Christian Commitment
Fr. William MillsVery often we associate "Christian committment" or "committed to Christ" as meaning "financial committment" to the local parish community. Unfortunately this is not the best way to understand committment. At every liturgical service we heard the deacon or priest exclaim:
"Let us commend ourselves, and each other, and our whole life unto Christ our God."
A synonymn for the word "commend" is "commit" which also means "to dedicate or devote." As members of the worshipping community we are asked to devote or dedicate ourselves to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This means not only coming to Church for Great Vespers on Saturday or the Divine Liturgy on Sunday morning, but reading the Scriptures daily, praying in the morning or evening, and always acknowledging the Lord as the Creator and Master over all. Our entire life should be directed to the Lord as he alone can save us. In order to accomplish this task we need to live out the gospel message in our words and deeds. St. Francis of Assisi a Fransiscan Friar once said to his disciples, "Always preach the Gospel, use words if you have to." What a powerful statement in such few words! As members of the Body of Christ we are to personally cary the gospel in our bodies so that others may see and hopefully believe.
We also have to help others commit themselves to Christ as well. Primarily this is done in the command of "loving the neighbor." By loving the neighbor (not just your next door neighbor) and caring for all their immediate needs (whether physical, financial, or social) we are doing the will of the Lord. Anytime we exclude, speak against, or participate in gossip or slander, we are not loving the neighbor, and therefore, not "committing ourselves" to Christ. Loving the neighbor means ANYONE who comes into our life: White, Black, Asian, Muslim, Jew, Roman Catholic, or Protestant. As human beings we tend to exclude those who look, act, or think differently than we do. The command to love the neighbor breaks down these mental barriers and forces us to deal with the person in front of us at any given moment.
The best image of comitting or devoting oneself to Christ is the one that our Lord gave us when he washed the feet of his disciples (Jn. 13):
Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God, rose and girded himself with a towel. Then he poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples feet, and to wipe them with the towel which he was girded. He came to Simon Peter; and Peter said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not know now, but afterward you will understand." Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no part in me." Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands."
"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him."
This passage is striking in that Jesus, after spending time preaching, teaching, healing, even raising the dead, comes to his disciples and washes their feet, a sign of humility and love. In other words this is a sign of devotion to the neighbor. This foot washing provides an example for how we should live out our life, a life of complete devotion, dedication, and commitment to our Lord which is repeated numerous times in the peition: "Let us commend ourselves, and each other, and our whole life unto Christ our God."