It’s probably a habit for most of us that every time we approach the New Year we look back at the year that has passed by and see how we handled it. Has 2017 been a good year to us or not? What were the significant events that happened in 2017 that produced the most impact in our own lives? Some people look back at the past year positively in terms of blessings and lessons learned but others, they sadly look at the past year in terms of regret, missed opportunities and problems -- that came their way.
Looking back at the good old days may have positive or negative impact depending on your perspective in life. To some people, looking back at the past brings back unhappy memories. And it´s hard not to get caught up with our sad experiences in life. We heard the saying “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that´s why it´s called the present.”
Master Oogway, Kung Fu Panda
BACKGROUND:
The Bible teaches us that King Solomon is the wisest person who has ever lived. This is mainly because instead of asking God for riches and long life, he asked God for wisdom so he can rule His people well and God was pleased with him. You can find this in 1st Kings Chapter 3.
So God did not only give him wisdom but he made him wealthy and powerful. People from different kingdoms will come to him for advice like the Queen of Sheba. This is the reason why we have books in the Old Testament like Ecclesiastes and Proverbs that is full of sound advices and wise sayings. But just like any other person, King Solomon had a weakness. Do you know what that is? He was a ladies´ man. He loves women. Can you imagine having 700 wives? Can you imagine having 700 mothers-in-law?
King Solomon had it all in life but he had a lot of regrets in life. In his old age when he wrote Ecclesiastes, he said “everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
Being in the ministry for more than fifteen years and as a pastor for almost nine years, I have seen church workers who started really strong and passionate in the ministry. But over the years, they start to change. The fire starts to dwindle down and the passion begins to fade.
Here´s what I observed – sometimes, when their life situation changes, their commitment and attitude towards serving in the Church also changes. Some people got married, some had babies, some got a new job, a new home, a new pastor, some moved to a different church or some even lost a loved one. Don’t get me wrong – not everyone changes in a negative way. There are some people who have greatly improved but I have seen a lot of people who have changed over the years or maybe, to put it bluntly – they have become less and less active in the ministry.
When I became a pastor of our church, I met some of these people, who used to be active in the ministry and loved to talk a lot about The Good Ol’ Days. They will always tell you about how different it was during their time, how they were more active, how ministry was more exciting and how people were more involved. That their children did this and did that. If we have a fundraising today, they will tell you they have raised more funds. If we have a Children’s concert in our time, they will tell you that the Children’s concert during the time of their kids were much better. If you talk to them about joining the Family Camp, they will tell you that camps during their time were more exciting and there´s more adventure. You ask them to join even a simple parlor game during parties, they will tell you --- oh, we´ve been there, we´ve done that, just ask the newcomers to join. They never stop looking back at The Good Ol’ Days and it seems like they can never move on.
One favorite question of mine to these types of people –
Anyare? What happened? How come they are no longer active? How come we don’t see their passion anymore?
Talking too much about the past, especially in a church setting can have some disadvantages. Dwelling too much on the Good Ol’ Days sometimes produce negative effects. When these old timers get together, they love to talk about the good ol’ days, whether intentional or not, they begin to form small cliques and separate themselves especially from the new comers. Please don’t get me wrong, oftentimes there are no bad intentions, but they don’t realize that --
Dwelling on the Good Ol’ Days too much…
Either knowingly or unknowingly, dwelling too much on the Good Ol´ Days sometimes give rise to pride. And we know what pride does to a person, right? The Bible says pride goes before destruction. And just like what we learned in the Bible Study of Boanerges last night, in the book of the Prophet Micah “And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Let us have some New Year´s Perspectives from the Scripture that we read today:
Solomon said in verse 8:
The end of a matter is better than its beginning
Pastor Ramil. I like how you end of your sermon and not the beginning. Church members are happier when the preacher reaches his CONCLUSION rather than the INTRODUCTION. They want the sermon to finish. Of course that’s not what we meant here. We’re not saying here that the end is better than its beginning per se but rather
Lesson 1: It is very important to finish what you have started.
