God’s Plan for 2010 and Beyond: A New Year Reflection (Part II)

(By the Rev. Dr. Winfred B. Vergara, St, Michael’s & All Angels Episcopal Church, Seaford, New York, NY 11783 1/3/10. www.stmichaelseaford.org)

F irst of all I wish to greet each one of you a belated Happy New Year. To most of us, it seems that the year 2009 went by so fast. A friend of mine always reminds me that time does not move any faster. It simply means that year after year, we get older and slower, so we think that time moves fast.

In this New Year, I search for some New Year resolutions expressed in prayer. And here are some samples that I found:

The first is called “The Senility Prayer.” It is an adaptation of the well-known Serenity Prayer. The Senility Prayer goes like this: “God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, The good fortune to run into the ones that I do, And the eyesight to tell the difference. Amen.”

The second prayer is an Honesty Prayer and it says: “Dear Lord, So far this year 2010 I've done well. I haven't gossiped I haven't lost my temper; I haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I'm very thankful for that.  But in a few minutes, Lord, I'm going to get out of bed, and from then on---Do, help me, God. Amen.”

The third prayer is a Prayer to Quit a Habit and it says, “Dear God: yesterday, I read from Time Magazine that ‘smoking causes cancer ‘and oh, was I really scared. So in this New Year, Lord, please help me to quit …reading Time Magazine. Amen.”

THREE BIBLE VERSES:

S eriously now, I wish God’s best for all of you this Year 2010. May it be a year of peace and prosperity, may it be a year of good health and security. For our congregation, may it be a year of continued growth, growth in active membership, growth in attendance, growth in finances and growth in our spiritual lives.

In this year 2010, may we always turn our eyes on Jesus, who alone can truly answers our deepest needs, who alone can truly mend our broken hearts, who alone can wipe the tears from our eyes, and who alone can give us abundant life.

In such a time like this, I wish to share three biblical verses that have been a great help to me and to others in thinking about how the year would unfold. Reading God's Word is better than reading horoscope or consulting feng shui experts. The words of human beings are like grasses that wither and flowers that fade; the Word of God, however, stands forever.

1. The first verse that I wish to share with you is Hebrews 13:8 - "Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever."

This verse assures us that in the midst of changes that are going to happen in 2010 and beyond, our Lord Jesus Christ remains constant and unchanging. Too many changes often give us a feeling of uneasiness or insecurity but we are thankful that in Christ we are secure. God’s love endures forever; his mercy and kindness never change. As he saved us yesterday, He saves us today and He will save us tomorrow. As he provided us yesterday, He provides for us today and He will provide for us tomorrow. As one of our Anglican hymns says, “O God our Help in Ages past; our Hope for years to come, Our Shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal Home." That Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, gives us comfort and strength, in times of trials and challenges in our lives.

 
2. The second verse that I wish to share with you is from Isaiah 43:18-19 "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing." 

I am sure that many of you, if you look back to 2009, there are some things you said or did that you ought not to have said or done; and there are things which you have failed to say or to do. This verse is telling us that we should not dwell on the past. We cannot undo what we have done and we cannot turn back time.

This discriminate forgetting holds true for both successes and failures. If we dwell on past failures, we become fearful and bitter. We can be paralyzed in not doing anything for fear that we might fail again. Conversely, if we dwell on past successes, we can become careless, proud and arrogant. Sometimes we can be lulled by success that we may not be able to handle failure. God says, “Behold, I make all things new.” Every day is a new day. "This is the Day that the Lord has made!" To quote Robert Schuler, "success is never-ending, and failure is never final."

3. The third verse I wish to share with you is from Jeremiah 29:11 -"I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

When I was a child, my dream was to be teacher; then to be journalist; then to be a priest. There were times in my life when I thought that not one of these dreams would ever come true. It turned out that they were all fulfilled, even way beyond my expectation.

God does not demand us to be successful but to be faithful. – Mother Teresa

My student years were hard and going to school from primary to elementary to high school and to college were filled with obstacles and difficulties. But looking back to those years, I realized that I could not have done it alone. There were families who helped me along the way; there were friends who encouraged me when I was down; and most of all there, there is God who guides my destiny.  I am sure that all of you today, have some life stories that remind you of God’s mighty acts in your own lives.

I would often tell my wife that we should never stop dreaming, for if we do not dream in the first place, how can our dreams come true. Visions and dreams are the language of the spirit; they keep us young and give us meaning. But the key in life is not in dreaming our dreams but in knowing God’s dream for us. “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. What is God’s dream for you? What is God’s plan for your life?

When I was a missionary in Singapore, a Chinese scholar gave me a name in Mandarin, pronounced "Wei Hong Tao" which means, "to magnify or glorify the Way." I believe that is God’s plan for me and for all of us, who live and believe in Christ. We are all called to magnify, to glorify, and to enlarge the Way. What is the way or who is the Way? None other than Jesus Christ. In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.”

We are all called to testify, to bear witness to the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. We are called to magnify and glorify Jesus, the Way, in the life that we lead and in the relationships that we create. As Mother Teresa once said, in our witness for Christ, “God does not demand us to be successful but to be faithful.” To the end that the whole world may know Jesus, we are all called to do what we can and to do our best—and God will do the rest. Amen. # # #

(The Rev. Dr. Winfred B. Vergara is Officer for Asiamerica Ministries of the Episcopal Church, 815 Second Avenue, New York, NY 10017. He has lived, educated and served in three countries: Philippines, Singapore and the United States. He can be contacted at E-mail: wvergara@episcopalchurch.org.)