Do you remember what a pay phone is? When was the last time you saw one of those? It almost seems as though they have been systematically removed from our sight, and that is because they largely have. We now have smart phones, tablets, Bluetooth; who needs a pay phone anymore? Unless you’re Doctor Who or Superman, you probably haven’t even noticed that pay phones largely don’t exist anymore.

I’m reminded in this New Year, as we have already finished celebrating the coming of Christ into the world at Christmas time, that Bob Dylan’s words will most likely be timeless, “the times they are a changin’.” Our “times” are constantly changing and often we use Christmas time to try and halt that process, and New Year’s to try and jump start it again. But both have always represented new beginnings.

Jesus changed things when he came into the world. He changed how we thought of God, how we talk about God, where we worship God, and who has access to God.

Take John the Baptist for instance. John was catching on to the change that was happening with Jesus. In Matthew 3:1-12 we see John teaching and baptizing in the desert wilderness of Judea (modern day Israel) away from the Temple, which was scandalous to many Jews. In a gripping sentence in verse 11 John says, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but one who is more powerful than I is coming after me… He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” We often think of fire in a destructive sense, and rightfully so. Fire consumes and destroys. We have seen that first hand in the past couple weeks in California with all of the wildfires popping up.

Yet, not all fire that you see mentioned in the Bible is destructive. In fact, we often see fire connected to the work of the Holy Spirit. Why is this? It could be that fire also has a purifying quality to it. Fire represents change. Change that could be painful while you’re going through it, but when you come out, you’re shining like new. The times they are a changin’ and sometimes you have to go through the fire in order to get the best out of that change.

We’re living in a time where lots of things are changing. The world is changing rapidly around us, and some of us fear it is for the worst. But in this New Year, let’s remember to make the most out of the things that are changing. If good change is going to happen in us, with us, and around us, we have to listen to the voice calling out of the wilderness: the voice that is constantly calling all of us out of our comfort zones and rigid rules and traditions and into the unknown. The change Jesus brings is reverse of what the world often expects. The last will be first. The weak will be strong. And those who lose their life for the sake of Christ will gain the world.