A New Creation:
“Look, new things have come into being!”

So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.

2 Corinthians 5:17-19

For some of us it may be new courses,
new teachers,
new students,
new responsibilities,
new discoveries,
new chances to excel,
new ways of ‘finding yourself’,
new light bulb moments,
new projects to throw yourself into,
new relationships,
new ways to grow as a person …

Or you may be looking forward to picking up where you left off:
with your peers,
with beloved subjects,
with that one joke
that cracks everyone up all the time,
with sports activities,
with knowing your family members being
occupied and cared for,
with cherished traditions,
with classroom discussions, …

Maybe this is a special year for you:
a year that concludes
a long stretch of hard work,
a year when you can finally
demonstrate your acquired skills,
a year of seeing your loved ones
thrive and succeed,
a year of reaching
a long anticipated goal,
a final year launching you into your future, …

God’s New Creation: Participation & Exploration

The year ahead of us is God’s new creation.

It is a clean slate.

Created by God.

All we are exploring in academia
is God’s creation too!

With each new lightbulb moment
we grasp something
about the nature of God
and his ongoing activity in this world.

Our learning, our teaching
is us participating in this new creation.

We are co-creators.

God’s New Creation: Reconciliation

This new year is a gift from God.

It’s the gift of a new start
even in a broader sense:

In our text this morning
Paul talks about reconciliation,
about forgiveness,
about Jesus reuniting us with God.

We belong to Christ.

We are part of a framework much greater
than our schools, universities,
and achievements.

Paul also writes that Jesus
“entrusts us with the ministry of reconciliation”.

Wow! How great is that!

We live this Christ-identity
within our academic work and relationships.

Perhaps this year could be a new creation,
a fresh start by way of saying sorry.

Maybe I can grant that one annoying person
a clean slate too?

How about me giving
a particularly infuriating issue
a second chance?

Could this be a year
of enemies making peace or becoming friends?

God’s New Creation: Joy

We look ahead
and cut old grudges some slack.

We are excited about the unknown.

We can’t wait to get back
to beloved peers and habits.

This positive anticipation
may feel a bit naive right now,
but that’s ok!

Let’s cherish the excitement!

Let’s cultivate the joy!

God is good!

Raging Storms:
“Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A windstorm suddenly arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves, but he was asleep. And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?”

Matthew 8:23-27

Following God is dangerous

In this story the disciples will soon discover
that following Jesus is difficult.

They will discover that following him dangerous,
even for seasoned fishermen like them,
who know the lake
like the back of their own hands!

Following God’s call is dangerous
and may get you and me into a massive storm.

But running from God’s is dangerous too:
Just look at Jonah
and how the storm overtook him too!

So, well, there you go…

The violent storms of this new year

This new academic year ahead of us i
s very much like the Sea of Galilee
from today’s gospel story.

It is a lake known for its sudden, violent storms.

Some storms we may foresee,
others will surely surprise us.

Our boats will be rocked
by lots of stress,
by doubts about our pathways,
by huge responsibilities,
by fear of failure,
and by complex subjects.

Our boats will be rocked
by difficult people,
by feelings of inadequacy,
by challenging conversations,
by anxiety about the future,
by the loss of care-free times,
and by worries about how well we will perform.

Braving the storm together

The storms will come.

But we are not alone.

Just like for the disciples,
there is a crew of peers, mentors,
and supporters around us.

A crew to to help navigate,
keep company, and to lend a supporting hand.

And you know what:
Some of the crew members
are even there to scream with us
at the top of our lungs
when the waves come crashing down over us.

That’s right,
a good cry is sometimes the most cathartic gift
to our weary souls.

Occasionally, a shoulder to cry on
is the most precious way to serve one another.

Crying out to Jesus

“Lord, safe us! We are perishing!”
is the cry of this morning’s reading.

Throughout Matthew’s gospel the story is told
of how the disciples are students of Jesus,
how they slowly grow in understanding,
how they learn
what the Kingdom of Heaven is all about.

“Lord, safe us! We are perishing!”
are the first words Matthew puts
into the mouths of the disciples.

This panicky cry is the starting signal
to their journey of learning,
to meaningful encounters with Jesus,
and to many fruitful conversations.

So: no shame in starting this new year
with fearful cries for help!

Jesus invites you to cry out to him!

We are invited to cry out together.

“You of little faith”

But, to be honest,
Jesus’ response to these cries
doesn’t sound exactly empathic:

“You of little faith, why are you afraid?”

Here and at other places Matthew hints
at the disciples not being –
how shall I put it? –
the brightest students.

Some of you teachers will sigh knowingly,
some of you students know the
‘dim type’ among your own peers,
and some of us are ourselves
the ones that are a bit slow, right?

But mind you,
Jesus still cares
even about the dim and scared ones.

Jesus stills the storm

“And he rebuked the wind and the sea,
and there was a dead calm.”

Jesus calmed the storm.

He calms our inner storms.

He calms the storms of our relationships
by offering forgiveness and reconciliation.

He calms storms of overload
by giving us inner peace
and sending us real-life angels in human form.

He calms storms
by transforming our fears into opportunities;
opportunities of being amazed by Jesus’ power.

Discovering Jesus’ power

“They were amazed, saying,
“What sort of man is this,
that even the winds and the sea obey him?” “

This is the question
the disciples would keep on exploring
as they spend more time with Jesus;
as they get to know Jesus
and learn what he is all about.

It is the question Jesus invites us to pursue:
“What sort of man is this”

That means, the disciples’ ‘little faith’
is great news for us!

Jesus saved them,
patiently taught them,
guided their way,
and loved them.

And he will do the same for us,
even (and especially)
when we are in panic mode!

As prayers during the service we wrote our hopes & worries for the upcoming year of studying & teaching on sticky notes and collected them.

Christine Ghinn

8th September 2024