We’ve had an exciting time these past several weeks looking at what it means to “come to the water” and be transformed and renewed in our faith. Six weeks ago we began by discussing the importance of commitment. Today, we have an opportunity to make some commitments.
We began this series with the idea of commitment as a way of priming the pump so the water will start to flow. We’ve talked about our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service, and our witness.
In keeping with our water metaphor during this sermon series, my prayer has been for each one of us to have buckets that are overflowing. Jesus, in using a reference to water said that this is possible by going after a pearl of great price.
Now is the time to go and buy that pearl—whatever the cost because this is how we can have a growing and vital faith. It’s one thing to see the pearl or to acknowledge that it exists; it’s another thing to actually make the commitment to claim it.
As we we think about priming the pump for a new year of ministry here at Athens First, I want us to remember that we make commitments because God has first made a commitment to us. We’re not initiating this commitment. God has already done that through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.
The psalmist says, “God always stands by his covenant / the commitment he made to a thousand generations.” God is faithful!
God invites us to not only receive new life in Christ, but to also respond to God’s gift of grace and love. God sent Jesus into the world and invites us to live out our faith in Christ.
This is what it means to come to the water by priming the pump. What does it mean for us to make a commitment in living our our faith? Here are some thoughts that might help us in making our commitments.
The first thing is that commitment involves establishing priorities. And we start asking ourselves questions like, “What does it mean for me to be generous in my financial giving? Or maybe God’s calling you to serve in some specific area, and we might be questioning “Can I do that?” Maybe we’re thinking about what it would look like if we made weekly worship more of a priority in our lives.
Let me share a quick story about someone who made a commitment to make prayer a priority in their lives. In one of the churches I served, an elderly member wanted us to know that she was praying for our church every day.
She pointed at a prayer card which our church had sent out to the congregation over a year ago. We had invited the congregation to take that prayer card and keep it in a place where they would see it often and pray that prayer.
It was a prayer that said, “Dear God, thank you for our church. Strengthen us through the power of the Holy Spirit to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world through radical hospitality, passionate worship, intentional faith development, and risk-taking service. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”
It’s a great prayer and I remember how I made a personal commitment to pray that prayer each day. But to be real honest with you, there were many days that I forgot to pray that prayer. And I’m the one who had encouraged our congregation to pray that prayer on a daily basis.
Pointing to this prayer card there in her home, this elderly member said, “I’ve been praying this prayer every single day.”
When I heard that, I thought to myself, “Wow, this member of our church is reminding me of the importance of not only making a commitment but keeping a commitment. Her commitment shows just how much she loves Jesus and her church.”
This church member was making God and the church a top priority in her life. Commitment is what helps us establish our priorities and to know when we have fallen short.
The second thing about commitment is that it involves sacrifice. Today is Reformation Sunday. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a person who was from the Reformed tradition was a 20thcentury Lutheran pastor who was executed by the Nazis during World War II. Dietrich Bonhoeffer talked about the problem of what he referred to as “cheap grace.” That is, we want something that doesn’t cost us much. Real commitment, however, involves sacrifice. Jesus said:
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. (Luke 9:23–24)
Commitment involves sacrifice.
The third thought about commitment is that it involves planning ahead and looking to the future as members of a church family. The church is an important way for us to live out who God has called us to be.
The church is the means by which God brings transformation to our community and world. And this involves thoughtful planning and participation. Commitment helps us to plan both individually and as a community.
In Luke 14, Jesus says, “Don’t begin until you sit down and count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there’s enough money to pay the bills?” Planning ahead allows us to know where we’re going.
God will provide everything that’s necessary for us to follow through as we follow God’s direction in how we are to live out that commitment.
If we fail to plan, then we plan to fail. When a church knows who’s going to serve, what the financial commitment is, that it has people praying, and that it can depend on people committed to weekly worship, that’s a church that is on the move. That’s a church that has a clear mission and focus.
