Embracing the Unlikeliest Stories: A New Year of Joy and Peace

As I stood before the congregation this past Sunday, fresh from a trip to Peru that barely gave my family and me 36 hours to adjust in Quincy, I found profound joy in worshiping with our community once more. Reflecting on this new year, I invited everyone to adopt a posture of openness to God's will—open-handed and open-hearted to the miracles He might reveal to us.

Our journey through the Gospel of Matthew took another pivotal step, focusing on an aspect often overlooked: the genealogy of Jesus. It might seem dry at first, this list of names, yet buried within it are incredible tales of God’s grace and mercy towards the most unlikely of individuals.

The genealogy of Jesus is more than historical trivia; it echoes God’s message of grace that resonates throughout history. We see figures like Rahab, whose past as a Canaanite prostitute earned her a nickname that no one would forget. But God’s grace extended beyond her past—Rahab’s faith saved her and, astonishingly, wove her into the lineage of the Messiah. Likewise, King David, celebrated yet flawed, teaches us that even the weightiest sins do not sever the promises God makes.

Why highlight these stories? Because they embody the very reason Jesus came. Outsiders, lawbreakers, and those with infamous pasts are all part of the Gospel story. They are, quite literally, the point of the Gospel story. Jesus came to seek and save the lost—that includes each of us, no matter our past.

As we welcomed the new year, I urged everyone to embrace the joy and peace God promises. These aren’t mere concepts; they are promises that God fulfills in our lives when we accept His forgiveness through Jesus Christ. The angels proclaimed it on that first Christmas: great joy for all people and peace for those on whom His favor rests.

In the busyness of our lives, it’s easy to negotiate with our past, to make excuses, to replay our failures. But the truth of the Gospel is that we are never too far gone for redemption. God's promise of peace does not waver. It invites us to lay down our burdens, to cease our negotiations, and to simply accept the forgiveness offered to us through Jesus' sacrifice.

As we took communion, we remembered that sacrifice—a reminder not just of Jesus' death, but of the doors to joy and peace His resurrection opened for all of us. This new year, my hope for our community is to live in this truth, allowing God's promises to transform us.

Let us strive to reflect His light in the world, to embody joy and peace through our actions and words, drawing others to the transformative power of Christ. No matter our past, let's embrace our roles in God's ongoing story of grace.

May God bless you all abundantly this year as we continue this journey together.

In His grace,