The Bones We've Been Carrying (A New Years Reflection)

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, “When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.” (Gen 50:24-27)

Bones are a strange image to choose for the celebration of New Years. Certainly, in our culture New Years has become a celebration of germinating opportunity. Many in our lot, even this year, will make check-lists of “resolutions” – promises to ourselves that this year will be the “best one yet.” But this year our rituals of self-improvement don’t quite capture the grief of this past year – opportunities missed, loved ones lost, time we won’t get back. In the Year of our Lord 2020, we have learned perhaps too quickly that our dreams and ambitions all hang on the whims of forces larger than ourselves.

So, instead of asking what resolutions we will make this year, I propose a different question: What from this past year do we need to bury as move into the next?

The conclusion of Joseph’s dramatic saga in the Hebrew Bible is poignant and prescient. Ultimately, though Joseph has traveled through heartache, betrayal, and reconciliation, like Moses, he does not live long enough to be laid to rest in the land of his ancestors. Joseph knew the disappointment that comes with cancelled plans and failed promises. Knowing things won’t turn out how he wants, he commissions the Israelites to watch over his remains until he can be buried in the sepulcher of his fathers. Reading the book of Joshua, we know that the Israelites fulfilled that promise (Josh. 24:32). Even in burial, God’s faithfulness remains.

The ancient rabbis in the Talmud describe how God’s people carried the bones of Joseph side-by-side with the Ark of the Covenant as they made their way to the promised land. This year, like those faithful Israelites, are we wielding bones that we must bury – that we must learn to let go? But what are these bones: disappointment, fear, stifled ambitions, resentment? In this next year, is it time for us to release what we carry so that we can see God’s promises in this next chapter of our lives?

God’s word never returns empty. At Christmas we remember the God who did not just bear bones but wore them – the One who took on the fullness of our flesh in Jesus Christ. So, whatever you have been carrying this Advent season and need to let go, know that nothing is wasted in God’s story of our redemption. Even these bones will live.

Originally published in Second Presbyterian Church's newsletter The Spire (Advent, 2020).