The first section of our covenant is about beginning. We believe that faith is a journey and not a one-time arrival. So, while there is obviously the beginning of a faith journey in the sense that one must make the very first decision to take the very first steps towards a relationship with Christ, the journey doesn’t end there. Scripture is full of language that emphasizes this idea that faith is not something we mystically achieve and mark off of our list.Faith is at times strong, at times weak, and at times we may even doubt it’s there at all. We acknowledge this, and we realize that in those times we feel weak, in those times that we have become complacent or settled for who and how we are; we must begin again. This is why Paul says things in Scripture like “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling” or “run the race marked out for you”. Perhaps one of the best examples from Paul is when he says of his own faith, “Not that I have already obtained all this or been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” Another vivid example of the twists and turns of our faith journey would be Peter, the disciple of Jesus. Peter at one time had faith enough to walk on water, but moments later doubted and sank. Peter at one time had such fierce faith in Jesus as his Lord that he cut off the ear of one of the men who came to arrest Jesus, but later that same night Peter would shrink back and deny ever even knowing Jesus on three different occassions.
The example of a faith journey that we see in Scripture makes it clear that when we mess up or wander away, it’s not “game over.” Quite the opposite actually. In the gospel of John we read that after Jesus was resurrected from the dead, he went for a walk on the beach with Peter. While walking on the beach, Jesus asks Peter 3 different times if he loves him, and all 3 times Peter replies that he does. Jesus is allowing Peter to begin again. For each time that Peter seemed to have failed, Jesus allows him to start over again.
It’s kind of like when we would play kickball as kids and we would run up, kick with all of our might and …miss the ball. “Do over! Do over!” we would yell, “that one didn’t count”, “give me another chance”. We believe that God is the God of second chances, and third, and fourth, and… well, you get the picture.
So, we will covenant together to begin again each day, each hour, each minute, if necessary. In so doing, we are refusing to settle for where or how we are, and are always looking toward the people we are called to be.