Instead of New Year’s resolutions, I have something else in
mind: New Year’s Revolutions.
A revolution is a radical change, a change at the root, a complete
turning. A revolution casts out forces of death and replaces them with forces
that are just and life-giving.
I’m not talking about fomenting revolution this New Year.
I’m talking about being a part of revolutions that God is already bringing
about. You may feel stuck, you may feel trapped, you may be unable to see any
signs of change or hope, but know this: God is bringing about revolutions in
your life, in this city, in our country, in the world.
The question for us this New Year is, will we be awake for God’s Revolutions? Will we swing wide
the gates and dance on the walls? Or will we board up our windows and leave
town? Will we hold on so tightly to what we have and what we think we know that
we fail to embrace God’s new creation that can only be good news for all of us?
One revolution taking place in our midst is #BlackLivesMatter. God is in this. God
is saying, ‘I have heard the cries of my people.’ God is saying, ‘No longer
shall a child be born into calamity or a young man die in vain.’ That is what #BlackLivesMatter is about. The movement
is the target of every kind of vitriol, every manner of critique about
substance, style, strategy and timing – the same kind of criticisms leveled at
Martin Luther King from all quarters when he decided to come to Birmingham.
But know this: God is in this. God is working a Revolution
to dismantle a system of oppression that is larger than the sum of its parts
and damages All Lives touched by it. We
will all look back and remember how horribly wrong things once went, and how we
came together with the mighty Spirit of God in 2015 to create a system that was
more just, trustworthy and compassionate – for black, and Blue, and all the
rest of us. Because yes, #AllLivesMatter.
We are one body. We will all be set free.
New Year’s Revolutions
will mean different things for different people, but regardless of who you are or
where you are, remember this:
Forgiveness is revolutionary.
Not striking back is revolutionary.
Loving your enemies is revolutionary.
Standing with the powerless is revolutionary.
Feeding the hungry, visiting those in prison, sitting with
those who are suffering –these are revolutionary acts.
Putting people ahead of profits, relationships ahead of
rewards – do you know how revolutionary that is?
God is doing a new thing – can you not behold it? And I don’t
want to miss it -- that’s my New Year’s Resolution.
No comments:
Post a Comment