What Now?

“All his commands are dependable. They last for all time; they were given in truth and righteousness. . . He set his people free and made an eternal covenant with them . .  . The way to become wise is to honor the Lord; he gives sound judgment to all who obey his commands.” (Excerpts Psalm 111: 7-10)

We are at the end of another year.  It has been a year of challenges and joys.  As we reflect on the past year, and look ahead to 2019, we ask ourselves what the coming year will bring.  Years ago, Chuck Colson and Nancy Pearcy wrote a book entitled How Now Shall We Live?   The title is derived from Ezekiel 33:10: “How should we then live?” It is a question that we continue to face today.  How shall we approach 2019?  What now?

The Bible gives us answers to the question “How should we then live?” Next Sunday’s texts teach us that living our lives according to God’s precepts is the way to bring meaning to the challenges and chaos of our lives.[1]

The psalmist reminds us that God’s commands are dependable and that they cross all boundaries of time and space.  He praises God for keeping his promises by being kind, merciful, faithful and just: “The Lord does not let us forget his wonderful actions; he is kind and merciful . . . In all he does he is faithful and just; all his commands are dependable. They last for all time; they were given in truth and righteousness. He set his people free and made an eternal covenant with them . . . The way to become wise is to honor the Lord; he gives sound judgment to all who obey his commands” (Excerpts Psalm 111:4, 7-10).

After God delivered the Israelites from Egyptian slavery in 1446 B.C., God told Moses to tell the people to dedicate their first-born males to him as a reminder of his deliverance of them from their Egyptian oppressors.  Thus began the ancient practice of bringing the first-born male to be dedicated or consecrated in the temple as a mark of belief in God: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘Dedicate all the first-born males to me, for every first-born male Israelite and every first-born male animal belongs to me” (Exodus 13: 1-2, Good News Translation).

The Israelites obeyed God’s command to dedicate their first-born sons through the centuries.  In accordance with this tradition, Jesus was brought to the temple to be dedicated to God: “When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord), ‘Every firstborn males is to be consecrated to the Lord’. . .”  (Luke 2:22-23).

We continue to obey God’s command to dedicate our children to God through the work of the Holy Spirit in the sacrament of baptism.  It is the Holy Spirit who does the work; through baptism we are consecrated to God the Father in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

We grow in the faith during our lives, carrying the mark of our baptism on our hearts and souls. As we grow in faith, we seek to obey God’s commandment to love others. Loving others is the outward expression of our faith. Paul emphasized the importance of love: “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity”  Colossians 3:12-14.

Don’t be concerned about what you will wear to various holiday festivities; if you “put on love,” you will be the best-dressed person wherever you go. When your countenance reflects love, you are transformed from a caterpillar to a butterfly—from a frog to a prince, from Cinderella to a princess.  Love is the most attractive force in the world. People are attracted to loving people.

God’s commandment to love others has been in existence since the time of Moses: “But you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord” Leviticus 19: 18.  Jesus also emphasized that loving others is only second in importance to loving God: “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, ‘Of all the commandments, which is the most important?’ ‘The most important one,’ answered Jesus, ‘is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.’”

What now?  How shall you live in 2019?  Why not commit to following God’s commandment to love others as you love yourself?  Love is the mark of a Christian.  The Holy Spirit, working within us, enables us to love others.  Love is the binding agent between us and other people. It is the agent that brings us together in unity.

Is the mark of the Christian stamped on your words and on your actions?  Make a commitment to “put on love” in 2019.  It is something that you can wear every day and still look fresh and new every day that you wear it. “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience . . . And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity”  (Colossians 3:12,14.)  You will wear it well.

Diane Cieslikowski Reagan

[1]The Scripture texts for next Sunday are Exodus 13:1-3, 11-15; Psalm 111; Colossians 3: 12-17; Luke 2:22-40.