PrintAs I write this article it is just another Friday. It promises no more or less than any other Friday. Yet, because of the calendar date attached to this particular Friday, the whole world (or so it seems) celebrates it like no other.
January 1st
That date somehow transforms the day into something unique. But why? The sun came up at the same time as it would have done regardless of the date. I assume it will go down at the same time. So, why the big deal? Why did most of the world stay up until midnight just to celebrate the movement of the second hand on my watch from 11.59.59 seconds pm. to 12.00.01 seconds am.?
The answer to my question is not to be found in the application of logic because logically it is just another Friday. No, the answer is to be found in the hopes and dreams of the human heart. Despite the pessimism, fear and uncertainty that envelopes the world scene at this point in history, there still survives in the human heart enough hope to dream that things can be different in the future.
Call it wishful thinking or fanciful optimism or whatever, there is a longing within that maybe, just maybe, there can emerge from the old ruins of this world's brokenness something new that can last longer than two or three days or weeks. It seems that every January too easily becomes the graveyard of new year resolutions. But maybe this year will be different? Maybe?
However, it seems to me that our concerns are not so much with our failure to fulfill our personal resolutions as with our concerns on the national and international stage - the area where we are not players but spectators and/or victims and we are, therefore, powerless to bring in the new for which our hearts desperately long.
Does it feel to you sometimes that we are not Planet Earth but Planet Titanic? To use the popular expression, so much activity today can be likened to re-arranging the deck chairs on that ill-fated luxury liner. It's surely obvious that the very best of human intentions are unable to bring us through to the newness that is hidden in the simple salutation, "Happy New Year". We wish it for others and ourselves but it tends to have a hollow ring about it.
When Jesus taught us to pray, "….your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…." He pointed the way to the newness which our lives desire. We still want the governments of the world to fix our problems. If they can't bring about the needed changes then perhaps the education systems can. No, these institutions can only provide human solutions which are no solutions at all.
The only way we can experience the very newness we desire is for there to be a change of government.
For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. And the government will rest on his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His ever expanding, peaceful government will never end. He will rule forever with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David. The passionate commitment of the LORD Almighty will guarantee this! (Isaiah 9:6-7 NLT)
As we launch into 2010, let's do so with a divine optimism as we commit ourselves to be agents of God's Kingdom here on earth. There are more than enough professing Christians on this planet to bring about Kingdom change just where we are now. We can't change the world but we can make a difference right where we are today.
