z
Skip Navigation

Back

Good Beginnings Make Good Endings

January 18, 2020
By Paul Emmel
The garden-like sanctuary of King of Kings Lutheran Church, Roseville, Minnesota
The garden-like sanctuary of King of Kings
Lutheran Church, Roseville, Minnesota,
at the Festival of Epiphany, January 6, 2020.
 

Everybody knows it: "Good beginnings make good endings."

Parents, teachers, students, athletes know how important it is to lay a good foundation. No guarantees of success, of course, but our chances for success improve with a good head start.

In the Twin Cities we are painfully aware of the importance of the first five years of life. The achievement gap of students has been confounding educational experts for years. The deficit continues despite endless government programs intended to address the disparity. It takes years for children to catch up academically to their peers.

Certainly, the boy Jesus had an excellent head start in life. With two godly parents and a tight community surrounding them, "Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with both God and man." Included in the model parenting of Mary and Joseph was a sound Jewish education provided at the Nazareth synagogue. No wonder by the age of twelve, Jesus was a precocious child already instructing the experts in the Temple. He sensed his mission from his birth and did not deviate.

Yes, Jesus had the distinct advantage of being the Son of God. But that divine advantage did not negate the importance of his childhood.

The Holy Family was a key part of God's plan for the Redeemer.

Up to the time he was about 30 years old, Jesus must have been thinking and planning how he would begin his public ministry. In his plan He had the examples of the Old Testament prophets and of his cousin John the Baptist. More than that, the young man Jesus had the direct guidance of his Heavenly Father. He would carefully make decisions because He  knew the success of his mission would be determined largely by his beginning.

He began in intensive prayer in the wilderness just as his predecessors, the prophets. As a professional rabbi, he called his disciples to follow him  and learn from his example and teachings.  He chose twelve men who represented an inclusive sampling of Jewish society:  four fishermen, one tax collector, a political zealot, and six regular guys who answered his call.

Within weeks, the rag-tag bunch of disciples were "on the road" learning from their Master the ways of the Kingdom of God. Jesus made a good beginning. The next three years were an adventure none of them ever dreamed of experiencing. The Twelve were the vanguard of The New Israel. Jesus succeeded in his mission because of a good start. 

How about us? How were our beginnings? Some of us were baptized as infants by loving parents and a supportive church community. Others of us made our beginning later in life as adults. Whenever we began our life with the Lord, we recall how influential our first steps were. They shaped the direction of our walk with Jesus for years to come.

We might remember a Sunday school teacher, a pastor, a friend, a relative, an author, a conversation, a crisis in our lives that steered us toward faith. Those first experiences opened doors in our lives that determined the course of our lives for years to come. Since then, our walk of discipleship has had its ups and downs, but the importance of its beginnings remain.

What can we learn from all this?

  • Be grateful for your beginnings. Even if they were difficult, they were     vital to bring you where you are today. Treasure the memories.
     
  • Be influential in the beginnings of another person: a child, a fellow worker, a friend, a stranger, someone God places in your life to guide in their spiritual walk.
     
  • Be aware that "each day is the beginning of the rest of your life." Your bad beginnings do not determine your future. Every day we make a new beginning with Christ. Through forgiveness, each day is a new day.      

So, whether you are a novice or "an old hand," you begin in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. That's a good beginning that always produces a good ending.

     "With the Lord begin your task;
      Jesus will direct it.
      For his aid and counsel ask;
Jesus will perfect it.
Ev'ry morning with Jesus rise,
And when day is ended,
In his name then close your eyes;
Be to him commended." *

 

Paul Emmel
The Second Sunday after Epiphany 2020 

Paul EmmelPaul Emmel is a retired pastor in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod, having served as a parish pastor, a correctional chaplain for the Wisconsin Department of Corrections, and a hospital chaplain and a community counselor. As a retired pastor, Paul continues to serve the Lord and His people, including establishing the Minnesota South District’s “Pastors to Prisoners” ministry.  

* Text: Morgan und Abend Segen, Waldenburg, 1734.