Making a Mark

How do you feel as you walk into the new year? Do you stride in confidently? Do you edge in timidly? Are you cautious as you take those first steps? This New Year's sermon draws on advice taken from 2 Timothy as it makes some suggestions. I hope that it is helpful to you.


I am a calendar kind of person. I love calendars – but not the kind in my smart phone. No, I’m still a fan of paper calendars! I love the ones that have a beautiful picture each month of the year – dogs or birds or landscapes. Every December, it’s a major decision to choose the one that will hang in my kitchen in the new year. I also like page-a-day calendars that offer a different thought each day. They may not be useful for keeping track of my appointments, but they give me new something to think about every day.

Several years ago, a friend of mine gave me a page-a-day calendar as a Christmas gift. Her church had sold them as a fundraiser; and each day had either a Bible verse or an inspirational thought. I used it for several years. I never have forgotten the poem that it used on New Year’s Day. That poem went something like this:

The new year lies before us like freshly fallen snow.

Be careful how you walk on it, for every blot will show.

I hate that poem! I cringe every time I think about it! Oh, it’s certainly a beautiful image: an unbroken expanse of white with no footprints mar its perfection. But should we really compare that beautiful snowy meadow to the new year? Is a new year really perfect, and we inevitably mess it up? That’s certainly the way that some people see it. Just listen to any newscast in the next few days: after the first robbery has been committed, or the first person has been murdered, or the first fire has destroyed a home. “Yes, indeed,” the newscaster will say, “the new year is ruined already.” But that kind of attitude certainly doesn’t encourage me to go out and greet the new year with enthusiasm! On the contrary, it makes me want to stay in bed and pull the covers up over my head! I’m sure that the author of that poem intended it to caution us to think carefully before we take action; and that’s good advice. But if our first steps into the new year are likely to ruin it, why do anything at all?

That’s not the kind of advice that we read in the second letter to Timothy! You heard some of that advice in this morning’s scripture reading (2 Timothy 1:6-10). We shouldn’t be timid, but bold as we follow Jesus Christ! And why is that? Why, we can be bold because in God’s grace, Jesus Christ has come to us, and we are empowered by his Spirit! What an amazing statement! God accepts us as we are. We didn’t earn God’s grace; God offers it because God loves us. God’s Spirit guides us. That means that we have access to God’s wisdom as we live our lives. And Jesus reveals the forgiveness that we have from God when we aren’t as wise as we might be. We can be bold in the new year! We don’t have to worry about messing it up! The footprints that we make in that new fallen snow are beautiful in God’s eyes if they are made while we are following Jesus Christ!

Now, we know that we’ll make some mistakes. We’re only human, after all. But God had promised to transform even our mistakes into something beautiful! Have you ever heard the story of the two buckets of water? Those two buckets talked together as their owner carried them to the well and back every morning and evening. In fact, they had a rivalry going as to which bucket could carry the most water. One day, one of the buckets noticed that the other one was leaking. With great glee, he exclaimed, “Ha! I will always be able to carry more water than you can! I don’t know why our owner even keeps you around!” The second bucket was very sad; and her owner noticed. “Whatever is the matter?” he asked. “I’m no good,” cried the bucket. “I leak water every time you use me.” “I know that,” replied her owner. “That’s why I always carry you on the left side of the road as we come home from the well. Have you noticed the beautiful flowers on that side? Your leak waters them every day, and everyone who passes by enjoys their beauty.” Even our mistakes can be used by God for good.

But let’s be very clear. Following Jesus isn’t easy. That’s why Timothy is warned that he will “suffer” when he spreads the gospel. Now, when Timothy lived, Christianity was illegal. He risked being thrown into prison or worse! We aren’t in that situation. But we do live in a society that is very, very critical. Even if you do your very best all the time, people will criticize you. They will look at your footprints in the snow and judge them to be ugly. Even if you do exactly what Jesus Christ told us to do, someone will say that you’re wrong. If you feed and clothe the poor, someone will say that you’re encouraging them to be lazy. If you speak up for the refugee who is trying to begin a new life in safety, someone will accuse you of not caring about our national security. And if, God forbid, you take the side of gays and lesbians, lots and lots of people will tell you that you’re breaking God’s law! Oh, yes – even if you live in the spirit of Jesus Christ, folks will accuse you of ruining that perfect new year that has just begun. But God doesn’t tell us to care about what other people think of us. God tells us to care about what Jesus Christ thinks of us! He is the one who is judging the beauty of the snow-covered landscape; and he sees all the footprints that we make in his service as absolutely beautiful. No less a spiritual giant than Mother Teresa struggled with this very problem. A plaque hung on the wall in her room in Calcutta, India to remind her of what was important. This is what that plaque said.

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Be good anyway.

Honesty and frankness will make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

People need help, but will attack you if you help them. Help them anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

In this new year, you have a chance to make a mark by the footprints you leave as you follow Jesus Christ. Don’t worry that those footprints might be blots on the new year! Trust the Spirit’s guidance, have faith that God will transform our mistakes, and believe that Jesus loves all that we do in his name. After all, our footprints are leading to the kingdom of God, where all are loved and accepted, and where everyone has enough. Won’t it be a wonderful new year when that kingdom comes at last!?