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POWER of AGREEMENT

Vows – The Power Of Agreement

‘A community is a fellowship of little people,
who together make God visible to the world.’
(Henri Nouwen)

Vow – meaning to make a solemn promise,
especially to God.

Culturally and theologically, many of us have not grown up with a natural awareness of the pure power of a vow. This would have been common to God’s people in the past such as the heroes and heroines of faith in Hebrew 11. Interestingly, the original word for vow comes from the same word meaning sacrament, the purest form of course, being the sacrament of life itself.

Observations of history and contemporary culture could give us the view that we as humanity swerve to lifestyle day and night rituals and form behaviour patterns based on our belief systems and learned behaviours. Often this evolves slowly through the process of the unconscious leading to unconscious competence in how many learn to live life. As a result, it can be easy for society to submit to ‘unspoken vows’; consumerism, materialism, hedonism, polytheism and the great god of ‘I’. God calls us to choose life (Deut 31). As Paul says, ‘Watch your life and thinking closely.’ Start watching yourself during your day. You might see things you’ve never seen before. I think we all might be surprised. Are you aware or do you slip into a deep sleep, speeding through life, sleepwalking? Choose life…by our simple choices we slowly shape a new life and our deep dreams and high hopes start to become true through the choices we make.

Vows are simply part of the natural laws of life. The holistic spirituality of the forefathers of our faith understood this important rule of life with their naturally supernatural Hebrew world-view. Vows and covenants are all part of the power of agreement at work in the universe, spoken and unspoken, known and unknown, between partners and friends. God loves to make friends, just like you and I. The story of scripture unfolds this great truth and the incredible fact that this amazing 3 in 1 God doesn’t work alone. The Trinity loves teamwork. Stunning eh?

Our lovesick father also desires people to agree with and work with, not to control, but to walk with, wrestle with and work with. Friends. God prefers relationships to individuals, friends rather than clones and people to partner with on this remarkable expedition. The apostle Paul describes this amazing adventure as an invitation to become a partner with God. There are partners living for agreed, good, powerful promises right through scripture, starting with a promise to the land with Noah, then a promise to all peoples through Abraham (with a sign for life marked on every Hebrew boy’s body – ouch). Later, a ‘promised land’, thousands of prophet-promises fulfilled in the life of Christ and the list goes on…’I will be with you always.’ Promised life.

So what? So what does Jesus say about the power of agreement? Jesus picks up this important point and for once the perpetual, parable warrior-poet, suprisingly does not make us work hard for it. There must be a point to that. In Matthew 18 v 18-19 (Jesus echoes this again in John 15 v 1 – 17), Jesus talks about the power of agreement. Jesus encourages and commands us to ask for anything ‘in his name.’ Then drives it home by saying, ‘I tell you the truth…if two or more of you agree about anything it will be done for you…’ It makes you wonder what the teachers of the law were saying! When we take a vow, we are forming a covenant with God, a partnership. Be careful to read the small print, there’s loads of outrageous grace but unlike divorce, there is not a get out clause. It’s for life – ‘Til death do us part. Whole-hearted not half-hearted. Choose life.

When we make a vow to God we are in essence, renewing our commitment to love God and each other (Luke 10). We are renewing the New Covenant and the ancient promises of the past rooted with those willing fools who first agreed to partner, the promise-keepers Abraham and Noah. Many made vows or covenants in scripture; the Nazirites (John The Baptist), Samson, David, Jonathan, Solomon, Jeremiah, Jonah, Anna (Mrs 24-7 – Luke 2), Paul. And of course, Jesus who vowed to fulfil his father’s good will to ‘take the cup…not my will but yours be done’ in his life, death and resurrection. Hebrews goes onto say, ‘Jesus learnt obedience by what he suffered as a son and gave up many loud cries and tears to God’ this is hard for our mini-minds to understand. God chose life.

On this journey we don’t claim to have got it all right, there are many lessons for us to learn. The L-plates stay on. Like Abraham, who started the partnership with the power of agreement, there are many things he did not do brilliantly and he got a lot wrong, but he got one thing right, he just kept on going. We intend to take our vows, agreeing together, asking ‘in his name’, to renew our partnership, playing our part on Abba’s knee because we choose to keep going. Now, next year and in 50 years time, by the grace of God, believing and dreaming that this may become a global gathering, a hidden seed movement of God’s Spirit. A partnership with God, without borders or boundaries. With God, a little grass roots movement can grow into great things to glorify him. Grass really can grow through concrete. Together, we will choose life.

    We invite you to partner, to promise, to agree and ask in his name.
                    We invite you to take a vow.
                                    We invite you to choose life…

This is one of the prayers I am praying as I choose to take my vow for Jesus, a life surrendered to God:

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

- Thomas Merton

Article submitted by Justin Blake.

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