clean slate

I am sure many of us are familiar with the concept that a new year gives us all a "clean slate" with which we may have a "fresh start" in the coming year. A new year is a time of new possibilities and new opportunities and, we can forget about the old year and what has happened in that year.

Such thinking is somewhat problematic for me. I don't really believe that it is ever that simple. I hope that we don't just forget the past year and that we just don't forget whatever has lead us to the places in our lives. Scripture is like that too. If we don't know where we have been in the story of God we have no idea where we are heading. The story that is told in the Bible is a story that is working toward something. From the void that precedes creation in Genesis to the New Heaven and New Earth that are portrayed in the revelation to John, the Bible is pointing us to a larger story of how God is working toward the redemption of the world.

Yet, if we just hang out to the hope of redemption without ever taking a look at our history as people, then we will lose our memory of why we need to be redeemed. Redemption will lose all of it's power, mystery and loving energy.

We all have history. We all have a story. Where we are right now is directly related to where we have been.

There is no college without high school

There is no death without life

There is no marriage without courtship

Likewise, our relationship with God follows a similar pattern:

There is no Exodus without Egypt

There is no need for Messiah without our Bondage to sin and death

There is no redemption without Exile.

Redemption is a force of the living God that is working within a world that is in exile. We have seen the grace and truth of Jesus and we want more of that. We want Christ to come back. We want that full revelation of the Kingdom of God. But if we don't have our history, our years before this one, we will miss the wait.

Redemption is tied to remembering. We have advent to remember the coming of Christ. We have Christmas to mark a celebration of his birth. We have lent to remember we are ashes and dust without the breath of God. We have good Friday and Easter to remember the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Redemption is tied to remembering. If we don't know where we've been, we can't understand where we are going.

So as we look at a new year, many of us will say, "I need a clean slate." "It's time for a fresh start." Yet, when we embark on a new year that is full of fresh ideas, possibilities, and opportunities, don't forget to remember. Don't forget that redemption is tied to remembering. Don't forget that the scriptures are a story that are pointing us somewhere. Many of us might be in messy places or have been in messy places the past year. But out of Exile come Redemption.

Happy New Year!

Grace and Peace