...from the desk of Rande Wayne Smith D.Min., Th.M., M.Div.

NEW STARTS

Philippians 3:13-14
The one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the life above.

May the Lord grant that we may engage in contemplating the mysteries of His Heavenly wisdom with really increasing devotion to His glory and our edification.  Amen.

When I was a teenager, I attended a church youth group meeting where we had been warned in advance that we would be asked to give our “life verses.” (Some Christians pick a verse from Scripture and say, “this is the verse around which I am going to organize my life.”)

So, here I was, going to a meeting where I would be called upon to give my “life’s verse” … and I didn’t have one. So, I did what most boys do when they have a problem … I went to my Mom! “I need help! Do you happen to have any good ‘life verses’ hanging around?” And, as a matter of fact, she did.

She told me to open my Bible to Philippians 3, and directed my attention to the end of verse 13 and all of verse 14. “The one thing I do, however, is to forget what is behind me and do my best to reach what is ahead. So I run straight toward the goal in order to win the prize, which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the life above.”

I never knew that verse was there … but I immediately loved it. And it became, along with several others, my “life’s verse.”

I guess I liked it because it sounded like a masculine verse. It springs out of an athletic metaphor, and gives a great picture of what a life following Christ was all about.

It’s an interesting verse because an old man writes it. We’d think this guy would be saying, “I’m just going to sit here in my retirement and smell the daisies.” But here he is, in sight of his own death, saying, “I’m still striving. I’m still growing.”

The other amazing thing is, not only was this statement written by an old man, it was written by a man who was in prison. Again, we’d think that that experience would have crushed his spirit … but no.

This “life verse” is very durable. It talks about new starts, or to use a more contemporary image, it’s being able to push the “reset button” in life.

New starts have always been important to me. I remember, as a young man, every year when school began. That was a nice time for new starts because frankly, I didn’t do all that well in High School. So, every September I could start new. The report card was clean again!

New starts are an important part of life … pushing the reset button. Well, it’s January 3rd, and we’re only 58 hours into the New Year.

There’s something about the New Year that psychologically gives us the possibilities of new starts. It’s a wonderful opportunity to reappraise life. Where am I going? How am I getting there? What kind of mid-course maneuvers should I make? What can I do so that 2010 will be the best year of my life?

But the only way that’s going to happen is to make some important decisions in the next few days. Best years don’t just happen by accident. They happen because we work at making them happen; a conscious effort must be made by us. And that’s what Paul’s talking about in this morning’s passage. He’s looking toward the future and making sure that it will be better than the past.

In our Scripture this morning there are 2 key words. The first is, “forget.” The second is actually a phrase, “reach what is ahead.” New starts demand that we engage in those twin exercises.

We begin by forgetting … and finish by reaching out. Paul is very deliberate in his choice of words here. He uses the picture of an athlete coming to the starting block in a track meet to run a race. (Those of us who have done this know exactly what’s involved.)

We ready ourselves beforehand, with the butterflies in the stomach, until the race is called. We go to the starting line, and remove our sweats, and anything else that might slow us down. We want to have the maximum opportunity to run well. We shed things. We get rid of things.

That’s the first thing Paul talks about when he comes to a new start. There are things about the past we have got to choose to get rid of, to forget.

We’ve just completed 2009; it’s over and done with. To get a good start in 2010, there are things we must let go of, forget, put behind us. They will only weigh us down as we begin the New Year. Paul had to put behind him many wonderful achievements. He was proud of them. And they weren’t bad things. They weren’t destructive things. A lot of us accomplished some really good things in 2009 that are now in the archives of our lives. But we’ve got to put them aside. They’re simply memories, things to be grateful for.

A second thing Paul needed to forget was the dark things, the bad things, the sinful things.

“I’ve got to forget what I once was … a persecutor of the Church, a man who was propelled by anger. I was engaged in the killing of people. I have to forget all that.”

There are things in our lives that we must consciously put behind us because they’re destructive. Spiritually, they’re holding us back. We must repent and then move on.

I have things which I need to repent of. My moods, attitudes, times of selfishness, greed, and other things I don’t want to tell you about, but the Lord knows … and they need to be repented of.

Sometime today or tomorrow, (don’t put it off), we need to look back over the past year and reflect, “What are the things I’m grateful for, and what are the things I must repent of?” Then Paul looks forward. “I run straight toward the goal.” All of us can picture a runner, breaking from the starting line, leaning into the wind, every muscle tense, eyes set on the goal. That’s the picture Paul is painting.

