'The book of Revelation gives us the vision of the end of time. The word ‘end’ can be defined as a stopping point, but a richer and fuller meaning might be expressed in the use of the word ‘goal.’ The goal of time is the healing of all things.'
SERMON
New Year’s Eve
December 31, 2021
The Rev. Maurice C. Frontz, III
A couple of weeks ago, Google revealed the
number-one search for the year 2021 – and it was ‘how to heal.’ This question
and variations on it seem to have been on our collective mind. From COVID, to
mental health crises, political turmoil and division, anxiety about economic factors,
people believed they needed healing and they were ready to admit it – at least
to Google.
As we await the dawn of the new year 2022,
no doubt we are hoping it brings some relief. However, the longer we live we
are aware that the turning of a calendar page does not necessarily bring with it
an immediate change in outlook or fortune. What then? Why mark this day at all?
Shouldn’t we be at home, hunched over our computers or phones, scrolling
through an endless stream of news, frantically searching for healing?
No, we are here, in church, because we
believe that all the healing that has been, is, and will be, come comes through
Jesus Christ. He is the source of all healing. We do not reject doctors, mental
health professionals, medicine, or any kind of human arts of healing. We simply
believe that these gifts, and all gifts of any kind, come from Jesus Christ.
These gifts may even include internet search engines, taken in moderation, that we may assess threats and formulate responses to them. They can teach us many things. They cannot, however, teach us how to trust. The concept of trust is antithetical to a search engine. We type in our searches on ‘how to heal’ or any other question, and we are suddenly confronted with a seemingly infinite number of answers and paths to take, with very little guidance as to which answer might be right for us. This can be especially true for people who become sick, begin to consult various webpages on their disease, and become paralyzed by confusion, anxiety and fright. Where is the trusted family doctor of a Norman Rockwell painting, upon whom we could rely for knowledge and a treatment?
Of course, we cannot put our trust in any
human help, for no human being is perfect or all-seeing. No internet search is
guaranteed to bring us quickly to the proper answers. But we may put our trust
in Jesus Christ. He it is who answers our anxious questions about healing, so
that with clear and enlightened minds we may ask him to guide us in the trials
and travails of daily life.
The book of Revelation gives us the vision of the end
of time. The word ‘end’ can be defined as a stopping point, but a richer and
fuller meaning might be expressed in the use of the word ‘goal.’ The goal of
time is the healing of all things. (God) will wipe every tear from their
eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for
the first things have passed away. And the one that was seated on the throne
said, ‘See, I am making all things new!’
To our anxious question, ‘Is there healing, a meaning, a renewal of all things?’ our Lord Jesus answers with an unequivocal ‘Yes.’ The creation and all things are to be made new and all suffering and death will be memory, if not less than memory. This is the Christian hope for final and complete healing. When we feel the brokenness of our bodies and of the world, when our nerves and our hope have been stretched taught and to the breaking point, we must see with the eyes of faith this vision of the end, or goal, of time.
We cannot do anything to bring this vision to
fruition. To believe that such frail and fallible creatures as we are can
accomplish the day of universal freedom, peace and healing is rather short-sighted,
to say the least. We can only trust that God in his grace and power wills to
bring it about, and that the sign of his good and gracious will is the
resurrection of Jesus Christ and the presence of his Spirit in the Church.
In the light of this vision, we may take
steps to bring healing to the parts of the world we can influence. We may seek
healing for our bodies and minds and for the creation, believing that the final
and complete healing comes through Christ. We might even use the internet to do
this.
But again, the internet tells its own story
to us. Every time we use it, every time we seek answers with it, its message is
that the answer in which we can put our trust and faith is somewhere in its
recesses, that our job is to search for it and click on it and find it. But we
know this is not true. The internet does not show us God's vision for the future. The internet is a resource, but it cannot make promises.
Only God can do that.
Instead we listen to God’s story, we immerse ourselves in his community, including the needy and poor among us, in whom he graciously allows us to minister to him. We put our trust in the vision of the new creation and we strive to live by it in our lives. In the year 2022, this is how we Christians can go about the work of healing, receiving it in our own bodies and minds and blessing others with the healing we ourselves have received from God.
Happy New Year!
MCF +
