Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne?

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1 Should old acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot, and old lang syne? For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne, We ll take a cup of kindness yey, For auld lang syne. Did anyone sing this on New Year s Eve? The tradition comes from Scotland where, in 1788, Robert Burns penned the lyrics. It was then set to the tune of a well-known folk song. Auld lang syne is sung as midnight approaches on New Year s Eve to farewell the old year. It translates as long, long ago or days gone by and can be best expressed in terms of for the sake of old times. As the song is sung people join hands to form a circle. When the song comes to an end and the old year disappears, people move forward to the middle still clutching hands. Then everyone turns under the arms of the other to face outwards with hands open as a gesture to welcome in the New Year. New Year rituals are important. My mother s family used to observe an interesting practice on New Year s Eve as, on the stroke of midnight, the back door of their home was opened to let the old year out and the front door was then opened to let the New Year in. In the Netherlands people burn their Christmas trees and let off firecrackers as a means of purging the old year and welcoming in the new. In Spain people eat twelve grapes for each stroke of the clock at midnight to represent happiness and abundance for the coming months. In Japan people clean their homes as a means of sweeping the old year away and welcoming the New Year in. Old brooms are discarded and new brooms purchased.

2 (2) Meanwhile in New York the New Year is signaled in with the dropping of the giant crystal ball in Times Square. While of course, in Sydney, the New Year is hailed in as the Harbour Bridge explodes in a cacophony of magnificent colour and light as some seven million dollars worth of fireworks go up in smoke! Perhaps the most significant way of saying farewell to the old and welcoming the new on 31 st December is to make a resolution. Or it could be to apologize, make amends or seek reconciliation with those with whom we are in dispute. What a great way to start a new year! Whatever we do on New Year s Eve, it s important to note 31 st December is a fulcrum, a pivot or a turning point in our lives where we say goodbye to the old year and where we acknowledge we are gifted with the gratuity of another year of life. I am reminded of Tim Winton, perhaps our most accomplished contemporary Australian writer, and the compilation of his series of seventeen short stories entitled The Turning. Now available in the form of a very good movie, The Turning refers to poignant events in the experience of ordinary people living on Western Australia s coastal belt that bring about changes in direction to their lives. Winton is a fabulous writer. His insights and manner of expression touch the Australian psyche deeply. Another extraordinary writer is the prophet, Jeremiah. Living nearly 700 years before Christ, Jeremiah is a reluctant yet colourful character who is pressed into service by God. Jeremiah lived in turbulent times. He witnessed the destruction of Jerusalem and he then testified to the humiliating deportation of many of his people to Babylon. Israel and Judah were crushed. Jeremiah s people were subjugated to a life of misery in a far-off alien land.

3 (3) And Jeremiah, along with many of the Old Testament prophets, makes it quite clear this is the result of his people s own failings. Israel and Judah s exile has come about because these nations have not adhered to the standards of God. They have sold themselves out politically and they have ignored the call to live justly and at peace with one another. Moreover, Israel and Judah have been indifferent to what God calls them to be. Their worship is compromised and their lust for power and prosperity has undermined their credibility and their future as a people. But Jeremiah is not defeated. His words come to us this morning in what is known as the great consolation. Here the landscape is reshaped, the future is refashioned, the destiny of Jeremiah s people is recast with the promise of restoration and joy. For Jeremiah goes on to say: I will lead them back..i will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. As a spokesperson for God, Jeremiah states unequivocally that the Lord intends a great reversal here. Jeremiah refers to a significant upset as God promises to overturn destruction by offering restoration. Jeremiah points to a massive bestowal as God will act to deal with the peoples mourning with the assurance they will experience overwhelming joy! Here Israel and Judah s turning point that has become a traumatic experience involving defeat, destruction and exile, will, at the initiative of God, be reversed. No longer will marginalization, humiliation and suffering be their plight as God offers them a future. In other words, God will initiate a homecoming where people experience healing and restoration. It s a marvelous vision and one that no doubt appeals to all those who receive these words of promise. It reminds me of a wonderful American author, Marilynne Robinson who, in her third novel, writes about the healing, restoring nature of coming home.

