NEW YEAR’S GREETINGS
When Mark Twain was once asked what his New Year’s resolution would be for the coming year, he replied, “I’m going to live within my income this year, even if I have to borrow money to do it.“
Will some of us, like Twain, need to take out a loan to balance the family books in 2007? I’m afraid so. Twain helps us see the way our good intentions for the New Year have a way of getting off track. And we do have good intentions, don’t we? Here we are, on the brink of a new year, and deep inside we hope that in 2007 things will be different from the year before. We want to escape the disappointments and frustrations of the past twelve months. And so we will gather with friends on Old Year’s night. We’ll turn on the television just before midnight to watch the ball descend on Time’s Square. We’ll hear the cheers of the crowd, and with them, we want to believe that something new—something truly new——will emerge in 2007. That in some deep way, 2007 will be a year unlike any that came before. We want to believe that the coming year will be a year of real success and meaningful achievement. “Have a happy New Year,“ we tell friends and family. And we want desperately to believe that year—end greeting can come true.“
“Happy New Year!“ we say to those we know. But let’s be honest. Happiness is an elusive commodity in our world. Most people think that happiness has to do with their income, their wealth, their financial position. It’s time to rethink that. Perhaps you know the poem Richard Corey, by the poet Edwin Arlington Robinson. Robinson writes about someone who has it all. Richard Corey is a man who has met all the criteria for success. All the criteria, but his own. Writes Robinson,
- Whenever Richard Corey went downtown,
We neighbors on the pavement looked at him.
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
Clean—favored and imperially slim.
And he was rich—yes, richer than a king— And admirably schooled in every grace; In fine, we thought that he was everything To make us wish that we were in his place.
And so we worked and waited for the light, And went without the meat and cursed the bread. And Richard Corey, one calm summer night, Went home and put a bullet through his head.
Well, there you have it. Good looks, a pocketful of money, a reputation with the community—Richard Corey has everything. He has everything but happiness. It seems for Richard Corey, success and happiness weren’t linked the way many think.
And social science confirms the sentiments of that poem. Recently, a book appeared by a professor of psychology who reviewed research studies on happiness. He wanted to answer a simple question. What contributes to a sense of well—being—a sense of happiness? He was surprised by what he discovered. As long as you have the basics of life—enough food on the table, a roof over your head—as long as you have your fundamental needs met——having more and more and more doesn’t really add to your sense of happiness. Folks who live in a penthouse in Manhattan are not likely to be much happier than a family who live in a blue color neighborhood of the Bronx. The guy who drives a Ferrari isn’t likely to be happier than someone behind the wheel of a car a tenth the cost.
And that rather complicates a simple New Year’s greeting, doesn’t it? Have a happy New Year! But what are we asking for? Is there a way of assuring that this will be a happy year for you—and for me? A year in which we are truly content? A year in which we find deep and lasting joy? Is there a way to make our wish for a good year more than a pipe dream? I believe there is. Jesus points the way—and his guidance is reflected in this song. Listen to these words, and we’ll be back in a moment to unpack their significance:
In the gospel of John, chapter 16, Jesus talks to his followers about his coming mission. Jesus cracks open the door to the future, and lets his disciples see a glimpse of what lies ahead. It isn’t the future they anticipated. “In a little while,“ says Jesus, “you will see me no more . . .“ And if that isn’t sobering enough, Jesus adds that in a little while “you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices . . .“ The disciples take those words as cryptic riddles. But from our perspective in history, we know Jesus was speaking of his coming crucifixion. Yet even as Jesus prepares his disciples for his death, he has the audacity to speak of joy. His disciples WILL see him again. Grief WILL turn to joy. For beyond the cross there is an open tomb that testifies to the Christ’s victory over death and evil. Jesus sums up his message by saying, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.“
By those words, Jesus alerts us to two facts that we need to factor into our thinking as we enter into a new year.
TROUBLES
First, the hard truth about the coming year. “In this world you will have trouble.“ Now, I have noted that trouble sells. Or so it seems from the covers of supermarket tabloids. The tabloids have been busy predicting the troubles and disasters that will befall us in 2007 and beyond. I don’t put much stock in those predictions. I remember the dire warns a few years back that made the headlines as we moved into a new millennium. And I remember well that Y2K, as it was called, became the biggest non—event in history. I believe very little that the tabloids tell us. I hope you don’t buy the hype either.
But I DO know that the general expectation of hard times is pretty realistic. I don’t believe the advances we’ll make in technology this year will solve all our energy problems. I don’t buy the idea that some ultimate political breakthrough in global relations will usher in world peace. I don’t buy the idea that some new philosophy will bring about a utopian world. I don’t buy such thinking because Jesus himself shakes us awake from all such pipe dreams. Listen, says Jesus: “In this world you will have trouble.“ And when Jesus talked that way, he was speaking not just of the first century, but the twenty—first century as well.
