At the beginning of this new year, the name for this first month of the year, January, comes from the name of the mythological Roman god, Janus, who was the guardian of portals as well as the patron of beginnings and endings. He was depicted as having two faces – one looking backward and one looking forward. At the beginning of this new year of our Lord 2023, that may be a good image to hold up: looking backward and at the same time, looking forward. We tend to do that with time, especially at milestones in life.

What time is it?  Anyone will tell you that come January 1, we enter into a new year.  We live in a world ordered by space and time, and we are especially conscious of that as we enter into the new year. But our reckoning of time is quite different from how God reckons time.  Especially now, we are conscious that in the midst of our world of hours, days, months, and years, the God whom we worship and serve is eternal and timeless, without beginning or end.

We human beings order life according to what the Greek language of the New Testament calls chronos, that is the sequential, day-in, day-out system of time. From this Greek word, we get our own word “chronological” – a linear approach to life that is familiar to all of us.  But God reckons time quite differently; not by chronos, but by kairos.  This kairos thing is a new time zone, and it literally means God’s timing.  Paul the apostle writes concerning this: “In the fullness of time (kairos), God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).  God’s timing does not depend on hours, days, months, or years, but when everything is ready for God’s purpose. And ultimately, as Paul says elsewhere in the New Testament, “We know that in everything God works for good with those who love him, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).  God’s loving purpose dictates God’s timing, which may or may not coincide with our own sense of timing.  At times, we struggle to understand what this means, particularly when something does not happen according to the timetable that we have worked out in our own minds.

At the dawning of this new year, it’s important to remember that God has broken into our chronos world with the birth of his Son, Jesus.  The incarnate Son of God is transforming our world and our lives into a new time zone – God’s time, kairos.  Although we still live in a chronos world marked by deadlines and due dates, as Christ’s people we recognize that there is another sense of time – kairos time – that is much grander and more expansive than anything our little minds can comprehend.  This kairos time is that which guides and directs our lives, and that from God alone.

What time is it?  It is time to greet the new year with a spirit of hopeful joy, for we know that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).  The prayer below, appointed for New Year’s, is appropriate as we enter the year of our Lord 2023. May this new year be one of grace and blessing from the Lord’s hand for each one of us. 

Eternal Father, you have placed us in a world of space and time, and through the events of our lives you bless us with your love. Grant that in this new year we may know your presence, see your love at work, and live in the light of the event which gives us joy forever – the coming of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.