I hope that all of you have had a happy new year. And I hope that you’ve all made your New Year’s Resolutions, and that you’ve all kept them up to this point.
She may have missed the point of New Year’s Resolutions. With an eagerness to make some changes in the area of financial habits, the lady called her credit card company and said, "I’d like to pay off my Master Card. Do you take Visa?"
Do you know what some of the popular New Year’s Resolutions are?
1) Get a [better] job.
2) Get into shape.
3) Spend less or pay down debt.
4) Give up a habit (smoking, drinking, etc.)
5) Get a(n) [better] education.
6) Find a mate.
7) Take a trip.
8) Be more organized.
9) Find a hobby.
10) Buy a house or move.
I checked the wonderful resource called the internet for someone’s New Year’s Resolutions regarding losing weight, and here’s one I found that encompassed seven years.
Year 1: I will get my weight down below 180.
Year 2: I will watch my calories until I get below 190.
Year 3: I will follow my new diet religiously until I get below 200.
Year 4: I will try to develop a realistic attitude about my weight.
Year 5: I will work out 5 days a week.
Year 6: I will work out 3 days a week.
Year 7: I will try to drive past a gym at least once a week.
Here are some more realistic resolutions:
1. Get further in debt.
3. Read less. Makes you think.
4. Watch more TV. You’ve been missing some good stuff.
5. Stop exercising. Waste of time
6. Stop bringing lunch from home: Eat out more.
7. Get in a whole NEW rut!
8. Procrastinate more. Starting tomorrow.
11. Get more toys.
12. Gain weight. At least 30 pounds.
13. Don’t believe politicians..
14. Break at least one traffic law.
15. Avoid airplanes that spontaneously drop 1000 feet.
16. Don’t swim with piranhas or sharks.
18. Spread out priorities beyond ability to keep track of them.
19. Wait around for opportunity.
20. Focus on the faults of others.
22. Never make New Year’s resolutions again.
But here’s a New Year’s Tradition that most people take part in. They sing the song, Auld Lang Syne. Do you know what that means?
AULD LANG SYNE
The song, "Auld Lang Syne," is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the new year. At least partially written by Robert Burns in the 1700’s, it was first published in 1796 after Burns’ death. Early variations of the song were sung prior to 1700 and inspired Burns to produce the modern rendition. An old Scotch tune, "Auld Lang Syne" literally means "old long ago," or simply, "the good old days."
Ah, the good old days. Do you remember them? What was so good about the good old days, anyway? Why do we relish any opportunity to reflect on the good old days?
Let me tell you what the problem is; if you spend your time in the past, you’ll miss the present. Too many Christians are fighting for the good old days, and they are missing the present days where the fight needs to be.
Today, we are going to start to look at the future of this church. However, in order to do that, we need to start by making sure we are not stuck in the past. Do you remember the good old days of the past? When there were 200 people in Sunday School? When the church was packed out? Wouldn’t you like to go back to the past? The problem is, the times have changed, and so have the people. And the past? Well, it might have been so great, anyway.
Personally, some of you might want to stay in the past, because then, you wouldn’t have to deal with the pain of the present. You remember relationships before they were broken. You remember what it was like before the loss of a loved one. You remember when things were footloose and fancy-free, but now the money is tight and the bills are due.
And sometimes we lie awake at night, thinking, dreaming, wishing of days that had gone by—the good old days. And we so desperately desire to go back to them and relive them.
Well, today, we are going to get ourselves out of the past. And to do that, I want you to turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 43. And if you are not familiar with this chapter, I want to challenge you this morning: become familiar with it. There’s about 27 days left in this month; read this chapter every day for the rest of this month. Let me give you a brief outline of this chapter, so you know what’s going on, and then we will focus in on two verses this morning.
The first seven verses tell of God’s faithfulness to his people, here the people of Israel. But in reality, this speaks of God’s character, which is true throughout all of time. So we see that God will be with us and remain faithful to us. Verses 8-13 speak of God telling his people that they are his witnesses. The rest of the chapter speaks of what God is going to be doing for his people. And here, let’s focus on verses 18-19.
18 "Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
19 See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.
Now, who’s speaking here? God! What is he telling us to do? Two things—forget the past, look and see what I’m doing now.
For the Israelites, he was telling them how he was going to deliver them. In fact, he says it just a few verses earlier. Remember how I saved you through the parting of the seas in leaving Egypt? Forget that. I’m going to do something completely different. Something that will blow your mind, but that which will ultimately redeem you.
And the same God who said to his people over 2500 years ago—forget the past, look and see what I’m doing now, says the same thing to us.
To the one who has blown it, made more mistakes than you can count: forget the past. I give new slates every day (that’s what we talked about last week—hope because God gives us do overs). To the one who wishes for the good old days—forget them. Forget them, because God’s now into different things. To the one who is lonely, forget those thoughts—I’m with you right now, and I’m making a way for you.
The point is this—you may be living in the past, looking toward it, reliving it, longing for it. God says, forget it. Look to me, he says. I’m doing a new thing.
Here’s the reassurance, found in Isaiah 43. 20 The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 21 the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.
You may be overwhelmed because of what has happened and unsure of what the future holds because of what has happened in the past. God says, forget it. Don’t dwell on it. Don’t let it consume you. Don’t let it run and ruin your life. Because I’m doing something great in your life. I’m going to do something great, something new, something you’ve never expected.
You know what it is? The Bible gives us a hint in Philippians 1:6. Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
That means that no matter what, God is working in your life. He may work through the tragedies that occur. He may work through the good times, and through the bad. The certain thing is, he is working. He is doing something new. And he invites us to forget what might have happened, and look and see what he is doing now. Because he is the God who makes the way for his people.
And for the coming New Year, I can’t think of a better message for the church. The worst thing that a church can do is settle for the same old things, the same old way of doing things, because God may have moved on to something different. Now, I’m not suggesting that we change everything, but here’s what I am saying. Are we stuck in the past, while God is calling us to look and see what he’s doing now?
I tell you the truth this morning. Too many churches are dying today because they are not forgetting the old ways of doing things and aren’t spending time trying to find where God is now. Let’s not let Berean Church be one of those churches. Let’s look for God.
Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Are we seeking God, or are we living in the past?
Let me just close with this. Maybe you’ve been listening to me this morning, and you’re thinking, “Pastor, there’s no way I can just forget the past. I’ve done too much to just flip the switch on the past and forget it.” Maybe you’ve experienced so much pain that you can’t even begin to think how you can let it go.
Well, I can’t tell you that I know how you feel. In many ways, I’m not able to sympathize, because I haven’t gone through what you have gone through. But I can tell you this—God knows. God knows all of those things in the past; the ugly, painful things that you can’t get rid of.
And here’s what he says to you—give it to me. The Bible says to cast all of our anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Have you honestly done that? Have you honestly cried out your heart to God? Not just for a minute or two, but an hour or two? Look at the book of Psalms. It is filled with men of God who poured their hearts out to God. They don’t hold anything back. And I would encourage you this morning; if you cannot forget the past, confess it and give it to God. He wants it; give it to Him, and seek Him now.
Today, as we celebrate the New Year, as well as the Lord’s Table, let’s remember the truth of Isaiah 43. Don’t dwell in the past; look and see where God is. Seek his face. Seek him now, in the present. He rewards those who earnestly seek him.
