[AI translation] Last night, on the last day of the year, we talked about the first half of the same Word: looking back, the things that are behind us. Now, on the first morning of New Year's Eve, let's take up the second half of the same Word, in which the apostle Paul looks ahead to the future, to the things that are ahead of him. It is always with a certain anxiety that one looks ahead into the misty, uncertain future - for who can tell what things and events, what obstacles and opportunities lie ahead, what lies ahead, where the road will wind, what he will have to experience on the road not yet known? And so, on New Year's morning, we turn to God with a heart that is a little bit as anxious, as a child on the street of a strange city, clinging to his father's hand, to feel the security, the support, the strength, the guidance of an unknown environment. Oh, what a difference a firm, strong voice makes: it warms our hearts, makes us feel that we are not alone! If only we would really look to God, if only we would cling to him like a child to his father's hand, if only we would really feel that we are not alone: then we too could look to the future with serene confidence and a resolute self-consciousness, as the Apostle Paul says: "As for those things which are before me, leaning on them, I press on with fearlessness for the reward of the calling of God from above in Christ Jesus." (Phil 3,14b)For this means, first of all, that we have a God-given purpose for our lives. Jesus Himself, the Risen One, from His heavenly glory, declared this purpose to the Apostle John on the island of Patmos: "And they heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and dwells with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, their God. And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall mourning nor crying nor pain be any more, for the former things are passed away. And he that sat on the throne said, Behold, I will make all things new. And he said to me: Write, for these words are faithful and true." (Revelation 21:3-5) So a new heaven and a new earth stand before us in the future in great and impressive glory. The cosmic consummation of the redemptive work of which Jesus said in his final words on the cross, "It is finished" (John 19:30), is the cosmic consummation of this completed redemption. The cleansing power of Jesus' blood, the beginning of a new creation, the renewing power of the whole universe. Jesus Christ, slain and risen, is the key to the sealed book of history: around His sacrifice, His glory, the new heaven and the new earth in which justice dwells, are being formed. This is the glorious, joyous goal that lies before us, towards which history is moving. And how good it is to know this, at the turn of two years, when the passage of time is resonating through our souls with such a sense of anguish! It means that not only do the years come and go randomly, not only does time pass by itself, not only does one year pass meaninglessly after another, but it moves towards the goal, according to a plan, according to divine thought and will! The ripples of time crash against the golden shore of eternal life.
God entitles every believer, the people of the Church, to this living hope through faith in Jesus Christ, so that he may see before him without ceasing the future of the incorruptible, pure inheritance reserved for him in heaven, and may go forth as one whom God is preserving by faith unto salvation ready to be made manifest in the last times! This is how the apostle Paul saw it in the prison where he wrote this letter, and why he could say so emphatically, "I press on in shame to the reward of God's calling from above in Christ Jesus." God is carrying, running the boat of his life towards the promised and faith-possessed eternal shore! He who sees the course of time in this way, his life does not toss and turn on the shuddering waves of events, at the mercy of a blind fate, but knows in every situation, as Paul knew even there in his hopeless captivity, that he is moving towards the goal! It is the goal before you, it is the goal towards which the year 1953 will bring you, and if anything happens to you this year, whether good or bad, joy or sorrow, success or failure, know that it is from God, for your sake, for the great purpose! So, this journey towards the end does not mean that God will put us out of suffering, storms and troubles, but that the believer can take all these burdens and joys not from the hand of fate, not as the reward or punishment of a harsh judge, but from the hand of a very loving Mother. And in this way the burden becomes something quite different. And the carrying of this burden is also a very different carrying. We all know, don't we, that despite all the good wishes with which we greet each other at New Year, the true value of our lives does not depend on whether or not we are lucky, but rather on the spirit with which we carry what is laid upon us. For the same event, experience, thing can be a curse as well as a blessing. It depends on how we receive it. He who knows and believes in the purpose knows that whatever comes to him is for his good!
But the apostle Paul is not only talking about having a goal and knowing that he is being carried forward by the river of life, not swimming towards it like a boat in the Danube, but also summoning all his strength, like an athlete in a race, like a marathon runner who wants to be the first to cross the finish line with every nerve in his body. "Those who are ahead of me, leaning on them, I strive with all my heart," he says, "for the reward. So it is precisely because he has such a great and glorious goal before him that the apostle leans against it, presses on, strives, strives. He does not walk in contemplation, he does not let himself be carried along in contemplation, but he runs, struggles, struggles, and strives towards the goal! Therefore, although the goal is certain, he has not yet reached it, between him and the goal there is still life on earth, a longer or shorter stretch of road with its obstacles, struggles, temptations, opportunities, opportunities for service, and through these the road leads to the goal. God has opened up a new stage of the daily struggle for us with the dawning of the New Year and is now giving us the signal to start, to run towards the goal!
