End of Year Thoughts
One of my guilty pleasures is to watch Tom Selleck play Jesse Stone in a few of Robert Parker's novel adaptations for TV. Whenever it cycles onto the tube I'm there, and honestly, Selleck reading the phone book would catch my attention, and the stories are a fun diversion.
Stone lives as the police chief in the small Massachusetts town of Paradise, not far from Boston. He had been a big-time cop from LA who washed out there, has a drinking problem, is still fixated on his ex, Jen, and wrestles with what his baseball career might have been had he not gotten taken out on a bang-bang play in the minors. For a small town, there are plenty of mobsters and murder and mayhem to occupy Jesse and his small crew. If you aren't familiar with Parker's novels or Selleck's movies and you could use some mental floss, check them out.
A theme that routinely rises is regret. Jesse's life story seems to track along with the stuff he wishes could be undone or just be finished. A line in one of the movies caught my ear as Stone talks with his therapist and says,
If you live long enough you have regrets, and the ones that nag at you the most are the ones where you knew you had a choice.
Most everyone I know carries some amount of regret, and here at the end of the year our regrets can too easily play on a loop. Things in our past that cause us to cringe or blush, hide from, or carry like an unwanted burden. Jesse, like any of us, gets stuck in the regret loop of his past; not a good place for him or for us.
Regret fixes our gaze to the past, and in most cases what birthed it cannot be changed
Regret shadows whatever is next
Regret shames
Regret hobbles progress
For Jesus followers who are thoroughly human and flaw-filled, a truth stands beside regret. This truth does not ignore the errors in our wake, nor cancel out the consequences coming our way because of those choices, but turns attention to what lies ahead while acknowledging how we got where we are. Hang with me for a bit, because this is good stuff.
Paul wrestles all this to the ground in the first chapters of his letter to the Roman believers. After a deep dive into who we are and where we stand (all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God), and the remedy sent our way (but God demonstrates his love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us), in the midst of still repeatedly trying and failing to live a godly life (I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don't do it. Instead, I do what I hate), he pulls back the curtain at the top of ch. 8 on an astounding truth for every one of us.
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
This verse frees believers to look forward, carrying our scars of missteps and foolish errors, without the dark cloud of the scowl of God over us. Without God condemning us, even though we deserve it, the road ahead opens up. My past no longer carries weapons strong enough to quash Christ's work in me. When believers do wrong, and we all do, and we come clean before God and those we have wronged, we stand forgiven. Again, consequences can batter us, but nothing will alter God's verdict of you. He looks on you and sees Jesus in all his perfection.
Jesse Stone carries a full rucksack of regret, and it weighs him down as he slowly walks toward despair.
If you follow Jesus and have believed in him for all you hope for and feel like Jesse, at the end of this year take heart.
To the weary, he offers rest
To the hungry and thirsty, he is the bread of life and living water
To the fallen, he is the master of the next chance
To the lonely, he promised to never leave
To all the rest of us, he welcomes us to come along
Perhaps this final week of the year, glance into the rear-view mirror to take an accounting of your actions and tally your regrets, then place them before God, thanking him that because of who you are in the Son that there is NO condemnation from God coming your way. Embracing that notion requires self-forgiveness, seeing myself as God sees me, flawed and forgiven. Now, looking out the windshield to your future, commit, again, to a life worthy of the tribe you travel with.
My plan is to travel this year carrying a bit lighter load, more joyful at the everyday opportunities, and with like-minded folks...like you! Let's go!
Music for the end of the year
And a couple of funnies
(a bit more Christmas...)
It was at the end of the year, and a kindergarten teacher was receiving Xmas gifts from her pupils. The florist's son handed her a gift.
She shook it, held it overhead, and said, "I bet I know what it is. Some flowers."
"That's right" the boy said, "but how did you know?" "Oh, just a wild guess," she said.
The next pupil was the sweet shop owner's daughter. The teacher held her gift overhead, shook it, and said, "I bet I can guess what it is. A box of sweets."
"That's right, but how did you know?" asked the girl.
"Oh, just a wild guess," said the teacher.
The next gift was from the son of the liquor store owner. The teacher held the package overhead, but it was leaking.
She touched a drop of the leakage with her finger and touched it to her tongue.
"Is it wine?" she asked.
"No," the boy replied, with some excitement.
The teacher repeated the process, taking a larger drop of the leakage to her tongue.
"Is it champagne?" she asked.
"No," the boy replied, with more excitement.
The teacher took one more taste before declaring "I give up, what is it?"
With great glee, the boy replied, "It's a puppy!"
__________
(and this one is almost too close to the bone)
I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. I immediately ran over and said "Stop! Don't do it!"
"Why shouldn't I?" he asked.
I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!"
"Like what?"
"Well...are you religious or atheist?"
"Religious."
"Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?"
"Protestant."
"Me too! Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?"
"Baptist."
"Wow! Me too! Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?"
"Baptist Church of God."
"Me too! Are you Original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?"
"Reformed Baptist Church of God."
"Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915?"
"Reformed Baptist Church of God, reformation of 1915!"
To which I said, "Die, heretic scum!" and pushed him off.