A father was skeptical of his teenage son's new found
determination to start weight-lifting, but drove his teenager to a sporting
goods store where they admired a set of weights. “Please, Dad," pleaded the teen, "I
promise I'll use 'em every day."
"I don't know, Michael. It's really a commitment on your part and
they're not cheap either," the father said. "I'll use 'em, Dad, I promise. You'll
see." Finally won over, the father
paid for the equipment and headed for the door. After a few steps, he heard his
son behind him say, "What! You mean I have to carry them to the car?"
To make a promise.
There are of course different levels of promises that we make in life.
For example, over the years I have heard people complain about RSVP's. What does R.S.V.P. mean? It is a French phrase "respondez, s’il vous plaît," which
means "please reply or respond." The person sending the invitation would
like to hear whether you accept or decline the invitation. Will you be coming to the event or
not? It is simple courtesy to
someone who was nice enough to invite you, not to mention knowing how much food
to provide. Nowadays, invitations often
carry a "regrets only" notation at the end so the host will count on your being there unless they hear
otherwise.
Making and keeping promises is fundamental to human
relationships. When companies break
their promises strikes occur. When there
is a breakdown in confidence between the government and the people, revolutions
occur. When there is a general breakdown
in the structure of the family, an entire society is threatened. What is a family but
a community of promises made and kept?
A family is not just two or more people related by blood who happen to
live under one roof. Families dare to
make promises to one another and love each other enough to keep them no matter
what. A family is held together by
promises; where promises fail, families fail, where promises are honored,
families thrive.
Honoring promises says everything about building trust,
about one's character, about keeping one's word, about fulfilling one's
responsibility, about one's values, about respect. People talk about the old days when your word
was your bond or a deal was sealed with a handshake. Now it takes lawyers and pages of
legalese.
According to our Christian faith, because of sin, human
nature is commitment adverse. We try to
avoid making commitments or promises in the first place to ourselves, to others
and to God and have little or no shame in breaking those promises we have
made. Some people spend their lives
either struggling against making commitments or in frantically trying to get
out of them. They say: “I’m
not a joiner,” “I don’t get involved.”
“Maybe, but I can't promise.”
“Sorry, I forgot, something else came along.” “It's your problem, not
mine.” “Find someone else.” “I like to keep my options open!” Honoring promises says far more than any
words we speak. Yes, in the final
analysis words are cheap. “Don't tell me how much you care until you
show me how much you care.” Actions
do indeed speak louder than words.
Are there promises or commitments you have had trouble
keeping? I suspect that's true of most
of us. Can you think of someone who made
and kept a promise to you? Can you think
of someone who broke a promise to you?
Can you think of a promise you have kept? Do you recall a promise you have broken? There are no short cuts in becoming the
person God created and intended you and me to become. It is about seeking God's help and doing the
right thing, even if the right thing isn’t the easy or most expedient
thing. Is there a commitment you are
wrestling with today?
A pastor sent a letter to a family that had not attended
worship for sometime to indicate that they were missed and that he hoped to see
them back soon. A letter came back in response which said: "Rev. Anderson, nice to hear from you,
we have discovered a mega church near us and now go most Sundays. They have outstanding music and nationally
known guest speakers. We had not heard
such music and preaching as that before.
Our children enjoy the many other kids who attend. But best of all, there is no membership, no
pledging, and no expected involvement.
So if you don't mind, we'll just leave our membership at Hyde Park and continue to enjoy what we have here.”
Ministers just love getting letters like that, it really
makes our day, it really lifts our spirits.
It reflects a current attitude on the part of some which says: “I may
join the church, but don’t expect anything of me, don't expect me to be
involved, don't expect me to support the church, I'll stay as long as I'm happy
here, but if something a little more exciting comes along, well!”
And yet, according to the truth of scripture, commitment is
the secret of a joyful, fulfilling, meaningful and faith-filled life. It is the key to moral, spiritual and
emotional growth. We won't grow if we
don't make commitments. Honoring
commitments and promises is the means to building character and authentic and
lasting relationships. As followers of
Jesus Christ, commitment should not be resisted or avoided but instead be
embraced. God came into the world in
Jesus Christ to restore our broken relationship with Him, and expects us to
respond with faith, gratitude, love, and obedience.
God expects us to stay the course, as His witnesses amidst
life’s problems and struggles, unexpected twists and turns, challenges and
difficulties. Romans 6:13 says: “Give yourselves completely to God, every
part of you. You want to be tools in the
hands of God to be used for His good purposes.”
Which leads us to the book of Ruth, one of the most popular
stories in the Old Testament. It is a
story of personal tragedy and, yet, hope that comes from faith in God and God’s
plan and purpose for our lives. We
encounter a young Moabite woman named Ruth, and her Jewish mother-in-law,
Naomi. Naomi and her husband, Elimelech
leave Bethlehem , in Judah ,
because there is a famine in the land, and set out for the country of Moab .
Soon tragedy strikes the family. Naomi’s husband, Elimelech, dies and then
about ten years later, her two sons, Mahlon and Kilion, who had married Moabite
women, also die. That leaves Naomi and
her two Moabite daughters-in-law.
Naomi decides to return to Judah
and encourages her two daughters-in-law to remain in Moab . She prays: “May the Lord show kindness to you as you have shown kindness to me.” Orpah, one daughter in law, leaves and
returns to Moab .
But Ruth was determined to stay with her mother-in-law; they
had formed a special bond and she pledges her loyalty and love in the famous
words from this story: “Where you go I
will go, and where you stay I will stay.
Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be
buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it
ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” It is a story of incredible devotion.
My friends, God has so loved us, that He made an eternal, an
everlasting, an unbreakable commitment to you and to me in the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. And God
wants a response from us that is hot, not luke-warm, full-hearted, not half-hearted,
daily, not occasional, joyful and positive, not negative and resentful.
Why be committed to God? Because God created us and breathed
life into us, because God knows what’s best for us, because God has shaped us
for a purpose, because commitment expresses our gratitude for our salvation,
because our character is forged and shaped by the promises we make and the
commitments we keep, and because God promises to reward commitment. Yes, God will bring us blessings and
benefits, when we put God and his will first in our lives.
Sometimes God calls us through life-changing events to make
new commitments. I recall an interview
with the late television host Art Linkletter.
He made a life-commitment, as a father and Christian, to reach young
people ensnared in the deathtrap of drugs.
Why – because his daughter died from an overdose and his son died in a
drug-related car accident. Art said
this: “Until you are hurt, you can never
truly understand the hurt of others.
When you accept the deep pain, then you begin to realize that you have
expanded your own capability of loving and caring for others. In my own case, the pain in my life started
me on a crusade against drug abuse-trying to help young people and families. Not everybody may be called to start a
crusade as I was, but everybody can reflect love and caring. Every person’s life touches some other life
that needs love today.”
Today is our Day of Commitment. Today is a day to make our promises to God
and each other as brothers and sisters in Christ in response to God's promises
to us through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Our lord wants us to commit not only our
money, but beyond that, our hearts, our minds, our bodies and our souls our
time, talents and faith. I invite you to commit or re-commit your life to God
at this time in prayer.
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