I say “in most cases” because obviously there are exceptions to this rule. If you start “wrong” and its obvious – you better stop it right away. This is more applicable to our life goals or even ministry.
Have you met someone who’s only good at starting something? They like to initiate, they have lots of ideas, they are very passionate about something but never had the courage and the perseverance to finish it.
In the Philippines, we have a term for this. It´s called “Ningas Cogon.” “Ningas” in English means a “spark” and Cogon is like a type of dry perennial grass that is used to build houses in the old days. Cogon can spark fire quite easily but it also easily dies down. Ningas Cogon is a negative cultural trait of very enthusiastically starting things, but then quickly losing enthusiasm soon after.
This is very true with some of us. How many of you here made some wonderful and promising resolutions during the new year of 2017? Initially you were so passionate about it but after a few weeks… you’re back to your old ways. Some of us are just good in starting.
It is so sad that we come to greet a new year and you will look back how fast 2017 has come and gone by and all you have is regret over the things that you have fairly started quite well in the year but wasn’t able to finish. But to be honest with you, it’s not easy to finish what we started. We need a strong determination and for God’s children, especially if we are talking about the ministry, we need the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit in order to finish what God called us to do. We are simply too vulnerable, with all the temptations around us and telling us to quit, telling us that we are not good enough to follow through what we have promised the Lord to do.
So Don´t be a Ningas Cogon
We should surrender our issues to the Lord and He will help us get through and finish what we started. Aren´t you glad we have a God of second chances? This New Year, He is giving us another chance to start anew and be able to do what we failed to accomplish last year.
Solomon said in verses 8-9 ..
“and patience is better than pride. Do not be quickly provoked in your spirit, for anger resides in the lap of fools.” (v.8b-9)
When speaking about patience, James used the analogy of a farmer. He said be patient brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains.
Lesson 2: Patience, not pride, will help us focus on finishing what we started.
In Filipino – “Pag may tiyaga, may nilagang baka.” The opposite of this lesson in Filipino – “Ang lumalakad ng matulin, kung matinik ay malalim!”
In the world we live in today, it’s all quick and instant. Whenever we need information – just Google it. So technology and even social media train us to be impatient, that waiting is not good and it’s not worth our time. If we want anything, we get it now. We want to buy something, we order online. We have visitors, we just order Chinese food for delivery. We want to research on something, we research in the internet. We want to tell another person that we are angry with him… just text the poor guy and show him all kinds of special angry characters on your cell phone .
One of the most common reasons why we cannot finish what we started is PATIENCE. We don’t have it. Or we have very little of it. On the other hand, some people are full of pride. They are ashamed that they move on with their goals and if they fail, they will be the laughing stock so they will just quit early in the game. In most cases, we need to experience struggle.
There was once a man watching a wiggling cocoon. After an hour, he noticed a split on bottom of cocoon. Another hour, a butterfly appeared and was able to only free half of its body. Another hour has passed, only half was free, the butterfly kept on struggling but half of its body was still stuck in the cocoon. So the butterfly kept on wiggling and struggling and wiggling and struggling to get out. The man became impatient, he took a pair of scissors and freed the butterfly from the torture that was happening right before his eyes. The butterfly got freed but never took flight, it died a few days later. Butterflies need the struggle, they need to stimulate wings and make him strong - in order to fly away, the butterfly needs to patiently struggle.
I usually here this from older people… and of course I am now one of them. “Mabuti pa nung araw… blah blah blah” In the good ol’ days life is much better. Is that even true? IN the good ol´days, 25 cents lang ang Pop Cola. But your salary was probably 300 pesos a month. Actually, if we can just be objective about it… life is much difficult in the olden days. What kind of toys and games do we play when we were young?
We play makeshift and home-made toys. Tumbang Preso. Trumpo. Teks. Syato. Luksong Baka. Luksong Tinik. Gagamba.
Our piggy bank is made of coconut shell. We clean the house using coconut husk. We make toy guns out of papaya branches. We go to school wearing slippers. No money. Of course we are proud of being able to do those things. But let me ask you something – those who are in my generation. When we were young … do you think if there is XBOX or Ipad or Wii or Nintendo Switch during our time… do you think we would still choose to play Siyato or Trumpo? Probably not. We just didn’t have much choice! Life was hard. Not too many options for us but we need to survive and make the most of our childhood, right?
