What Does 2018 Require From You?
Today (January 06th) is Epiphany on the Canadian Church Calendar and tomorrow, the first Sunday after Epiphany is Baptism of the Lord Sunday. Now the subject of the baptism of Jesus has always been a thought provoking topic for me. Jesus is said to have been baptized by the desert preacher John the Baptist who railed against the sins of society and demanded a metanoia; a change of heart; a conversion; a transformation in the way people thought, acted and lived their lives. John encouraged baptism as a sign of people’s “turn-around” and commitment to a more centered focused and spirit-guided life.
I think it’s appropriate that churches have historically raised-up, early in a New Calendar Year, a Biblical story advocating changes and turn-arounds needing to be made within ourselves firstly and by extension in the lives of the communities in which we live. What kinds of changes and turn-arounds ought we to be contemplating as we move into 2018 as dwellers on a blue oasis called planet Earth and as residents of the province of New Brunswick? It seems we have lots to think about.
As Earth dwellers we are hearing countless voices pleading for changes in the way we live and consume. Like never before in our lives, we are being admonished to protect, honour and care for the sacred elements which sustain all of life: earth, air, fire and water. As New Brunswickers we are hearing council from elders reminding us that we are seriously challenged fiscally in our province. Consequently significant clever imagination and creativity are now required to find our way forward – toward a sustainable and hope-filled future.
In thinking about tomorrow, Baptism of the Lord Sunday and John the Baptist’s call to change and turn-around in critical areas of our lives, I opened up a book I hadn’t yet read titled 13 Ways to Kill Your Community by Doug Griffiths. I was immediately drawn to some of Griffith’s wisdom shared in the prologue where he makes the following observations based on his work in hundreds of communities: “I doubt the government can fix any person’s problem if the person doesn’t want to fix it themselves..”; “The people of any community are the catalysts for its success or failure.”; “It is our attitudes that ultimately lead to our success or failure as communities, organizations, businesses, industries and ultimately …as the human race.”
Adopting helpful and realistic attitudes toward the challenges facing us both globally and in our own province will be vital as 2018 unfolds. What good stories can we recall from our past experiences where-in big challenges were met and addressed effectively by the imagination and creativity of people just like us working together to solve the pressing issues of a particular day? Recently I went and saw the movie Darkest Hour (focusing on the trials of Winston Churchill) with some friends. I experienced that movie as an inspirational story for people facing challenging times. For those of us who claim Christianity as our faith tradition of choice this is a time of year when we lift up the inspiration found in the stories surrounding Jesus baptism. Have you ever found yourself asking yourself what exactly may have ignited Jesus’ decision to be baptized in the Jordan River at a time when many others were being baptized by the desert preacher John the Baptist – who was telling people about certain vital changes which they needed to be making in their lives? Could there be any possibility that Jesus could have been deeply impacted, touched, inspired by the enthusiastic commitments being made by the Judean community. Could there be any possibility that Jesus may have been so moved by the positive and just community response to the prophetic words of John the Baptist that Jesus himself decided the time had finally arrived for him to become publically engaged as well. Could his Baptism have been both an endorsement of the words of John as well as a personal commitment to now begin sharing ‘publically’ in the responsibility of seeking a better day for all. What kind of thoughts, questions and inspiration have come to mind for you as the Church prepares to celebrate Baptism of Jesus Sunday 2018?
Jim MacDonald serves in ministry with the congregation
of Central United Church – an Affirming Ministry and
Founding partner in the Community Peace Centre Inc.