Dear RSNY Church Family and Friends,
Many of us grew up with the notion that the New Year brings about a gifted future. Some of us usually took this time to make New Year’s resolutions for our lives and future. A few of us made resolutions centered on the hope and possibilities of the gifts within the Body of Christ. And Some of us simply want a clean slate, a fresh start, a new beginning.
In whatever resolution season you are in, like the Wisemen, we must remember to bring forth gifts in celebration of God’s greatest gift to humanity in the New Beginning. So, at the start of a new year, I ask you, what do you bring to Christ Jesus in the New Year? Perhaps you no longer want to find and hear your own voice, desires and wishes in the New Year, but seek greater integrity and authenticity in the Voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to our Hearts: Peace, Consolation, hope, and joy, in the loving presence of our Lord Jesus.
As we stand two weeks into the new year, let me ask you this; What resolutions have you made for 2022? What are your intentions or plans? What do your hopes and wishes focus on? Maybe it’s about your family, or your life of prayer. Maybe you want to be more generous or less judgmental. Maybe a deep longing and desire to know Jesus. Maybe you want to get healthier, live more simply, let go of your need for approval or perfection. Maybe you’re longing to find and hear your own voice, desiring to live with greater integrity and authenticity. Maybe you’re looking for peace, consolation, and hope in the Word of God.
Whatever you claim, that is the beginning of your Epiphany. It is more than emptiness; it is God’s calling. It is the guiding light of that heavenly star illuminating your life. Is the light of Jesus shining in the night sky of your life, twinkling God’s presence in the midst of absence? It is a beacon beckoning you home.
This New Year season also brings forth the observance of the late, great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr national holiday. Dr. King once said, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” As we celebrate Dr. King’s life and legacy, let us remember that during his Christian Journey, he experienced tremendous opposition and racism, but his faith in the Light of Jesus strengthened him to fight to dismantle Racism, injustice, inequality, and unrest in the church.
Trust the star in your Epiphany season. Follow it. Listen to it. Learn from it. Let it take you to the house of Jesus, so that you can stand at the door with the magi, as a wise woman or a wise man, and listen to the child tell his mother, “Let them in. I brought them here.” Recall the story in Matthew 2:1-12.
Prayerfully,
Rev. Dr. Micheal Edwards
Interim Executive Minister
The Regional Synod of New York