A Note from Pastor Mindy….
200 years ago, Grace United Church of Christ was formed…so what does that mean? For me it means…. Covenant and Commitment…words in the thesaurus that are used as synonyms are:
Promise
Pledge
Vow
Obligation
Assurance
Dedication
All are very strong words that say that when we are committed to something we give our trust to it, when we are in covenant we follow through. When we are committed to God, we give God our all. When we are in covenant with God we trust God, we put God first, and we help one another, we follow through, we aren’t wishy-washy. We are committed in our love of Jesus Christ; we follow through on our baptismal promises, our promises of membership and confirmation. We are people who love God, and commit ourselves to what that means to be in covenant with God in our lives in this world.
“In all our living, we belong to God; and in our dying, we are still with God; so, whether living, or whether dying, we belong to God; we belong to God.
God sent Christ Jesus to be our shalom, to show us mercy and healing love; so, in our living, and in our dying, Christ is our shalom, Christ is our shalom.”
The above is a hymn transcribed by Gertrude Suppe after she heard it sung by two women visiting California from Mexico.
I believe, that this hymn says what commitment/ covenant are all about.. what our baptismal promises are all about… What it means to belong to God.
Another hymn…this is an African-American spiritual and I believe speaks boldly about commitment/covenant.
“Guide my feet while I run this race, guide my feet while I run this race, guide my feet while I run this race, for I don’t want to run this race in vain.
Hold my hand while I run this race, hold my hand while I run this race, hold my hand while I run this race, for I don’t want to run this race in vain.
I’m your child while I run this race, I’m your child while I run this race, I’m your child while I run this race, for I don’t want to run this race in vain.
Stand by me while I run this race, stand by me while I run this race, stand by me while I run this race, for I don’t want to run this race in vain.”
What are you committed to? Are you following through on your covenant with God?
Being in covenant means that we say yes, when we would really rather not, our fore parents said yes 200 years ago. Being in covenant means we love one another, no matter if we agree with the person or not, it means we work hard to be the “family” that we have been called to be, it means we stand up for one another and love them, it means it is a choice we make and we follow through even when we don’t feel like it. 200 years ago, our “family” believed that we would continue on this journey, that we would grow in faith, that we would love as Jesus loved. 200 years ago, a community of faith was formed, we continue to commit ourselves, to dedicate ourselves to Jesus Christ. It isn’t always easy, but it is what God wants from us, to be committed and in covenant.