Righteous Resolutions: Making Time for God
Happy New Years! Have you made any New Year’s resolutions? I have to admit that I am not a fan of these kinds of resolutions. Of all times in the year to choose to take something on, or cut something out, or to make a hard change in our routines, why now? Why when we are just coming off of the busiest season of the year for so many? Why make life harder in the season when we here in the US have the least daylight, colder temperatures and the exhaustion of just having had the extra time commitments and financial stresses of the holiday season? Why could’t we resolve to do something new on July 1st, when many corporations reset their fiscal years? Why not at the start of Lent, when many of us already do plan to make a change? Why not in August? There’s not too much going on in August. Who decided on January 1 for these endeavors?
I did some research on who came up with the concepts of New Year’s Resolutions, and it turns out, they have been around in some shape or form for a really, really long time. The notion of New Year's resolutions originated over 4,000 years ago with the ancient Babylonians, who made promises to their gods during a 12-day spring festival called Akitu. They would pledge to return borrowed items and repay their debts to bring good fortune for the next year. The tradition evolved through ancient Romans, who associated the new year (January 1st) with Janus, the two-faced god of beginnings. The Romans would make offerings and promises for the future at the start of the new year. Later, Christian traditions incorporated resolutions particularly focused on morality, with early American writers like Anne Halkett documenting written pledges for self-improvement in the 17th century. Over time, these resolutions shifted from public vows and declarations to the more personal and secular goals we see in the present.
So, despite my grumblings about timing, humans have been doing this concept of New Years resolutions on January 1st for a very long time.
On January 6th, the church celebrates Epiphany, the Sunday where we celebrate the visitation of the newborn Jesus by the magi, sometimes called “wise men” and also known as the three “kings.” The term “magi” is sometimes also interpreted as “astrologers” as they were reading the stars in the night sky for a sign from God and followed a particular star to find the Christ child. In following the star they come across King Herod, and speak to him of this child born a king, who they are seeking to find. They ask Herod if he knows where this child is located, the one who the Hebrew Scriptures predicted would be born as the King of the Jews. Now, Herod doesn’t like this – the scripture states he was frightened and the text says “all of Jerusalem” was frightened with him. Now, I think this is a dramatic play on words, suggesting that all those in powerful positions like Herod were threatened that a child who would be greater than them had been born.
So Herod decides to try to use the Magi as his spies, saying, “Go, find this child, and then come and tell me where he is so I may go and pay homage as well.” So, you know how the story goes - they follow the star and they find Mary and baby Jesus and they bring him gold, frankincense and myrrh, and then when it’s time to return they are warned in a dream not to tell Herod where the child is.
Often times, when we look at that closing of the last line of text, “they left for their own country by another road,” we think of how loyal to Jesus these men were in this passive aggressive rebellion against what Herod had asked them to do. I mean, they could have just lied to Herod and said they never found any special baby.
As I look at the meaning of the last half of that sentence, “they left for their own country by another road,” I think there may be something for us there that can tie in to our own ideas of New Year’s resolutions for 2026. Now, I want us to remember that in the ancient world, there were no interstate systems or highways. In fact, there were very few roads and passageways altogether during this time outside of urban centers like Rome. If we remember that context, it’s not that small of a change that these magi went back to their countries by a different road.
Assuming that their travel that led to their initial meetup with King Herod was the most efficient route in following the star, going back by a different road probably meant going very far out of their way to avoid encountering Herod again. They sacrificed time in taking that different road. Rather than risk crossing Herod again, these magi chose the inefficient and probably far more time-consuming route on their journey home.
Maybe that’s the message for us. Maybe like those magi, if we have had a special encounter with Jesus, we too should be willing to make more time as our sacrifice to protect that special encounter.
I’ve shared many times over the last several years about how the decline in church attendance and participation in religious community is a massive existential threat to the local church - and the urban church I serve specifically. We’ve all learned how to do spiritually on our own terms and on our own time, without even realizing that doing so has endangered the very institutions that set us on our faith journeys and have nurtured us along the way.
In the early years of this nation, New Year’s resolutions were often bold and public declarations of how individuals would further their relationships with God and with others in their communities. They were righteous resolutions. Maybe we need to bring those back? Rather than resolving to eat better, exercise more, drink less, read more books, call our parents more often and these other popular resolutions we see today, maybe we can take a note from the magi in the Gospel of Matthew. Maybe our righteous resolution for 2026 can be that we honor the sacred encounters we have had with Jesus by inconveniencing ourselves - by making more time for God. Maybe we can take the inefficient route of committing to physically showing up more for God and for our friends in our faith communities in this new year.
The magi who followed a star to gaze upon the face of Jesus Christ were so moved by this encounter that they went far out of their way for the sake of Christ. Are we willing to do the same? Will we make the time for God in this new year?
And all of God’s children who could said, “Amen.”
