February Focus - Commitment

This month our parish turns its thoughts to the role commitment plays in faithful living. People of faith are not the only ones who live within the bounds of commitment. The nature of human freedom means that life unfolds out of fundamental commitments people make.

John Milton understood this very well. Paradise Lost, the 17th century epic, expands the story of the fall in the book of Genesis in order to explore the darker side of human experience. Satan and Adam make fundamental opposing commitments. The story relates how Satan undermines Adam's commitment to faithfulness.

Reading Paradise Lost, Satan seems every bit the contemporary American. He denies any higher power beyond the self. Of creation Satan says,

. . .who saw
When this creation was? . . .
We know no time when we were not as now;
Know none before us, self-begot, self-raised
By our own quickening power. . . .
Our puissance is our own. . . .

Satan's commitment is to himself. Puissance means "strength" or "might." Satan claims his strength is his own. No Creator determines the limits of his power. Satan's commitment to self determines everything else about his character.

Adam (before the fall) provides the alternative point of view:

Myself I then perused, and limb by limb
Surveyed. . .
But who I was, or where, or from what cause,
Knew not. . . .
Not of myself--by some great Maker then,
In goodness and in power pre-eminent:
Tell me, how may I know him, how adore. . . .

Unlike Satan, Adam's commitment is to his "Maker." The same evidence -- their own existence -- leads to opposite conclusions. These fundamental commitments influence everything else.

Satan's self-focus generates contempt, cynicism and alienation. The circle of his interest continues to narrow until it collapse into the empty center of the self. Conversely, Adam's grateful heart leads to an expansive and expanding experience of grace and good will. The commitment to God opens Adam to the blessing of life with others as the world grows and continues to grow to include the gift of more and more people capable of mutual friendship.

Paradise is lost when Satan undermines Adam's fundamental commitment to the Creator.

In the biblical perspective each of us awakens in the world crippled by a misdirected commitment that has become a habit shared by the whole of humanity. Only a new commitment, a commitment to life, can break the habit inherited by the ancient commitment to self.

As savior of the world, Jesus saves us and we embrace our salvation as we respond to his invitation to this new commitment. Jesus death on the cross models his commitment to us. In the words of St. Paul, he "breaks the power of sin and death." That is, he beaks the power of our habitual focus on self.

We see the man who hangs on the cross for us. We see in this sacrifice the depth of divine love. In the face of Jesus we see the face of God turn toward us. In that moment we forget ourselves. In that moment we turn toward him and we rediscover paradise. We commit to a new reality no longer centered on self but centered on him.

Spiritual maturity advances through the continued exercise of this new commitment. A newcomer to faith comes seeking something. She may say, "I am seeking God." Or "I am seeking friendship." Or "I am seeking release from life's burden."

Seeking turns to finding only in commitment. A covenant community that embraces the challenge of real commitment in response to the call of Jesus unlocks the door to paradise.

Monthly Focus Archive

2006:

Easter Focus: New Covenant
Lenten Focus: A Covenantal Response to Poverty
February Focus: Moving Forward

2005:

December Focus: Longing
November Focus: The Gift of Years
October Focus: Stewardship
September Focus: Foundations
Summer Focus: The Book of Acts
Easter Focus: Tapestry
Lenten Focus: Rule of Life
January Focus: The Next Wave

2004:

December Focus: Surprising Grace
November Focus: Free Indeed
October Focus: Money Madness
September Focus: The Outrageous Promise
Summer Focus: Into the Fullness
June Focus: Thick Faith
Easter Focus: All Things New
Lent Focus: A Hungry World
February Focus: Commitment
January Focus: Unity

2003:

December Focus: Hope
November Focus: Worship
October Focus: Stewardship
September Focus: Seasons of Faith
Summer Focus: The Gospel of John
May Focus: Faith
April Focus: Resurrection
March Focus: Truth
February Focus: Covenant Groups
January Focus: Sabbath

2002:

December Focus: Shut Up and Sing
November Focus: Spiritual Gifts
October Focus: Stewardship
September Focus: Intentional Faith