You see, Jesus is honest with us. And sometimes Christians haven’t been as honest as the Savior they claim to follow. I’ve heard well—meaning Christians suggest that when you become a disciple of Jesus, all your problems disappear. And I have met people who have believed that hype and have in the end walked away from Jesus disappointed. They prayed, and their cancer didn’t miraculously disappear. They believed, but their finances continued to tank. I have known people who have walked away from Christ because Jesus didn’t deliver on their definition of happiness.
Maybe you’ve been disappointed by religion. You say to me—“Introduce me to someone who will level with me about life. Someone who wouldn’t play games.“ Well, it’s time to come with me to Jesus and hear what Christ himself has to say. Jesus gives us the goods straight up. “Listen,“ he says. “in this world you will have trouble.“ Jesus wants us to know that following him doesn’t place a magic wand in our hand that makes problems evaporate and hard times disappear.
Now, please understand. You should know that without a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, the purpose of your life will always elude you. Nothing is more important or significant than to know Christ and the power of his cross and resurrection. Nothing is more important than to lay down your preoccupations with meaningless things and respond to Christ’s invitation ? “Follow me.“ Nothing is more rewarding and beautiful and satisfying.
But as you heed his call, we need to hear his frank assessment about life: “In this world you will have trouble.“ Jesus knew what disciples were in for. He knew that what lay head. Their nearness to him would not shield them from hurt. In a matter of hours they would be scattered like sheep on the hills of Palestine. In the Garden of Gethsemane, their faith would crumple like tin foil. And even when they had regrouped after the resurrection, their ministry would face opposition, trouble, and pain.
And do you know, it’s 2000 years later, and Christians can expect the same pressures when they follow Christ today. In the year 2007, you can expect your share of trouble. And not just the troubles of everyday life: sickness, bereavement, unemployment—you know the list. Those are the garden variety of problems that flourish everywhere.
But if you are a follower of Jesus, there are some problems in life that come uniquely because of your commitment to Christ. For Jesus isn’t talking in this text merely of everyday headaches. He honest enough to say that you can expect trouble BECAUSE YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN! You can expect mockery, ridicule, put—downs. You can expect trouble because you take up your cross of discipleship and follow me.
Winston Churchill stood before the British people at the beginning of the Second Word War and told them that he wasn’t going to sugar—coat their future. He told them that as a nation he could only promise them blood, sweat and tears. Churchill refused to play games with his people.
And Jesus refuses to play games with us. Yes, Jesus would say, being my follower is the most exhilarating thing in the world. It will open you to more than happiness—it will open you to joy—deep joy—the very joy of God. But Jesus calls us to count of the cost of discipleship. “In this world you will have trouble.“
Christ’s disciples carry burdens of others Christ’s disciples witness for their faith, sometimes at great cost Christ’s disciples wrestle for the souls of others in prayer. And all this trouble we could avoid if we were not on a faith journey with Jesus.
Well, you say, this is hardly talk that gives confidence in the coming year. What’s the point in wishing anyone a happy new year now?
CHRIST—THE OVERCOMER
But consider the second fact that Jesus delivers in this passage. Christ goes on to say: “I have overcome the world.“ I have overcome the world.
Now I have to tell you—this is a nervy statement for someone who is only hours away from getting himself nailed to a cross. This is a pretty gutsy claim for someone who is going to end up the victim of a Roman execution. The word overcome that Jesus uses here is taken from the realm of the battlefield. When Jesus says I have overcome the world—he is declaring that he has conquered, he has triumphed, he is VICTOR over the world’s most potent forces of evil.
“I have conquered,“ says Jesus. “And I have not conquered just a few petty annoyances in your life that bug you. I have conquered THE WORLD. I have overthrown every dominion and power that opposes God. I have defeated every demonic plot that undermines the Kingdom of the Father.“
Do you catch the sheer magnificence of that claim? You know, whenever we talk about overcoming in our own lives, we keep things in a minor key. We overcame a bad habit, we overcame a setback in our studies at school, we overcame an illness. Our overcoming is pretty small potatoes compared to what Jesus offers. For Jesus says: “I have overcome the WORLD.“
Now, how do you overcome THE WORLD? Well, history is filled with the names of those who have attempted that feat. Typically, those names are associated with some of the most brutal chapters of the past. When others have tried to overcome the world, they have settled on brute force to do the job. The ultimate maniac of the last century who set for himself the goal of world dominion was Adolph Hitler. Some historians tell us that with U—boats that cruised the Atlantic, rockets that fell on London, and a style of warfare that he called the blitzkrieg, he almost succeeded. Overcoming the world meant for Hitler the world’s destruction.
Now, if Christ went about overcoming the world, do you think he would follow the same pattern? He certainly could have raised up an army. Only hours before his death, Jesus himself said he could have called ten thousand divisions of angels to fight his cause. Instead of rockets from the sky, he might have rained down fire and brimstone. It has been known to happen.
