New year’s SERMON “Beginnings & Endings.”

Let us go and see, the shepherds said. Still with the majestic earthshattering choir of Angels ringing in their ears, they stepped out of that holy moment and stepped into time again.

Let us go and see, the shepherds said.

Let us go and see, we said this morning, getting out of bed and making our way to come to church.

Let us go and see what is happening on this first day of the new year.

So, this was Christmas

And what have you done

Another year over

And a new one has just begun

A very Merry Christmas

And a Happy New Year

Let's hope it's a good one

Without any fear

Christmas is behind us, it was last year, - even if a few more days are still days of Christmas, and today is called the first Sunday after Christmas Day.

So we celebrated Christmas, most lights and trees are packed away, and a new year is just beginning. And we think about the year that is now over, and the new one just beginning.

Today is a day of endings and beginnings.

 

Time is of the essence.

Time is of the essence, people with tight schedules, important agendas, and contracts to fulfill often remind us.

In a legal context, when doing business and honoring contracts, “time is of the essence” is a statement that may be included in the language of the provisions of a contract to emphasize that the parties must complete their obligations on time.

In other words, the phrase “time is of the essence” means that timing is essential, yes crucial to the performance of the contract. In other words, the contract could be broken if the parties do not complete their obligations on time.

 

Time is of the essence.

Time is on our minds today on this First Day of the new year 2023. Time is of the essence, not to honor a contract or obligation, but to live and use our lives with care, consideration, and commitment. Luckily, life is not a contract that can be broken, as we often do miss our appointments, our obligations, our deadlines, our moments, and fail promises, but we are still given a second chance to make amends or make it even better. Time is of the essence, but here in church and in life grace is of the essence.

 

Today on this first day of a new year, time is truly present in a very special way.

Yesterday was only yesterday, but a different year.

Today is the first day of a brand-new year, and yet time is expanding in our mind to be both yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Past, present and future.

Time is of the essence for us today as we dwell on memories from the past year; we daringly dream and persistently plan about the days to come, and we hopefully breathe in the promise and blessing of this first day. Oh, amazing grace, hw sweet the sound.

 

“Let us go and see.”

We meet here in church to step into the new days together and pray that God will be with us.

And we sit like Mary close to the Christmas manger, and treasure all the words of glory that we celebrated at Christmas, and ponder them in our hearts together with all our worries, plans, dreams, fears, and longings.

 

Time is of the essence. Or yet time is existential. Time is a blessing and a curse. Time is a beginning and ending. Time is today and tomorrow. Time is now. Time is an amazing gift and amazing grace.

We get the same amount every single day. It is predictable, with scheduled times for sunrises and sunsets.

Time is of the essence as time is one of the few predictable elements in life, and it is the great equalizer. No one gets more in a day than anyone else; it doesn’t matter how much money or influence you have, it is the same for everyone. This day began at sunrise and ends at sunset, depending on where we are on this wonderous planet Earth, our days and our time have the same structure of seconds, minutes, hours, sunrise, and sunsets. We get the same amount of time, but the question is how we use and spend the time.

 

The issue is what we choose to do with the time. And how — thinking we might have more than we really do throughout your life — we might choose to waste too much of it.

SLIDE 19 What would you do if someone gave you $86,400 as a gift?

Would you think long and hard about how you would use that money, and what fun or important things you would do with it?

That’s the number of seconds we are given each and every day. But do we get up in the morning and think about what valuable and important things we will do with every second?

 

Time is precious. Time is of the essence.

Mostly in times of difficult diagnoses and pending catastrophes, we realize that the amount of time is not given and we try to make the most of the time, we might have left.

Time is precious. Time is of the essence.

Each minute, each hour, and each day is a valuable commodity, a sacred gift, a moment of grace,  and A new Year’s morning like today make us stop to think, stop to ponder about past regrets, promised resolutions, and life’s unpredictability.

 

Time flies and time is our blessing and our curse, our beginning and our end.

Like Danish Poet Benny Andersen’s wrote in his poem “Tiden. Time”

 

We have twelve clocks in our house

Still, we don’t have enough time

You go to the kitchen

 Get chocolate milk for your skinny son

But when you return

He’s too old for chocolate milk

Demands beer, girls, and revolution.

You’ve got to make use of the time while you’ve got it

 

Your daughter comes home from school

Goes out to hopscotch

Comes in a bit later

 And asks if you could watch the baby

While she and her husband go to the theater

 And while they’re in the theater

The child with some difficulty passes eleventh grade.

You’ve got to make use of the time while you’ve got it

 

Your photograph your once young wife

Wearing a sumptuous gypsy scarf

And in the background a luxurious water fountain

But the picture is barely developed

Before she announces that it’s just about

Her turn to apply for Social security

Quietly the widow in her awaken

 

You want to make the most of your time

But is always slipping away

Where is it going

Was it ever there

Did you spend too much time

Trying to make time.

You’ve got to make sure of the time in time

 

Wander for a time without time or place

And when your time is up

Call home and hear

“the number you have dialed 765 4321

Is not in service.” Click

 

 

Maybe this morning, this year, we should start thinking about our gift of 86,400 seconds each day. Make good use of them while we can.

Let us go and see, the shepherds said and they went. But they didn’t stay because time was of the essence even back then. They had to go back to their flock of sheep and protect them. They had to go back to protect and find that lost black sheep, that always needed their extra attention and care. They had to go home to their families and homes. They had to spend their time living, making a living, being husbands, sons, and brothers, - just like we all have demands on our time.

 

But they did make time to …. Go and see. To follow that star and follow that heavenly song, that stopped the clock for a while and expanded the moment to almost an eternity.

In our busy lives, where time is of the essence, let us dare to go and see, sit and listen, and dwell before we dive into the craziness of life again.

Take time to: Visit a friend, plan a trip, go for a walk, read a book.

Do things mindfully. Cook and Eat slowly. Enjoy the taste and the smell of your food. Walk slowly and pay attention to the feel of the ground under your feet or the air on your skin.

Be mindful when you speak. Listen well when others speak to you.

Slow down. Stop and consciously take deep breaths.

Focusing on time more thoroughly can help reveal the gifts inherent in every moment. Focusing on time can help us to use of time with more grace, more care, more consideration, more compassion and more hope.

 

So this was Christmas

And what have you done

Another year over

And a new one just begun

A very Merry Christmas

And a Happy New Year

Let's hope it's a good one

Without any fear

 

Happy New year!