A Change of Heart Changes Lives

Bob Thompson

            The last Sunday of the year – four days before the start of a new year. Always, at this time of year, talk turns to the resolutions we are going to make for the new year. Nowadays, the talk is mostly cynical – about how long it will be before we break those resolutions. But it isn’t necessarily a bad thing, to be thinking about New Years resolutions.

            I looked up the origins for making New Years Resolutions, and the practice goes back about 4000 years, to the Babylonian Empire. For the Babylonians, and later in the Roman Empire, it was a rededication to the gods, at the beginning of the planting season. In medieval times, the knights took the "peacock vow" at the end of the Christmas season each year to re-affirm their commitment to chivalry.

In church circles – at least in our church circles – the emphasis at this time of year has continued to be about rededicating ourselves to resolutions already made, rather than making new resolutions as is commonly the secular practice.

            In our Methodist heritage, John Wesley drew up a Covenant Service – a renewal of the believers covenant with God. It was first celebrated in August 1755, but it soon became a Watch Night Service on New Years Eve, and whenever I have experienced it, it has been celebrated around the New Year.

            Of course, the tone and language have changed since 1755. Even in the time I have conducted the services, it has been revised and rewritten to try to capture the faith of the people of the time. Some would say it has been watered down, from the flowery and inspiring language Wesley used:

                  “Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.

                  Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

                   Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee.”

It did attempt to reflect the kind of faith that was practiced in 1775, but I hardly think it is the kind of faith we would covenant to practice today. And so, later in the service, I’m going to invite you to join me in a revised version of Wesley’s Covenant Service, which I hope reflects the kind of covenant we are striving to live out, and the kind of life we can feel called to.

            So, how would I describe this vision of the Christian life?  Richard Rohr says that when Jesus began to announce, “Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!”, he was calling us to a lifestyle – a way of being in the world that is simple, non-violent, shared, and loving. Of course, you could say that none of that is particularly Christian. Anyone could commit to live by these values, and many people, who are not Christians do. But if you feel committed to live life the way Jesus lived his and as he taught us – If you believe the kin-dom community Jesus invited us to join is a community described by these values, then renewing a covenant to those practices would give some energy – some strong resolve to living them out.

            But many people would say they live by these values, simply because they represent the deepest and grandest of human endeavour. I believe that Richard Rohr’s response would be that the Earth’s suffering is too great for us to be quibbling about what makes my practice better than yours. And I would agree with him. Let’s resolve to join together, whatever we believe, in this common endeavour.

            That’s not to say that there are no differences in the way Christians live out this covenant. And it doesn’t mean that these differences are not important. Answering Jesus’ call to be “fishers of men” can still mean that we have something important to offer to others, in the way we live out our lives.  

            For one thing, we live out our lifestyle in community. We realize that the suffering of the Earth is great enough, that we must work together if we are going to nurture healing in the world. And people see the strength of community in the way healing is taking place. Canada is lauded around the world, for the way that faith communities have taken in refugees and helped them adjust to their new homes. Though some faith communities have seen themselves as enemies of the LGBT community, others, like ours, have been sanctuary to many gays and lesbians. The Thrift Shop has been a place to serve the marginalized of the community, and the money raised there has helped meet many other community needs. Our lifestyle proclaims that the suffering of the Earth is too great to be met by the actions of individuals, important as they are. We witness to the truth, that we need to work together, whatever we believe, and however we practice – the actions of all of us committed together, if the earth is to be healed.

            For another thing, as a Christian community, we gather weekly to remember our covenant, and to reflect on how we are called to live it out. I believe that is important. With all that goes on in our lives and our world, it is so easy to lose the vision of the new world we are committed to, or to put that vision off. And I believe that we do – Christian and non-Christian alike – lose our focus or put off the living of it. And so, It is important to gather weekly, to be reminded of what we have given ourselves to, and then to go out with words like Linnea Good’s ringing in our ears: 

            “How then shall I live

               How then shall I live,

                How then shall I live O God,

                 How then shall I live.”

            And finally, the way in which we as Christians are called to live out our values, is unique and important. We don’t live by a list of rules like the Pharisees did. We don’t use the Bible like a manual that lays out what we should do in each situation. We are not the people of the book – they are the Muslims with the Koran. We are the people of the Son. S.O.N. Jesus said, “Follow me”. Live the way I do.

            And it was in each encounter, each relationship, that Jesus realized how he would live out his values. He ate with tax collectors. He forgave the woman who had committed adultery, urging her to change her ways. He praised the woman who anointed his feet with oil, but he always championed the poor. That bumper sticker: “What Would Jesus Do?” is probably a good maxim to keep in mind, as long as we don’t assume that we know what Jesus would have done. In this encounter – in this relationship, what would Jesus have done? It takes a lot of work to live like Jesus did. But it means that we don’t treat any person – any thing – as an object under our control or lived according to our rules.

            And so, we really do become kin-dom citizens – learning what is required in each situation, as we live it – what values are important in this context. And in our daily living, and in our daily commitments, the kin-dom really does come near. A new age is upon us.