4 (4) But such turning points, such homecomings do not just happen out of the blew. Marilynne Robinson, in her Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Gilead, makes this clear with her story of Rev John Ames, an aging Congregationalist minister who, on his death bed, offers a testimony of his life to his young son. Ames has lived his entire life in the American corn-belt town of Gilead. While, in many ways the good reverend has lived a simple country existence, his testimony bears witness to a life of complexity and mystery. Here Ames is quick to affirm that this life, in all its joys, in all its paradoxes and in all its struggles, is really a beautiful thing. And this is because life is an unfathomable blessing from God. As John Ames approaches the ultimate turning point in his life, the dying pastor speaks about the miracle of existence and the sheer beauty of life. He refers to simple things. The gift of water and food, for example, are in effect, sacraments that point to God. For, it is in water that we are baptized and it is the sharing of food that we participate in the Eucharist or Holy Communion. Here, the world is the theatre of the divine where, through the grace of God, John Ames claims: the Lord breathes on this poor, grey ember of creation and it turns to radiance. And at this point Marilynne Robinson affirms the turning points in life, the profound, poignant things we both encounter and experience in the course of our living are both touched and enriched by God through the offering of God s unconditional love. In other words, the points in our lives that are significant, the turning points in one s experience, are the junctures where God s incredible grace reaches out to touch us. And its God grace that makes the difference!

5 (5) In an interview with the ABC radio presenter Rachael Kohn, Tim Winton shared his story of faith. At the age of five Tim witnessed his father seriously injured by a drunken driver in a motorcycle accident. The incident had a profound effect on the entire family as they watched their father, once a sturdy, active police officer, become incapacitated and housebound. But from this tragedy something remarkable happened. A stranger arrived one day to help Winton s mother care for his father. This stranger came every day to help. And because of this unconditional, most generous kindness, Tim s parents were drawn to this person s faith in Christ. They eventually became Christians, attending the local Churches of Christ in Margaret River. Now, more than 30 years later, this act of generousity, this gift of love and compassion still surprises Tim Winton. It has no doubt influenced his writings, particularly those marvelous short stories contained in his work, The Turning. Friends, this is God s grace at work. And I believe God s grace is indeed manifest in the turning points of our lives - whatever they may be. For you see, it s all about grace. Life is enriched, life is made whole, life is endowed with meaning and direction because of God s grace! Amelie or Le Fabuleux Destin d Amelie Poulain is a romantic French comedy about a shy waitress who, in the midst of her own struggles with social isolation, changes the lives of those around her for the better. Amelie does this as she guides a blind man down the street, as she comes up with a clever way of getting her recluse father out of the house and into the adventure of travel and as she plays matchmaker for her anxious co-worker and an eccentric patron. And just recently, the movie, Last Cab to Darwin, starring Michael Caton, touches on the miracle of God s grace as a Broken Hill the taxi driver, Rex, drives to Darwin to end his life by means of the new euthanasia laws established in the Northern Territory. Struck down with terminal cancer, Rex soon discovers that the inevitable turning point in his life is not dealt with in the staged clinical ending of life - but in a return to Broken Hill to be with his mates who care for him - and to live out his final days with the lady who loves him.

6 (6) Friends, these are all moments of grace. God is present. God is active in the turning points of our lives. Jeremiah bore witness to this truth as God reached out to God s people during their time of upheaval to literally lead them back, comfort them and give them gladness for sorrow. And in the turning points of our lives - whether it be the marking of a New Year, whether it be a significant family or work event or whether it be a point of real anxiety and concern that constantly stares us in the face, God comes to each one of us in an expression of unconditional love - to uphold, to enrich, to refashion and to carry us through whatever confronts us. In 2016 may those inevitable turning points in our lives be real points of contact with God. And may these turning points bear witness to the generous, amazing, most incredible grace of God which is ours in Jesus Christ! Amen. John Barr