This year, claim the promise!

“Behold, I make all things new.…” (Revelation: 21:5)

Whenever life is challenging, I turn to this verse. I quote it when I’m with congregations in deep pain or turmoil. This fall I’ve used it often as people wrestle with the future of our church. I quote it when I’m with individuals facing very dark times. I quote it to myself from time to time. I quote it whenever there’s a need to be reminded of God’s presence and power and promise.

In a world and culture that is strident in its pursuit of definite answers and sure successes, I like this verse in large part because it’s both promising and vague. It’s in the middle of an end-times vision that few of us take literally… though I take the truth of the promise very literally indeed. I’m not sure what the “new” that is promised looks like—only that it is indeed a promise coming from the Lamb of God sitting on the throne. I’m not sure whether its literal meaning is for life after death or for present dark time. Or both. But the words of the promise are unmistakable: “Behold, I make all things new.” (Revelation 21:5)

You’ll likely be reading this sometime around the new year. You may, like most of us, take a stab at some New Year’s resolutions. Only three desserts per week from now on. Read the Bible every day. No more yelling at the dog. Pray with the kids at bedtime. Walk 10,000 steps per day. Be more kind to the people I work with. Stay under the speed limit. The possibilities are endless.

There’s more to these resolutions than seeking every twelve months to muster a little more willpower. I think it can be an exercise in claiming God’s promise of constantly lifting us out (raising us up?!) of our doldrums and bad habits. Birthing something new in me that wasn’t there before. Shining a light in the dark night of the soul. Waiting for us at the end of life with what John Ylvisaker called “just one more surprise.” (ELW 732).

Tomorrow morning you’ll look in the mirror and think to yourself, “Same ol’ me!” Go to church and think, “Same ol’ church.” But not really. No two days are ever the same, and neither are you from one day to the next. God is always making all things new.

This year, claim the promise!

FaithLink, January 2010