But when Christ set himself to overcoming the world, he set aside worldly common sense in order to put his own unique wisdom on display. He chose to overcome the world through what appeared to the powerful of society as the way of certain defeat. He chose to overcome the world through the most horrible and shocking of deaths—even the death of a cross.
But by the foolishness of the cross, Christ unmasked the power of death. He ripped apart the bars of hell itself. Christ conquered the world through the apparent weakness of Calvary, and in so doing, set on display the power and wisdom of God!
“I have overcome the world,“ says Christ. And because Christ has overcome, we do not enter a new year with paralyzing fear. We don’t need to share the terror that grip so many. Harold Urey, a Nobel laureate and one of the inventors of the atomic bomb, wrote some years ago: “I write to make you afraid. I myself am a man who is afraid. All the wise men I know are afraid.“ Urey is saying that anyone who knows the score—anyone who understands the brave new world we have created with our science and technology———will be overcome with horror. And there is reason for horror. I think of the knowledge we have unlocked, and the great evil to which that knowledge can be put—and I am afraid.
But Jesus offers an antidote to my fear—and yours. He offers to balance our fear with comfort. “Listen,“ Jesus says, “These very things you fear—I have overcome.“ Here is the reason that this coming year can be good, blessed, even joyous. Here is the reason Jesus can turn to his disciples and over an invitation. Here is the reason he can say simply: “Take heart!“
TAKE COURAGE!
“Take heart!“ That simple command has within it two invitations. First, a call to courage.
Someone today has said that courage is an obsolete virtue. After all, you don’t need it in time of war, because the next war will be fought with bombs aimed at people we will never see. And you don’t need courage in time of illness, because we have enough painkillers to deaden any suffering. Courage, some say, has become the obsolete virtue.
I disagree. And so does Alexander Solzhenitzen. Solzhenitzen, the great Russian dissident who spent years in communist prisons, has declared that the one great need of the world today is for COURAGE. And I believe he is right.
The great need as we enter a new year is for courage.
It takes courage, you see, to be true to your commitments It takes courage to name your faults and failures It takes courage to live up to your responsibilities It takes courage to do the right thing rather than the easy thing It takes courage to confront the world with the claims of Christ when everyone says such witness demonstrates your prejudices. It takes courage to face a world of suffering and bear its burdens It takes courage.
The first thing Jesus says here is take courage. We are going to face some tough things in the next twelve months. But Christ says, take courage—for I have overcome!
Take courage, because nothing can separate you from the love of God.
Take courage because your God goes with you and is in whatever you do.
Take courage because no matter how black the night, Christ’s resurrection promises God’s total and complete victory over all evil.
Take courage.
There are some of us who are going to need courage in this coming year to go to a job that we find tedious and backbreaking. There are some of who are going to need to have courage to hang tough with rebellious kids. There are some of us who are going to need courage to do the right thing in a marriage that has turned difficult and sour. There are some of us who are going to need courage to cope with illness that has already dragged on longer than we thought we could endure There are some of us who are going to need courage to break with sin. Some of us who are going to need courage to break off an illicit affair or face once and for all our addiction to pornography. There are some of us who are going to need courage to go to someone we have sinned against and say: ?Forgive me, in the name of Jesus.’
You are going to need courage this year. The Greeks defined courage as doing the right even when we are under pressure to do the wrong. Christ says: HAVE COURAGE. For I have overcome the world.
ENTER THE JOY!
And then a second thing. The call to take heart invites us not only to courage but to joy. “Be joyful,“ says Christ. Now, only if you have courage can you hope to find joy. That is just the way it is. If you take the easy way out of problems, if you dodge the call of faith and obedience, you will never experience God’s joy. Cowards settle for cheap substitutes to joy. They grab for superficial happiness—— happiness that comes from things, happiness that never really satisfies.
But joy? Joy is something far greater and awesome than happiness. It has been said that joy is the flag that is flown from the castle of the heart when the King is in residence there. Joy is the gift of God to overcomers. Joy is the gift of God to courageous people.
Joy is the miracle that comes when we face the new year in the certainty of God’s presence with us, and we discover in our own lives the paradox of the gospel.
- That in the midst of suffering—there is power In the midst of fear—strength In the midst of suffering—peace In the midst of uncertainties—the certainty of Christ’s abiding presence.
Robert Heerspink
Rev. Robert Heerspink is a native of west Michigan. He completed his undergraduate studies at Calvin College and holds the degrees of Master of Divinity and Master of Theology from Calvin Theological Seminary. He has also received a Doctor of Ministry degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Bob was ordained a minister of the Word in the Christian Reformed Church of North America in 1979, and has 26 years of parish experience, having served four churches throughout west Michigan. He was appointed the Director of The Back to God Hour in 2006. Bob has written several resources related to congregational stewardship, including the book, Becoming a Firstfruits Congregation. He is a regular contributor to TODAY, the monthly devotional of The Back to God Hour. Bob is married to Edith (Miedema) and they have three children. His hobbies include reading fictional and historical works, watersports, and occassional golfing.
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