So don’t say “old days are better.” Of course there are better things in the olden days but in general, be objective, life was much harder then.
Nowadays we have Boxing Day, we go to Tommy or Guess or Forever 21. We buy gadgets at Best Buy and furniture at The Brick. We´re mad because of traffic. Ano ba to? Traffic? Well, because we have a car. In the Old Days, not everyone has a car!
In verse 10, Solomon wrote:
Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions.
Solomon is telling us… don’t dwell too much in the past. Move on. He knows that dwelling too much in the past is like carrying too much baggage.
Lesson 3: Not dwelling too much about the past helps us accomplish more in the future.
Some people, even in the way they dress --- they can’t let go of the past. They still wear clothes that probably looked good on them when they were 20 and they had a 20-inch waistline. But now they are already 50. Their waistline is also 50. So give it up. Leave the 80s.
It is not wise to dwell on the past. Think about it:
a. Would you really want to repeat your first few months in Canada?
b. Do you want to go through all your exams in college again?
c. If you were sick before, do you want to go through your surgery again?
d. If you’re a mother, do you want to give birth to five babies again?
FINAL THOUGHTS
I like how the Apostle Paul puts it in his letter to the Philippians 3:8-14. I think these verses summarize what we have talked about.
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13b-14 NIV)
Paul used the analogy of a runner. He knows that as a runner, looking back all the time will definitely slow him down. He compares himself with a runner whose only goal is to win the prize set before him.
He knows that the past is like a shadow, a dark looming figure before him. He was a persecutor of Christians. He had participated in a lot of murders against Christians. If he looks at his past, he will definitely be frustrated and feel that he is worth nothing. First, he tried forgetting what is behind, he strained toward what is ahead (that’s forward looking) Then he press on (that is what he does at present). He press on. And press on. And press on. He was patient.
He wrote to Timothy -- In have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith, and I have finished the race.
We have learned last year that life is not all there is. There is more to come. This Earth is not our final destiny.
Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the beginning and the end. He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion!
This New Year, a lot of people would like to be forward looking and make some resolutions. I have a suggested list for WCCC Maple Ridge.
Practical Resolutions for the New Year:
Read the Bible every day and finish it in one year
Early and not be late during Sunday service
Always have a daily prayer time
Participate and be active in a ministry this coming year
R.E.A.P.
If we say that the Bible is God’s word, if we profess that the Bible in inerrant, if we claim that the Bible is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness --- then it will definitely be for our benefit and advantage if we READ it, right? If we say that PRAYER is like our hotline to God, then why not do it on a more regular basis. ALWAYS have a prayer time.
Please do you best not to be late for our Sunday Service. It is very important. If you are a parent, you are setting a good example to your children. If you are late, your children will think that it is ok for them to be late. I also dream that all members of WCCC Maple Ridge will become participants and not just spectators every Sunday. I want you to be involved. To serve and to help out in whatever way you can in this church.
LET US PRAY.
Prayer:
Wherever you are, whatever you situation you may be -- you need the love of Jesus in your life. Please say this prayer sincerely from your heart:
Father God, I confess all my sins to you today. Please forgive me. Today, I open my heart to your Son Jesus Christ. I accept Him in my life as my Saviour and as my Lord. May the Holy Spirit come to my life and make me the kind of person you want me to be. In Jesus Name, I pray. Amen.
The above article is an excerpt from a sermon delivered at WCCC Maple Ridge during its Sunday service on January 7, 2018.
The above article is an excerpt from a sermon delivered at WCCC Maple Ridge during its Sunday service on January 7, 2018.
I apologise if there are grammatical and spelling errors. I also apologise if I have missed acknowledging or making proper references to my sources, if any, as it is purely unintentional.
If you are looking for a church in British Columbia, Canada please visit our website at: www.wordchristiancommunity.com
No comments:
Post a Comment