE TO START… start by looking to Jesus… the One who was there in the beginning and has promised to be with us always, even to the end of the age (see Matthew 28:20).
WHERE TO START… start by following Jesus… living as He lived… loving as He loved so that others will know that we are His disciples because we have love for one another (see John 13:35).
WHERE TO START… start by surrendering to Jesus… giving our lives to Him… inviting Him to have His way.
And if you have a desire to start there in this New Year, I want to invite you to stand now and join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship: I Am Thine, O Lord #601.
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