[stephenkhoo]

LETTING GO OF THE PAST AND LIVING FROM THE FUTURE

SCRIPTURE READINGS: NUM 6:22-27; PS 90:1-17; JAMES 4:13-15; MATTHEW 6:31-34When we begin a New Year, we want to begin on a new slate.  What is old and unpleasant, we wish to leave behind and begin life anew.  That is why the Chinese would do spring cleaning not just to welcome guests but to have a good start.  We wear new clothes and buy new things for the home.  In a nutshell, there is a desire to have a new start.But it is not easy to leave our past behind.  Changing externalities and the environment do not bring about an interior change of heart.  We are either ashamed of our past or cannot forgive the past.  We continue to hold resentment against those who have hurt us.  We cannot forgive the mistakes we have made in the past.   We carry them into the New Year.  So the year is new but we still bring with us the same old mindset and a wounded heart.  Sometimes, we cling to the nostalgic past.  In our misery, we would think of the good old days and the beautiful memories of good relationships we have had.  But then the person is no longer around.  He or she might have returned to the Lord or simply is no longer in contact with us. When we live in the past, we are prevented from welcoming the new situation and its attendant challenges.  So we allow the past to delimit and control us.At the other end of the spectrum, there are those of us who enter into a New Year with undue anxieties.  We are not much different from the people during the time of Jesus, for we too worry about “What are we to eat? What are we to drink? How are we to be clothed?”  It is only natural for us to be apprehensive of the future.  We fear the suffering that comes from privation and sickness.  If we are greedy and want to have more, it is because of fear.  We all seek physical, material and emotional security in life because suffering is repugnant to us.  From fear originates all the capital sins of pride, envy, anger, sloth, gluttony, lust and avarice.  So it is not so much anxieties and fear that take away our happiness and freedom but most of all, because we come under the bondage of sin.  That is why Jesus remarked, “It is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all.”So, if we are imprisoned by our past and anxious about the future, what can we do to ensure that the New Year would truly be a year of blessings and a new beginning?  How can we let go of our past and be confident of our future?  The key to healing our past and looking to the future with confidence lies in the direction given by Jesus, “Set your hearts on his kingdom first, and on his righteousness, and all these other things will be given you as well.”  Yes, what will give us lasting peace and joy is to set our hearts, firstly on His Kingdom, and secondly on His Righteousness.What does it mean to set our hearts on His kingdom if not to accept Him into our lives?  To accept Jesus into our hearts is to embrace all the values that He comes to give. St Paul says that it is not a matter of eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Rom 14:17) This is further elaborated when he enumerates the fruits of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  (Gal 5:22-23)Indeed, when God reigns in our hearts through Jesus in the Holy Spirit, our lives are identified with God.  So long as God reigns in our lives, we need not fear the future.  God is our future.  As St James tells us, nothing is certain in this life.  “Here is the answer for those of you who talk like this: ‘Today or tomorrow, we are off to this or that town; we are going to spend a year there, trading and make some money.’ You never know what will happen tomorrow: you are no more than a mist that is here for a little while and then disappears.’” With the Holy Spirit in us, we know that the Lord will protect us and guide us. God is our stronghold.  So seeking the kingdom is the way to guarantee the future.But what about letting go of the past?  How can we let go of our past hurts? This is why it is not sufficient to seek His kingdom; we must seek His righteousness, that is, His justice.  What is the justice of God?  St Paul tells us in Romans 5:24-24, “But now apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”  In other words, through Christ, all our sins are forgiven and God no longer condemns us.  Our past is forgiven and the Lord no longer takes into account the sins of our past. “Indeed, God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood – to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.” (Rom:5:27) To seek His righteousness means to seek His unconditional forgiveness in faith. Flowing from His love and our desire to do His Will, we find peace and joy.Having received God’s mercy, we must now extend that mercy to others.  Like Moses, we are called to bless everyone, especially our enemies.  It is necessary that we bless those who have hurt us if we are to keep ourselves free from the poisons of our enemies and to heal our own wounds.  We must say to them, “May Yahweh let his face shine on you and be gracious to you. May Yahweh uncover his face to you and bring you peace” because they too are the children of our heavenly Father. By conferring blessings on them, we will receive the same blessings for ourselves.  The best way to destroy evil is not revenge or hatred but love.  As we set our enemies free by blessing them, we also heal our wounds and hurts.  By forgiving the past, we forgive ourselves.  And what is more is the promise that such blessings are efficacious, for God said, “This is how they are to call down my name on the sons of Israel, and I will bless them.” What better occasion than to start the year by releasing ourselves from bondage to our enemies and releasing them from us!  Conversely, when we condemn or curse them, we also render ourselves prisoners of our past and the curses we cast on them. Indeed, when we are set free from our past and our fear of the future, we can then focus on living fully in the present.  Isn’t this what Jesus is suggesting to us: “So do not worry about tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”?  And St James says, “The most you should ever say is: ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we shall still be alive to do this or that.’”  The psalmist reminds us too when he prayed, “You sweep men away like a dream, like grass which springs up in the morning. In the morning it springs up and flowers; by evening it withers and fades.  Make us know the shortness of our life that we may gain wisdom of heart.”  Indeed, instead of living in our past or in the future, let us live every moment of the day and every day of the year happily- See more at: http://www.csctr.net/reflections/#sthash.onUtiegr.dpuf