All we have to do is just push back the boundaries that sometimes have limited the church, and God’s Holy Spirit will work through it. Commitment involves planning ahead.
The fourth thing is that commitment involves making some choices. We have to choose what is really important.
Every Sunday morning when we get up, we’re going to make a choice as to whether or not we will worship. If we’ve already made a commitment to be in worship during the year, then we don’t really have to make that choice when we get up in the morning. If we make a commitment to be generous financial givers, then we know what we need to set aside. We have already made some choices. And this is what today is all about; planning ahead.
Penny has a phrase that she has uses a lot. “Make good choices.” She likes to remind the children at her school that they always have a choice and that it’s important to make good choices.
I think the same applies to our faith. We always have a choice to make and it’s important to make good choices through our prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.
Today is all about making good choices. Here’s a thought worth pondering. A year from now, the degree to which we will be growing in our faith, will be directly related to the commitments and the choices we are making now.
The sixth chapter of Romans says: “Don’t you realize that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive his approval.” We’re going to be making some choices in how we live out our faith this coming year at Athens First.
The fifth thing about commitment is that it also involves finishing the task and staying the course. Paul encourages us to persevere when he says in II Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits me.”
Earlier, he wrote: “This is a true saying: If we die with him, we will also live with him. If we endure hardship, we will reign with him.”
Commitment is what enables us to grow in our Christian faith.
So, commitment involves establishing priorities, sacrifice, and planning ahead. It involves making good choices and then staying the course.
There’s another side to all of this. God invites us to be committed to one another. We are a team. Commitment helps us to be there for each other. In 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Pauls writes, “encourage each other and build each other up,” and then in Romans 15:7, “accept each other just as Christ has accepted you.”
In the church, there is a lot of diversity. We have different passions, different gifts, different personalities, different faith experiences. But we are a team when the whole group comes together and each person is able to use his or her resources and gifts to be a blessing to others. When that happens, the church comes together as the Body of Christ.
Sometime this week, many of us will be receiving a church mailing that will give us the opportunity to make a financial commitment to Christ and his church as we prepare for a new year of ministry.
After we prayerfully make our commitments, we are invited to return those commitment forms back to the church through the mail at our earliest convenience.
Last March, when churches began closing their buildings due to the coronavirus, pastors were wondering what would happen to their congregations. Would the people still participate through online worship? Would people stop giving to the church? Would the church even survive through a global pandemic with so many unknowns.
And what I found even at the very beginning of all of this is that churches are very resilient. Like, you are some of the toughest people I know!
You haven’t stopped giving. In fact, our giving has been keeping pace as if nothing had ever happened. You haven’t stopped praying because every Tuesday, I see those prayer requests on our email prayer chain. You haven’t stopped worshiping because we continue to receive a lot of comments of how much you appreciate our online services.
And you haven’t stopped serving because you have found a new way to restart Monday Lunch with curbside pick-up. You have provided a meal for the people at Good Works. And you haven’t stopped sharing your faith because you keep sharing your “thin place” moments over the phone or through your online small group meetings or through your posts on Facebook.
And I think the reason our church has been so resilient is because somewhere way back when, you made a commitment to live out your faith the best you can. You can always trace a church’s vitality back to the time when commitments were made.
And just think. This time next year, we will all be wondering, “WOW, how did our church not only survive, but even thrive after all we’ve been through? How can it be possible that our buckets are not only filled but they’re overflowing?”
And that’s when we’ll remember that it was because we spent these past several weeks priming the pump to be the best church we can possibly be.
[This sermon is based on the resource, Treasures of the Transformed Life, Abingdon Press, 2006.]
Holy God, during this week of commitment in which we will be given the opportunity to come to the water and offer you our prayers, presence, gifts, and service, remind us of your overflowing grace and faithfulness in our lives. We trust that you will strengthen our resolve to be your devoted followers especially as we prepare for a new year of ministry. We pray this through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
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