By Rick Chromey
Every New Year”s Eve our culture gathers together to toast and celebrate another year”s passing. New opportunities. New friendships. New dreams. Of course, for some, too much imbibing, indiscretion, and insolence sully the festive occasion. Nevertheless, many choose to drown their sorrows in drink or ease their anxiety through gluttony.
After all, humans desperately seek to numb our pain and bury the past. Alcohol, food, sex, and entertainment are simply cultural solutions to crisis and conflict. Like Band-Aids on a gaping wound, many try to mask, manipulate, or minimize the bleeding but ultimately fail miserably to find complete healing. We all wish this year will be better and so we drink for yesterday and toast to tomorrow. If there”s any hype to New Year”s Eve it”s the hope the next 12 months will blow new winds of fortune.
Perhaps that”s what John means in his revelation of Jesus Christ and the hopeful promise: “He who was seated on the throne said, “˜I am making everything new!”” (Revelation 21:5). John describes his own “New Year”s” party in Revelation 19 as the people of God celebrate the wedding of the Lamb and announce a “new heaven and a new earth” is on the way (Revelation 21:1). As part of this new creation, Jesus offers free drinks of living water (Revelation 21:6) and describes a tree of life that monthly sheds her fruit and heals the nations with her leaves (Revelation 22:2).
Now that”s a New Year”s party I can”t wait to experience.
And, yet, every week Christians gather around the globe to dine on bread and wine to remember, reflect, and resolve to live in a holy community and cause. The world wants to drink away its problems and hope New Year”s Day hangovers are merely a mirage, but Christians know the truth. Friday night parties will never bring the Sunday morning healing we all hunger to experience.
So as we pause to remember Christ”s sacrifice, reflect on his grace, and to resolve, once again, to be true to his teaching, we also drink from this cup and dine from this bread. We do not partake to party, though this is a celebration meal, too, but to ponder that indeed every Sunday, if not every moment in Christ”s gift of grace, is truly a New Year”s Day.
Here”s to the past, the present, and the future!
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Rick Chromey is a motivational speaker and leadership trainer/consultant living in Eagle, Idaho. His Web site is www.rickchromey.com.
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