Anyone who has ever used a camera knows that when taking a photograph, the image of the subject or person is invisibly scratched on the light-sensitive plate or film. This image then has to be developed by a certain process, whereby the invisible image slowly becomes visible, the features are drawn out, so it has to be carefully, painstakingly worked out. Well, God has also made a photograph of us: we can see it in the person of His Holy Son, Jesus Christ. Look at Jesus, His holy, pure, servant life: this is your photograph, as God has already made it of you. But it is still invisible, seen only by the love and grace of God. Now, however, He puts that photographic plate of your life in your hand and says: draw it out, elaborate it, make the precious features visible, make the whole picture by the time you reach the finish line! That's what you have to do, that's what you have to strive towards, aimlessly. This is what you must do with all your effort! You need your hands, your heart, your mouth, your eyes, your wallet, your home, so that Jesus can be more and more visible in you, so that the life, the love, the service of Christ can be more and more visible in your life. God doesn't give His redeemed people good habits, a ready-made character, we have to work out the details of redemption, we have to bring the vision to life by our will, by our actions. This new year is a great opportunity of grace! We do not know at what moment one of us will reach the goal: will the picture be ready by then? Is it not an exaggeration for the apostle to use words like "leaning towards" and "striving with a timid heart"? For the goal is at hand!
The apostle Paul also speaks here of a calling. (Phil 3,14b) This gives us a better understanding of what is meant. 3.14.1. Anyone who reads the Word regularly will understand from it the specific task He is calling you to do that day. Make yourself aware that God is calling you to serve Him every day. Try to see each job you have to do as if it were personally commissioned by God. Whether your work is physical or spiritual, do it vocationally, knowing that God will hold you accountable. Do not regret your love, your help from another person who may be waiting for a few kind words. Think of yourself as someone sent by God himself, so that you can practice what can make the world around you more beautiful: love! Don't say you don't have the opportunity, because you do, plenty of it! Look, there is your family: how much more there is to do to make it truly your family! To turn mere blood relationships into relationships deepened and sanctified in Christ! Here is our parish: it is up to you to make it a real church, a family community that knows each other, that cares for each other, that helps each other, that goes after those who are behind in the race, those who have fallen, where all the members are built up by each other's faith! There is your workplace, your everyday life: are you not there, right there, because in your work, in your words, in your smile, in your look, Christ wants to be present there too! Oh, if we would only try a little to live our calling from above: how beautiful this new year would be!
Finally, Paul speaks of reward: he seeks "the reward of the calling of God from above in Christ Jesus". God will not leave the one who reaches the goal without a reward. It happened in a monastery that a friend who was sweeping the corridor greeted his fellow monk, whom he admired for his literary work, with great respect. 'Your Eminence will one day receive a great reward in heaven for the many fine books he has written,' he told him. "My dear brother," he replied, "your broom is worth just as much to God as my books, if you sweep the aisles with love of God. Yes: in the scales of love, the two pennies of the poor widow are worth exactly as much as the wealth of rich Zacchaeus, the faithfulness of the Tabitha in her housework, as the self-sacrificing service of the Jeremiahites to their people! Do you know what our greatest reward is? If we can do something that has eternal value. That is the reward that the apostle Paul was so eager to give. Isn't that why we have been given a new year, so that we may strive for it?
To sum it all up, God is telling us on this New Year's morning that the year ahead of us should now, at last, be an occasion for living out practical Christianity instead of theoretical Christianity! He does not give us the Word as a slogan, but as a stimulus: "Forgetting those things which are behind me, and leaning on them, and leaning on them which are before me, I will strive with all my heart for the reward of the calling of God from above in Christ Jesus."
Come, let us ask for strength in the words of the song:
Give us a renewed heart And a new spirit,
To you in all things faithful, And holy in will.
Renew in us your image, Which stands in holy life,
That we may be your chosen people, Living in love.
(Canto 285, verse 4)
Amen
Date: 1 January 1953.
Lesson
Fil 3,1-11