Colossians 3: 12-17
Today we stand on the cusp of a new year. The year 2007 is just a step or leap away. Many of us will practice the age-old tradition of creating new goals or resolutions for ourselves. We will review our lives and the year that just passed. We will reflect on the things that we did, the things that we didn’t do and the things that we wish we had not done. After that reflection we will create a new plan, wish list, goals or objectives
In verse 13 of today’s selected scripture, we are told to forgive. For me that forgiveness is not only pointed toward others and how I perceive my relationship with them. It is also pointed toward myself and how I perceive my relationship with myself. The writer of Colossians reminds us that we forgive because we have been forgiven. I remind myself that I need to accept the forgiveness from God as I review the resolutions never kept. I remind myself of God’s forgiveness as the character defects show up year after year on the “New Year Resolutions” list.
In verse 14 we are reminded to love because it “binds all things together in perfect unity.” I remember the song from my teenage years: “What the world needs now, is love, sweet love.” More years have gone by since that song was a hit than I would like to believe. Yet the world is at more unrest and unloving now than it was when the song was a hit. Our own nation and church are in turmoil and power struggles. In the 1960’s it seemed that racial issues and a war would tear us apart. Now it appears that sexuality issues and a war will tear us apart.
I have decided to depart from my normal list of New Year’s resolutions. I am not going to resolve to lose weight, take a trip, win the lottery, read a book a month, or read my bible daily. This year I am going to resolve to forgive my neighbor, my enemies, and myself. I am going to resolve to love others even when it makes me uncomfortable. Lastly, I am going to resolve to pray that others will forgive and love also. I invite you to join me in my “New Year’s Resolution.”
Rev. David Johnson
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