Resolution
January 9th, 2022 – Communion Meditation
As we stand at the head of the year 2022, my attention has been drawn to a number of proclamations of “New Year’s Resolutions.” It can sound positive and occasionally inspiring to read of someone else’s resolution (though I can never seem to find many reports of “End of Year’s Fulfillments”). In my curiosity about words, I got to thinking about “resolution” and what it means. I found dozens of definitions but want to mention just three today.
Firstly, a resolution can refer to determining a course of action. It might seem like a good idea at the time to announce what we’re doing before we do it, but how many times have we set out to do a particular thing, only to encounter contingencies, crises, vicissitudes, vision, circumstances, or surprises that prompt us to alter our course in some way? We may find ourselves wrestling with a new conundrum then – do we announce the new changes, do we try to force the original plan to work, or do we try to save face by hiding and deflecting attention away from our new course? Premature proclamations can cause us and others undue grief, turbulence, or disappointment. The Lord invites us to walk with Him, neither lagging behind or rushing ahead. Galatians 5:25 – “Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.” Proverbs 16:9 – “We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.”
Secondly, in music, resolution is the move of a note or chord from dissonance to consonance. In our spiritual formation journeys, we are invited to notice in our hearts and minds places of consonance or consolation and places of dissonance or desolation. Where do we notice inside of ourselves the growth of love, kindness, empathy, faith, mercy, or hope? We can thank God for these beautiful gifts of the Holy Spirit! Where do we notice inside of ourselves the growth of resentment, ingratitude, selfishness, doubt, fear, or gloominess? We can respond by surrendering and submitting to the Lord whatever feelings and thoughts are out of sync with the Spirit of God, and change our courses accordingly. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 – “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.”
Finally, resolution can also refer to the degree of sharpness of a computer-generated image. None of us wants to be dull, fuzzy, or ineffective in our lives. We are invited to become sharper, more Christlike, through living from a posture of resting in Him, allowing God’s word to have its way in us, and by engaging in community with one another. Hebrews 4:9, 11a, 12 – “So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God . . . let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” Proverbs 27:17 – “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.”
As we meet intentionally with the Lord in this time of Communion, let’s ponder His invitations to us, lay at His feet our hearts, minds, bodies, our very lives, and receive whatever good gifts He wants to give us, and then to be sent back out on mission as His ambassadors. I invite you to join me in meeting with Christ Jesus at His table by receiving the bread and the juice in obedience to His command to His disciples to “do this in remembrance of me.”
We remember you, Lord Jesus! All glory to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