All of us need to make some changes in our lives so that tomorrow we’ll do more for the Lord than we did yesterday. I love this spirit about Paul. In those moments when I feel a little dispirited or discouraged, I remind myself of this man who was always striving, reaching forward.

So, whether we’re talking about athletics or faith, we need to be in condition, we need to be striving. Okay, how do we do this spiritually?

Let me give you a half dozen things to think about … first, on the forgetting side.

Are there addictions, obsessions, or habits, in our lives that need to be named and renounced? There are 1,000 possibilities here.

Some of us might want to reevaluate our addiction to some habit-forming substance. We might want to honestly look into our hearts at those things that hold us in bondage … our eating habits, our spending habits.

We might also want to evaluate our values and convictions. What are we willing to die for? What are we compromising our beliefs for?

And what about our relationships? … those people that create turbulence in our lives? … the individuals who diminish our faith, or have too much influence over us?

Then there’s the pursuit of pleasurable activities that are destructive. We need to re-evaluate those things. I find myself outraged at what, in the name of entertainment, is coming into our souls through television, movies, and music. We need to be watchful of that.

Then there’s the slipping standard of mediocrity in our lives. How is our dependability? Do we follow through with our commitments? We must deal with each of these things.

Let’s move to the positive side. My first suggestion is practical. What do we intend to do in 2010 with our bodies? Years ago I fantasized and asked myself, “What kind of a man do I want to be when I’m 85?”

And so if the Lord tarries, and if I’m going to be 85 someday, I want to know that life will have some possibilities. And as I began to think about that, I heard a whisper, I believe it was The Holy Spirit. “Rande, there’s no point in worrying about what kind of man you’ll be at 85 if you don’t take care of the body that’s going to carry you around.” In 2010 what does God want us to do concerning our weight, exercise, sleep patterns, the food we eat, the maintenance of our heart?

A second area is our intellectual life. Our minds are like a muscle. Used well, the muscle grows stronger. Not used properly, it becomes weak.

There’s an intellectual laziness throughout the Christian community today. Our minds need to be exercised. How are you going to do that in the coming year?

A third area is our relationships. What am I going to do in 2010 to keep my marriage in a state of renewal? I love my wife, but I’m very much aware of how quickly relationships can be taken for granted. Those of you who are single, what about your friendships? What will we do to keep them growing?

A fourth area is our finances. 2010, for some of us, ought to be the year to get out of debt. To stop the plastic credit cards from holding us captive. What will our giving plan to the church be this coming year?

Our vocation is number 5. Where’s your job going and what are you bringing to it? Does being a follower of Jesus make any difference in the way you do your work?

The sixth area is our recreation. What has happened to the Sabbath day, which God gave each of us with the intention to renew us? What kind of resting are you doing? Or is your life made up of running constantly?

Finally, number 7, and what you’d expect from me … the life of your spirit. What are you going to do in 2010 concerning Scripture?

What about your prayer life? What about your service … is there some place where you are making a contribution in the building of the Kingdom?

7 areas … if you run toward the goal in each of them, you’re going to make a difference. You’re going to be a better person in 2010, to the glory of God, than you ever were before. That’s what it means to get a new start.

I believe I’ve shared Donald Bennett’s story before, but it’s a good one. He lost his leg in a terrible accident when he was a child, right up to his hip. He’s spent the rest of his life walking on crutches. Donald lives in Seattle, WA, and on cloudless days looked up at Mt. Rainier.

Many of his friends had climbed that mountain, and he always wanted to do it. Finally, one day he determined that he was going to get to the top … on his one leg. He has written a book about the preparation and perseverance it took to get there. He writes, “I imagined myself on the top of the mountain 1,000 times a day in my mind. When I started to climb it I just said to myself, ‘anybody can hop from here to there.’ And I would.

“When the going got the roughest, and I was really exhausted, I would look up the path and say, ‘all you have to do is take one more step. And anybody can do that!’”

And that’s what I want to say to each of you on this first Sunday morning of 2010. All of you can take one more step. Get into the race. Go to the starting line, forgetting all the things that are behind, and put your eyes on the goal. What is your goal?

I have a poster at home that I look at each morning before I go out for my run. “The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running.” Paul is saying, keep running, keep your eyes on the goal. And you will “win the prize, which is God’s call through Christ Jesus to the life above.”

We all need goals, or otherwise we simply exist in life. What are your goals? And because this is a sermon, I’m really interested in what are your spiritual goals? And once you’ve identified them, what will you do to accomplish them? Today why not determine to make 2010 the best year of your life.

MARANA THA