Growing up, I loved the first day of school. I had lots of anxiety, but there was also the surprise of not knowing who the other students in the class were going to be. I can remember either celebrating or being very disappointed about who my teacher was. I always wondered about what decorations might be hung up in the classroom, and if the school lunches were better than the year before!  At times it was hard starting a new year.  I would wonder if the teacher was a tough grader, and if this was the year that I was going to be popular or worse, bullied. Funny, I thought I would grow up to be a teacher. For the most part, I loved my teachers in grade school, especially. I did have a few embarrassing moments, and I went to five different schools by the time I graduated from High School. So, making friends was difficult at times. But what I remember most of all was the feeling that it was a fresh start when the school year began. I had a lot of hope that a new start meant a new identity or a new sense of appreciation from my peers and my teachers. I worried a lot as a kid about what others thought of me, especially those with authority and power.
 I also learned a lot watching “Little House on the Prairie” when I was growing up. I was fascinated with the chalkboards the students used in the one-room schoolhouse. I thought it was wonderful how each new day meant a new opportunity to erase the previous day’s work and start again. Each day was an opportunity to do better. In my mind, this was extraordinary. Teachers didn’t always have proof of your weaknesses or failings. So, in my child’s mind, teachers were left grading based upon the tests that were taken and not the daily work.
God’s ability to forgive us is like a blackboard in which the sins of our pasts are simply wiped away through our confession and God’s grace. New life is promised to us through our faith. We often want this kind of moment to be much more complicated than it is. 1 John reminds us that our sins are forgiven through our faith in Jesus, and we are given this gift because of Jesus’ sacrifice for God’s children. New life comes because Jesus was willing to take the sins of the world upon himself when he was on the cross.            
Why write about the school year and chalkboards? Because we are never too mature or too old to confess our backsliding, our mistakes, our sins to our Lord. Because in a way the school year offers us an opportunity to transition from the “old-self” from last year to the “new -self”, just like the kids who get to wear a brand-new outfit that they chose just for the first day of school. We find in life that new life doesn’t have a specific day when we experience this gift of grace; it can happen at anytime in our spiritual journeys. What can influence our understanding of change or new life are the life events, holidays, and life-changing moments that remind us that a new start is available to us. Like the birth of a child reminds us how precious new life is. Or the first days of Spring that speak to us of how beautiful the world is when it wakes up from its wintry slumber. How about the new life that is celebrated when there is a birthday, and we are reminded it is an opportunity for a fresh start. These moments may also speak to us about our need to redeem ourselves, to atone for our sins, and to seek God’s presence with conviction and intention regularly. How has your faith journey been? Have you overlooked the sins you have taken for granted? How are you seeking God’s guidance and redemption when you know you have distanced yourself from your heavenly Father? We have traditions in our community that remind us of the seasons that take place on a yearly basis. This is the season of a new school year, but it could also be the season we all choose to be more intentional and seek God’s grace and forgiveness regularly. So just like the old blackboards, we wake up every day, refreshed and renewed, knowing it is a day of new beginnings, not a day of regret or shame. God’s love is sufficient, and God is never too far away for the transforming love of Christ to be experienced through our prayers, our silent meditations, even through the conversations we have with fellow Christians. Does your life’s transgression need to be erased? Come to Christ and know that God’s grace and forgiveness are offered when you do.

Yours in Christ's Service,
Pastor Mary