22 September 2016 - true new

[ Today's Readings ]

What has been, that will be;
what has been done, that will be done.
Nothing is new under the sun.
Even the thing of which we say, “See, this is new!”
has already existed in the ages that preceded us.

There is one new thing though. Everyone tries to use old paradigms to understand it. They try to put the new wine in old wineskins. They try to use new cloth to patch old garments.

Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening,
and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying,
“John has been raised from the dead”;
others were saying, “Elijah has appeared”;
still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.”

But none of these things is adequate to describing Jesus.

Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth,
vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!
What profit has man from all the labor
which he toils at under the sun?

No efforts of our own amount to anything lasting. They are washed away by the inexorable flow of time. We build up but our work eventually erodes. History marches on, seemingly indifferent to our efforts. There is one thing that truly profits us.

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul (see Mark 8:36).

Gaining the whole world isn't the answer. But there is an answer.

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord (see Philippians 3:7-8).

Let us strive to see Jesus. But unlike Herod, it needs to be more than curiosity. We need to open ourselves to Jesus and allow ourselves to be changed. It can't just be novelty like a clever movie or book. It is something that is new inside of our hearts.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert (see Isaiah 43:19)

Life contains so much frustration because our efforts are fleeting. But this is meant to draw us more and more toward the one who alone can satisfy us. Somehow, in him, even our temporal works take on new meaning.

Fill us at daybreak with your kindness,
that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.
Prosper the work of our hands for us!
Prosper the work of our hands!