A Word From The Pastor...

We focus on the thing we want to change and lose perspective. In our struggle to keep the resolution we lose sight of the other dimensions of our lives, many of which are good and healthy—and which need our attention and encouragement. The internal battle of wills becomes a locked embrace—which is the very opposite of the root meaning of the word “resolve.”

 

So, am I suggesting that we give up on the idea of self improvement? Certainly not! I am, however, proposing a different approach. That approach has to do with the root meaning of “resolve”: to loosen, to release. Think about it. What lies at the heart of most of our compulsive, often self defeating behavior? Is it a sense of inner freedom? Probably not. More likely we experience an urge or need that we want to satisfy now. This is not freedom. Rather it is captivity to a desire from which we feel helpless to escape. Why do we have these urges that so often get the better of us and diminish our sense of value?

 

The consistent teaching of the Bible is that we human beings have a God-sized hole which only God can fill. Since the worldly world does not recognize God we grow up believing that this hole is bad, a sign of weakness and inadequacy. We spend our lives trying to fill that hole with the things the worldly world values and still feel an emptiness. That emptiness is painful and so it is no surprise that we seek to relieve the pain by doing things that help us temporarily to feel better or at least to gain some distance from the pain, or finally if we cannot escape, to numb the pain. It is no wonder that our January resolutions so often fail! We are up against powers too great for us to overcome on our own.

 

But if the Bible has diagnosed the problem, it also prescribes the solution. The path to release from the desires which drive our lives lies not in engaging in a battle of wills. The path lies in something very simple. We must accept that we have this God sized hole and we must ask God to fill it! In short we must stop fighting. We must admit defeat. This, of course is precisely the opposite of what we are programmed to do.

 

Yet the gospel message is that accepting defeat is exactly what God did in and through his son Jesus. Jesus recognized that no amount of worldly power would heal the rift between God and humankind. Of course Jesus would prevail in a battle of wills. But if he did, then worldly power—the power of human will—would still be the basis for seeking peace and fulfillment. In short, we would still be doomed to fail. So, as the Messiah, Jesus submitted to worldly power and died on the cross. And when God raised him from the dead, Jesus had overcome the death grip of worldly power on human life. The amazing news of the Gospel is that this is an accomplished fact. The battle is over. Life has triumphed over death.

 

This is indeed good news! But, as someone I know very well often says, “That and a quarter (now 50 cents) will get you a phone call.” In other words Christ’s victory accomplishes nothing for you and me if we do not claim his victory for ourselves and allow him to become the guiding presence in our lives. Yet even this is something we cannot accomplish by act of will. Instead we must ask God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. It must become our highest and deepest desire to “loosen”, to “release” to God all that we hold on to. We must admit defeat and become willing to follow Jesus.

 

The path is about willingness and intention. If we are truly willing, God will be faithful!

 

Happy New Year!

 

Stewart