Turning Over a New Leaf
Genesis 1:1-5
John 3: 1-10

The mail brings envelopes to us with the words, “Time to Renew”, printed on the outside. It means that the magazine subscription is about to expire and it is time to renew. The membership time is coming to an end and its time to renew. The calendar has turned to a new page and it is time to renew.

So here we are on the first day of a 2012. Some may be a little groggy from celebrating, but for us it is an exciting time. It is time to renew. What the year will bring us no one knows. The possibilities are unlimited. It is time to renew.

I suggest we live this year with a “what if.” What if we lived as though all our hopes and dreams were really going to happen? What if we approach this year with the expectation that life can truly be renewed. The Gospel is about beginning again. The new calendar date tells us that the events of the year are history and that there is the freshness of tomorrow.

What if is the thought of the ballerina going on stage. What if is in the eyes of lovers looking at each other across the room. In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, God said “What if?’

The creation story is about renewal. Seasons change, time moves on, and through it all the cycle of life brings forth things that make this planet livable. Renewal is at the heart of everything, a dynamic of endings and beginnings that never cease.

In one sense, Sunday is an opportunity to begin again. That is why it is symbolic. We believe that the grace of Christ brings the possibility for renewal. Today, on this first Sunday of a new year we are invited to let that grace wash over us so that we can begin again.

Today is the first day of many moments in God’s hands. Just think of the times when Jesus was confronted by seemingly dead ends. Bartimaus having his sight restored. The woman at the well living with a heavy burden that grew heavier every day is introduced to the living water of grace and her life is renewed, restored, redeemed. So may moments when God’s grace comes to us restoring, renewing  days recharging our spiritual batteries, giving us the chance to begin again..’

 We can be different people. We believe in a God of second chances. It is the first Sunday of a new year and the rich grace of God is given to us. Ours is a gospel of renewal. We have seen God’s revelation in the One whose touch is always renewing, whose word is always redemptive and whose love is powerful enough to let us begin again. It is time to turn over a new leaf.

Look at this from another angle.

One day Nicodemus came to talk with Jesus about religious matters. Jesus speaks words that haved guided our faith ever since. “I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”  (John 3:3) Nicodemus is confused and ask Jesus to explain. It is a fair question. What does it mean to be born again?

In a word it means to live by a new perspective. Nicodemus had a problem. Yes he was religious. After all he knew what religion was all about. He knew what it meant. He recited the law. He knew what walking in faith meant. It was walking a certain way, wearing certain clothes and observing certain days with holy activities. Nicodemus problem was something else.

When Jesus said he must be born again. Nicodemus didn’t have a clue what that meant. Sometimes we don’t either. Jesus is inviting Nicodemus to live from a different perspective. Jesus invitation is to discover a faith that carries you rather than a faith you have to carry. Jesus is talking about God’s grace, that when we see it and experience it, it makes all the difference in our lives. Do we see life as a prize to be won or as a gift to be received? Do we spend a lot of time trying to acquire things or becoming aware that all we need has all ready been given to us by a gracious loving God?

God loves you and me and is looking out for our wellbeing What a difference it makes to live from this perspective. We know that all we need is already provided. We know that life is a gift to be received rather than a prize to be won. In this new year,  this is the perspective I invite you to embrace.

What if we lived as though everything we need has already been provided for us?
We sing about this grace when we sing,” Great is thy Faithfulness” It reminds us all I have needed his hand  hath provided.” What a difference it would make to live this message. For this is the truth of the gospel. There is enough of everything for what we need. We are rich beyond measure, for we are held in the hands of a love that will not let us go. Has there been any greater news than this?

There is enough and we don’t need to hoard or be fearful. We can share; we can give. There is enough. That is the perspective of grace. We are invited to let that perspective bring us to a new way of living in this year of our Lord, 2012. Be born again and again until grace fills every moment so that you might show the world a new way of living.