Be It Resolved

When you make a vow to God, do not delay fulfilling it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill what you vow.

                                 --Ecclesiastes 5:4

As the New Year begins, we once again begin to make and try to live into our resolutions. 

One that I hope to keep in the coming year is to live more fully into my own faith practice. For me, that means trying to live into being a disciple of Jesus—a task I am sure I will never complete, nor ever achieve in any modicum of perfection (and again I pause to give thanks for the gift of grace!). But I still want to be sure I make the effort to try, for then I am also sure, that through grace, I can work for grace, peace, and hope where I am. 

I believe with my whole being that the call of the Gospel is to live as one formed and shaped by God’s compassion—that self-emptying, other-centered love embodied in Jesus. That means that our work is to respond to Jesus redemption by being Jesus for the world. 

So, my resolution is to continue to work at the work of the faith—

Proclaim the good news in word, deed, and simple presence

Tell others why I am doing so (i.e., pointing to Jesus)

Care compassionately for any human being before me because they are a 

                child of God

My further hope is that you will all join me. I say this not as a demand or a command. I say this as an invitation. Join me. 

Last year, we saw momentous changes no one really saw coming. We also saw a continuation of the darkness of terror, violence, and warfare in far too many corners of the world. We saw our neighbors deemed outsiders and other suddenly fearful that their neighbors would turn against them, emboldened by the public statements of bigotry, mysogyny, and other buy-ins into a culture of fear that turns one against another. 

Our communities need a different message. They need and long for the word of indefatigable hope we just loudly and profoundly proclaimed in our Christmas celebrations. They need the word of welcome God offers to every single one of our seven billion siblings on the planet. They need to power of transformation and transcendence that comes through lived compassion. 

So, let us all resolve in our fellowships of Jesus to be Jesus in the world. Let us resolve to take compassion into our interactions. Let us resolve to present kindness in our presence within our neighborhoods. Let us show the power of love as tangible, relevant, and possible. 

May the light of Christ shine brightly forth from within all of our communions this year.