Ringing in A.D. 2017 (Rev Gerard Seow, Oikos S’pore)

The best is enemy of the good. Can a year be so awesome that it leaves you speechless as you ask your friends to pinch you to see if it’s all really happening? 2016 has been that kind of year. But no year deserves the appellation: “good year” unless it sets you up for better things, things of growth, things of value, things of even more usefulness to God and neighbour. As we say farewell to the holy disruption that 2016 brought, we do so intentionally and honestly, with a sense of gratefulness, and also a pinch of sadness. Who enjoys leaving behind a good conversation or the end of a moving story?Yet, moving forward is sometimes the only thing, and often the best thing we can do.

Trends evaluated: On all fronts, one thing stood out, a trend that was happening everywhere, all at the same time; among babes, young men, and among fathers. And it was this; a holy uprising against the way things had been, and as they had been presented to us as if sufficient for the day when in fact they were, in all honesty, never more inadequate and inglorious.

Among babes we saw fruit that very suddenly emerged. We were not so conscious of this growth initially and what little progress was at best, imperceptible at first. Among the young men, likewise, the facts in themselves offered no clue yet confirmed the prophecy in Isaiah: “…they that wait upon the Lord shall mount up with wings.” And among the fathers, we witnessed entire communities giving testimony of Jesus in thrilling and most unexpected of places.

Among babes: The little ones in our midst gave us great encouragement and excitement in the way they rose to the occasion again and again as they withstood those peculiar challenges that maturing in Christ brings. Parents, teachers and mentors also weighed in to ensure that whatever forward momentum previously gained would not be lost in dissipation. Events both scheduled and spontaneous were choreographed by an unseen hand to bring us closer to the end of ourselves and the beginning of wisdom, single-minded in focus to see a city of faith arise among the least of these, of whom it can be said, Every soul is destined to the greatness that God ordains.

Among the young men: Another arena wherein our members are making a difference can be seen in the public square, at the workplace and in the studio. No age group is more important to the health of a nation than its young adults and new wage earners. Here, aspiring minds have their sights on enterprising solutions for long standing problems in human society. Little do they imagine that the choices they make are based on arcane foreknowledge and preordained counsel from above. God is in control, these young people are teaching us, and He is not mocked; he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.

Among the fathers: Tentative steps taken years ago by our trustees are being confirmed and acknowledged for what they really are; confident, generous and courageous acts of mercy and kindness toward the poor, those with special needs and victims in trauma. We may not be the smartest of peoples, but what intelligence we have lacked has been amply made up for through uncommon stick-to-itiveness and a holy boldness in Jesus’ name. We had been diverted from heartache, detoured from reproach, shielded from condemnation and blame. Indeed, how blessed is the man who sits not in the counsel of the wicked and in whose delight is the law of Messiah.

Things to come: Now as we look forward, we leap. And as we have invited the Almighty into the equation so do we also expect a harvest (however righteousness might look like in social structure change). And having stepped out, get ready to be amazed. And don’t let your present level get in the way of what Jesus already has prepared. Your eye has not seen and that is the point. What you don’t see this coming season is going to be far more important than what you already have in your sights. Beyond what you can scope or design or even dream. Literally, out of this world.