Getting to Know God via Glee: Part 6 - God of Commitment

A sermon preached at Journey United Church of Christ on Sunday, July 17, 2011. Based in part on “The God You’re Looking For” by Bill Hybels

Featured Glee Episode: Season 2, Episode 19 “Prom Queen”

Most of you know that I’m a Facebook addict. A crazy almost-starker-like presence. What started as a tool to help me stay connected with my students at UAlbany, has now become woven into the fabric of my life. It helps me keep in touch with family and friends from years ago. It helps manage so much of our life together as a faith community. In fact, it’s turned out to be a huge outreach tool for Journey. The list of things I love about Facebook is long.

But I must confess there is one thing I don’t like about Facebook. It’s the “MAYBE” button. I’ve created a bzillion Facebook events over the years – setting the day and the time, adding a picture and a description and choosing whom to invite. And then I sit back and wait. Usually within minutes I get the first responses “yes” I will attend; “no” I cannot attend … and then there are always the “maybes”. Maybe’s don’t bother me initially, but as the date and time gets closer, I think Facebook should force people to choose – make a commitment already. How can I plan for “maybes”

But alas, the “MAYBE” button is not only part of Facebook, it’s part of our lives, it’s part of our society; it’s part of our world. We live in a world where commitment is almost an anomaly. We want to keep our options open

We don’t wan to choose. Commitment has become the new “dreaded C word”. Employers trade employees, athletes leave one team as soon as another team promises a few more dollars, we frequent a business until a cheaper one comes along, one brand name until a new improved label appears, partners sometimes trade in their spouses, parents sometimes abandon their children…it’s startling just how uncommitted our society has become. 

Today, in contrast to all of that we’re going to re-open this topic of COMMITMEN - God’s commitment to us, our commitment to God, our commitment to other Christians, our commitment to the world around us. It’s kind of ironic that on the one hand we have a humanity created to depend on commitment, yet at the same time and we run from it as if it were the most deadly plaque imaginable

We need to have no such concerns about God. God is eager to make commitments and God delights in being faithful to them. The Bible tell us we have a God who knows faithfulness and who demonstrates commitment like no one else. All the way back in Genesis God started making promises.

God made a startling promise to a childless man named Abram. “I will make you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2-3) If you read thru the Bible you’ll see how God carries that one out, generation after generation. Many times the people are not faithful in return; they don’t keep their promises to God. But that does not keep God from sticking with the commitment. God promised Noah that there would never be another worldwide flood. And God kept that one. God once made a promise to David saying “I’m going the life the nation of Israel to world significance” and under David’s leadership God kept that promise as David led the nation into its golden era. God also made a commitment to Mary and Joseph the parents of Jesus: They would have a supernatural child. God kept that one. God promised the early church in Jerusalem that they would be the launching pad for churches that would someday spread all about the world. And God kept that one.

Bound up in the very heart of God is the propensity to go on record with love, to turn good intentions into rock solid promises that you can bank your life on. Romans 8:39 puts this way … Nothing can separate us from the love of God

There some principles that we can glean from scripture about how God feels about the big “C” word. The first is this: God grieves over our broken commitment. As a pastor I am well aware of how many people have been severely wounded through the breaking of a commitment. Broken commitments from family members, from friends, from those they trusted most. Talking to such folks, I have become intimately familiar with the human pain and suffering that comes as a result of broken commitments; but what has surprised me even more is my growing understanding of how God’s heart breaks over our broken commitments. It goes back to the “sorrow of God” we talked about last week …

That is not to say that if we’ve broken a promise, we’re doomed for life. The second principle is this: God heals the hurt of shattered commitments. In the past few weeks,we’ve spoken of the God of grace, the God of 2nd chances….God offers forgiveness…God offers healing.  

And as much as God grieves over broken commitments, God rejoices in commitment keeping. I think of people who have really followed through on the commitments they’ve made in life. Couples who stick it out. Folks who have not only committed to their own children, but have adopted children, children with special needs. I think of people around this church who have made the commitment be part of this new baby… it’s not always easy.
 
That faithfulness not only honors God, excites God. In fact, it also is made possible through God. An interesting thing happens as we move along our spiritual journeys. As we rely more and more on God’s commitment to us, we often find that commitment flowing out of us as well…we will also become commitment-makers and commitment keepers
 
Response activity: Give everyone a small card with pearl attached and invite them to respond with their own commitments

You may want to think: Are there some commitments in your life that you have broken and need to restore? Are there some commitments that are sagging that you need to firm up? Are there some commitments that you need to renew and reemphasize because they have just gotten a little wishy-washy?

Let us look as some of the commitments that Jesus calls us to.  

Commitment to God: Jesus said “seek ye first the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” Jesus is saying “When you discover the glorious news that I am committed to you, spend a while basking in that truth, but then make a commitment back to me. In fact, I want this to be the primary commitment in your life, the first and foremost commitment you made above everything else.  

Commitment to make a difference: Jesus also said, “You are the salt of the earth. Don’t lose your saltiness. If you lose it, how is it good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled.” Here Jesus is saying “You lived once without a commitment to making a difference with your life, but now you must agree to become my change agent in the world.  

Committed to others: In John 15 Jesus talks about the formation of a new commitment in the lives of his followers. “Love one another … just as I love you… the greatest love a person can have is to give his/her life for them.” In effect, Jesus is saying, Some of you used to be pretty casual about your relationships. If one started to break down, you discarded it like yesterday’s newspapers. Now, all of that must change. I want you to be committed to each other as much as it is within your power to do so.