Every year on the Labor Day holiday, I take stock of my life and try to let go of the things I perceive as personal failures so that I can allow myself to be excited about the year to come. This is because I’ve spent most of my life in school, so everything has been measured by the calendar of the academic year. The day after Labor Day is a day of such promise, not only because you get cool new office supplies, and if you are financially privileged, maybe some new clothes, but also because when you join a new classroom, some of your slate is wiped clean. Old disputes and embarrassments don’t necessarily follow you into a new classroom—you can start over. So I’m excited because it’s the start of a new “school year” at church. New Sunday school classes, new precious treasures for sale at the flea market, a baby to be baptized in two weeks, and other gifts of the Holy Spirit that will be given just to us as a parish so that we can grow in our abilities to be beloved community. It’s an excellent day to think about our individual relationships to God and with one another and commit to trying harder to understand who we are and why we are here. As you will be reminded just before you come to the rail for communion— you are the gifts that God has given to this church. How will you be that gift this year? How will you make sure that your neighbor sees the face of Jesus looking back at them when they look at you? How will you be reminded that God is always with you, no matter where or who you are? What will you do with the gift of your life this year?

Back in Jesus’ day, how you regarded God was not about what you believed. It was about what you did. It was assumed that God was a real and tangible force in control of everything, and living a righteous life was perceived as the way to receive God’s favor. Having God’s favor was much more important even than having God’s love, because it meant that you would conquer your enemies, have enough to eat and make a lot of babies that grew up and made their own babies so you’re your descendants would flourish. In short, if God was happy, you got stuff. The Old Testament is full of stories that testify to the hands on involvement of God in our ancestors’ lives.

The earliest stories in the Old Testament record what scholar James Kugel describes as the history of God in search of man. It was assumed that God was real, and God was present, and that God appeared directly to some folks from time to time. In his book, “The Great Shift,” Kugel uses the later writings of the Old Testament, notably some psalms that are not related to specific times or places, to reveal that at some point in the history of the Hebrew people, this awareness of the ever-present God shifted to a narrative of people now searching for God instead of the other way around. From the context of such a cultural shift, it’s tempting to look at God’s incarnation in the person of Jesus as a kind of reassurance. Jesus is God’s way of saying, “yup, still here!” And when we look at the crucifixion of Jesus and the grace of God’s forgiveness, even when the people under Roman occupation allowed the political powers to have him killed, you can’t help but wonder, how much more assurance is it going to take for us to be certain that God is still here?

There are a whole bunch of people who don’t think there ever was a God because they can’t see God. You can’t see gravity or x-rays either. But that doesn’t mean they are not there. We recognize that they exist by the results of their interactions in the material world. And we recognize that God exists by God’s interaction with the material world– especially through us, that part of creation made in God’s own image.

James says, “Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Bam! There it is: every generous act of giving with every perfect gift is from God, and YOU are meant to be that perfect gift. OK, I know easier said than done. This passage does NOT imply that you are perfect. It implies that God’s intention is perfect and that by our birth into the Body of Christ (meaning baptism) we are zapped with the word of truth. Remember that “spirit of truth” we talked about on Pentecost? That’s the Holy Spirit! So James tells us that we can get this help, that we are saved from failure by it, and he tells us how to receive the help: to “be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” And as that Word of Truth flourishes within us, we are told to be doers of the word, not merely hearers. How will you “do the Word” this year? How will you be the reminder for someone else that God is, indeed, still here, and has always been with us?

Because God is indeed here, and if we are in search of God, it is not because God is remote, but because our own behavior—our choices, have caused us to feel separated from the God in whom we reside—the God who resides is us. It’s completely irrational to think that God can go away—the entire universe is contained in God. Such is the power of our own bad choices that they can cause our perception of the entire universe to be distorted to the point we believe we are at its center and God is somehow not present. The Word of Truth is implanted within us. Make the choice to be doers of the Word, not just “hearers who forget, but doers who act,” and as James says, you will be blessed in your doing.

The summer season of vacations and rest has drawn to a conclusion. According to my mama, we now must put away our white pants and shoes until after Memorial Day of next year. Now it is the season of doing. Happy New Year, and may God bless you richly in all of your holy doings.