All this month we have been talking about holy moments and looking at some of those moments in the Christmas story. I hope you have experienced some holy moments during this Christmas season. If you haven’t been able to identify a holy moment, don’t worry, maybe it’s still to come, or maybe you have had a holy moment and you just haven’t realized it. One of the leading authors and great thinkers of our time, Dr. Seuss said, Sometimes you don’t know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
In other words, there may have been a holy moment you experienced and you just haven’t realized how profound and holy the moment was. Holy moments can seem ordinary at first, but the more we reflect on them and remember them, the more we see just how important or life changing that moment was. Many of the holy moments I have shared during this series were pretty ordinary at first, but the more I remembered them and reflected on them, the more life changing and truly holy they became.
So let me ask you, what experience do you need to reflect on and remember from this past year that might become for you a holy moment? What one thing do you need to remember?
This morning I’m going to ask 5 questions that can help us not only experience holy moments but might make all the difference for us in the new year. Each question has the potential to lead us to a deeper faith and to a greater trust in God. As I share each question, if something comes to your mind I encourage you to write it down. Our next steps have places where you can write down your one thing so you can take them with you into the new year.
So here is the 1st question: What ONE THING do you need to remember?
Looking back over the past year, or the past several years, what is one moment, or one lesson or one truth do you want to remember? Again, sometimes we don’t know the value of a moment until it is a memory, until we ponder it.
In the gospel of John we read about Jesus healing a man born blind. Jesus had healed him on the Sabbath which was against the religious law and it really bothered all the religious leaders. They repeatedly asked the blind man who had healed him so they could arrest him in front of all the people to make an example of him, but the man kept saying, I don’t know who it was. The man gets so frustrated by being asked over and over again that he finally says, One thing I know. I was blind but now I see! John 9:25
There was just one thing he knew and one thing he was going to remember. He had been blind but now he can see. That was one thing he was going to remember. What is the one thing you need to remember? It might not be as dramatic as having your eyes opened, but maybe it was a moment when the eyes of your heart were opened. Or a moment when you began to understand a life lesson.
About 35 years ago my grandmother had a stroke. She was one of the most active and vital women I have ever known and in an instant her entire life changed. While the moment was devastating for me in many ways, the more I reflected on it, the more I learned a valuable life lesson. Life is short - so make the most of it. A line from a movie that was in the theaters at this time said it this way, Carpe Diem. Seize the day. Remembering that truth, that one thing, led me to leave my job, go to seminary and begin a new chapter in my life. I am reminded often that life is short and that I need to seize the day so that is one thing I want to remember. What is your one thing? What is one thing you want and need to remember?
The 2nd question: What ONE THING do you desire from God?
King David was known as a man after God’s own heart and while he failed many times in life, it didn’t stop him from wanting to always be in the presence of God. David said, One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. Psalm 27:4
The one thing David desired was to be able to know and see and worship God at all times. I don’t think he wanted to literally be in the Temple his entire life, but he wanted to experience the presence and power of God every moment of his life. David desired that connection and closeness to God above everything else.
David’s son didn’t want that closeness with God as much as he wanted wisdom from God. When Solomon became King after his father David, God said I will give you whatever you want and the one thing Solomon asked for was wisdom. What Solomon desired most was the wisdom to lead and care for God’s people. What one thing do you desire from God?
Maybe it is the power to overcome an addiction or a sin that clings so close and never seems to let up. Maybe what you desire most is healing for a relationship, or a physical healing for you or someone you love. Maybe what you desire most is the ability to slow down and ponder the things of God because your life just seems too crazy and busy. It’s important to identify this one thing and share it with God because God wants to give us the desires of our heart. What one thing do you desire from God?
The third question is: What ONE THING do you lack?
A rich young man came to Jesus one day and asked Him what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him he needed to follow all the commandments and honor his parents. He said he had been doing that all his life. This rich young man was feeling pretty good about himself and his faithfulness, but he did have a blind spot - he didn’t know what it was he lacked in life. But Jesus did.
Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. Mark 10:21-22
This was not a general teaching to all people, but a reflection on the one thing this man lacked - he lacked trust in God. He had been trusting in his own goodness and good works all his life and he trusted in his money to provide and care for him. Asking him to sell all he had was one way Jesus could point to him the one thing he lacked - trust in God. What is the one thing you lack?
Like the rich man, we might also lack real trust in God, or we might lack the courage to take a new step of faith. Maybe what we lack is a deep relationship with God - a relationship that feeds us and gives us life. Or maybe we lack meaningful faith-filled friendship with brothers and sisters that can help us be more faithful in our walk with God. Or maybe what we lack is a relationship or connection with the world around us where we are making a difference for God. These three relationships, a relationship with God, the church, and the world, are how we talk about living out our faith and it might be that we are lacking in one of these relationships.
One way God can show us what we lack and need in life is by taking the 3 relationship assessment that you can find on our website. bellefontefaith.com/3r. The assessment can point out where we might be lacking and provide us with some ideas on how to grow in these areas in the new year.
The fourth question is: What one thing do you need to let go?
I don’t know about you, but there is a lot I need to let go as I move forward. I need to let go of my own sin. I need to let go of the shame that my sin brings. I need to let go of holding a grudge against those who sin against me. All of these things are weights that hold us back and we need to let go of our sin as we move forward.
We also need to let go of our failures. If you failed in some way this past year, or disappointed yourself or someone else, let it go and start again. If you have struggled with fear and find that fear is holding you back, let it go and find the strength to move forward.
Sometimes what we have to let go is how other people see us. Too often our identity is shaped by what others say about us and not what God says about us. At times we need to let go of the harsh words of others and take hold of the inspiring and truth-filled words of God. God says we are valuable, loved, and precious. God says we are gifted, strong and courageous. God says we are forgiven, capable and able to do more than we can possibly imagine. Can we let go of how others see us and how we might see ourselves so we can take up God’s vision for our lives.
The Apostle Paul knew that there were things he had to let go.
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 3:13-14
Maybe what Paul had to let go was the reminder that he had been the one to give the approval to have Stephen, a follower of Jesus, stoned to death. Maybe it was that guilt and shame that haunted Paual, we don’t know, but whatever it was, he was working to leave it in the past and press on to all that God had for him in the future. Too often we can’t move forward without letting go. What one thing do you need to let go so you can press on into the future God has for you?
The final question: What ONE PROMISE do you need to claim?
The Bible is full of promises and God has said that His promises are YES and AMEN. In other words, we can count on them, we can claim them for ourselves and our future. So what one promise do you need to claim today?
I provided just a few of the promises God makes to us so you can think about what one promise you need to claim. It might be the promise that God will meet every need you have right now. God said, I will supply all your needs according to my riches and glory.
Maybe the one promise you need is the promise of forgiveness. Not only does God promise to forgive us but he promises to remove our sin from us - The Bible says, as far as the east is from the west so far will God remove our sin from us. .
Maybe the one promise you need is to know that right now God will work out all the craziness of your life and use it all for God. God doesn’t say he will only give us good things but He promises to work for good in all things.
Maybe the one promise you need is to know that you are not alone and that God will always be with you. God will never leave you nor forsake you and God will be with you to help you in times of need. God will guide you in times of uncertainty and God has promised to walk with us into the House of the Lord forever.
God has promised to be our strength when we are weak and He has promised to give eternal life to those who believe in Him.
What is the one promise you need to claim?
What is the one thing you need to let go?
What is the one thing you lack?
What is the one thing you desire from God?
What is the one thing you want to remember?
These 5 questions might be the most significant questions you can ask yourself these next few days. I want to encourage you to take some time to reflect on them. Ponder them. Answer them and then take them with you in the new year. Let this be the focus of your faith in the year to come and discover holy moments that will change your life.
