"Performative Resolutions"
Well, it’s time once again for us to all consider making New Year Resolutions. Go to the gym, eat healthier, stop smoking, drink more water and drink less of everything else. Either improve our work-life balance or completely destroy it to be more successful.
Small business owners resolving to grow their customer base is like saying, 'I resolve to make more money this year.' Wow. Groundbreaking—who woulda thought? CEOs resolving to increase innovation and growth probably means having more meetings to figure out how to have less meetings.
People will make all kinds of resolutions. Spend more time with their kids, have date nights, read a book on how to stop being a terrible person. Find a book that can explain how to stop being a terrible person. Give away copies to all the terrible people you know. Wonder what it means if people give the same book to me.
Or, since we’re in church, some people will make Jesus focused resolutions. Like, pray more, read the Bible all the way through this year, go to church more often, make sure my kids grow up going to church, join one of the small group Bible studies, stay awake during the sermon at least once a month. That’d be ambitious for some people. Ha.
I had a few New Year Resolutions last year and I’m actually still doing them. I resolved to get up early, pray and go to the gym first thing in the morning before I do anything else. Is there a cash prize for keeping a New Year Resolution for the whole year? I know, exercise and prayer are their own reward, I get it. Still—if you hear of one.
I’m thinking about skipping the gym part for the next two weeks—just to let all the newbies get it out of their system and quit so I can get back to enjoying access to all the machines. And so I don’t have to watch people strutting around in their Christmas yoga pants using all the equipment wrong.
Skipping the gym for the next couple of weeks is really a public service if you think about it. Plus, God will have a lot less to forgive me for—all those critical thoughts I’d have with people doing ridiculous acrobatic maneuvers on the squat machine, watching them destroy their knees and making long-term financial security for their future orthopedic surgeons.
Not really. I’ll keep going. Most people don’t even last a week anyway—it’ll be fun to notice how quickly the resolution revolutionaries thin their ranks.
I’m pretty sure the main reason I was able to keep last year’s resolutions going was because I told people I was doing it—well, that, and I built it into my daily schedule.
I told my friends and family, I even told people on social media. So, I was opening myself up for ridicule if I gave up. Also, I told God what my intentions were. “Lord, I want to make prayer and exercise top priority first thing in the morning—would you please help me do that?” And He did.
Proverbs 16:3 says,
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” Sounds a lot like New Year Resolutions to me.
I have a few ideas for you to consider adding to your New Year Resolution plans. Two of them are not going to shock you in the slightest. If I were to ask you to write down your guesses for what my suggestions are going to be, I think most of you would get the first two no problem.
Go ahead and guess in your mind what you think they are…don’t say it out loud. [Jeopardy theme song]
(Interrupt with next slide when I start talking)
Pastor Frank’s NewChurch Resolutions:
Attend Sunday Worship Faithfully.
Be Faithful in Your Tithes and Offerings.
???
Anyone shocked?
You probably think you know what the third one is, too. Something that involves the word “freakin’” but you’d be wrong. I don’t think anyone will be able to guess the third resolution.
Isaiah 43:25 says, “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”
I, I am He. Two emphatic confessions referring to who God is and what God does—two things that are inseparable. And God elevates the proclamation of these things above everything else. God is the one who blots out sins—God is the one who forgives sins completely—for His own name’s sake. He promises not to remember your sins against you.
Chapter 43 of Isaiah is a courtroom setting. God is the Judge. It pictures a day when God will hear all of the crimes against His people and declare them “not guilty” because of the future Savior and Redeemer.
So, picture what’s happening there: You are standing before God, all of your sins are being brought into the light, the accuser is listing them one by one. It’s humiliating. You’re guilty as… well, sin.
But then God renders His verdict. He says the words that set you free. “Not guilty.”
This is called “performative language.” Words that change things. Words that do something—words that make something happen.
It’s not the same thing as “descriptive language.” Descriptive language would be the judge saying something like, “So, you know, as a judge, I have the power to forgive your sins. If I just say the words then you will be acquitted.”
Kind of like when preachers say something like, “God sent Jesus into the world to die for sinners and to forgive sins—to save people.” That’s all true but it’s just descriptive, it doesn’t get it done.
They need to be like the judge and use the power they’ve been given to actually do it—make it happen. Say the verdict out loud, “Not guilty!” “Your sins are forgiven because of Jesus.” Boom! Done. You’re free to go! Proclaim it. “There is no longer a problem between you and God. Your sins are remembered against you no longer!”
See the difference? It’s the difference between giving theoretical information and creating a new reality.
Descriptive language says, “Jesus forgives sins.” Performative language says, “Your sins are forgiven—Jesus told me to let you know!”
This is how pastors and preachers should be proclaiming the Gospel but most of them don’t. Most of them, if they talk about the Gospel at all, just describe it—they don’t do it. They don’t give it. They don’t apply it. They just hold it up and admire it but they never give it to the people listening.
But it’s not just pastors and preachers who should be doing this. Jesus gave this authority to all of His followers. To all of us.
In Matthew 16:19 Jesus says to His followers,
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
And if that’s too hard to understand because He uses the idea of keys to illustrate the power and authority He’s given all of us, listen to the same idea in John 20:23—Jesus tells His followers, “If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
We have to actually do it—have to actually say it. If we neglect our duty, it doesn’t happen. Speaking in the name of Jesus, you have to forgive people’s sins or they will not be forgiven.
So, this is my third New Year Resolution suggestion: Use performative language to apply the Gospel.
When someone says they’re sorry (for whatever reason). Instead of saying, “Don’t worry about it.” Or, “No big deal.” Or, “It’s okay.” Say this instead, “I forgive you.” Say, “You know what’s awesome? You’re forgiven!” Say, “We all mess up sometimes, but thanks be to God, He’s not going to hold it against you—and neither am I.”
Performative language also includes when we confess things. Like, “I pledge my life, my fortune, and my sacred honor”—there’s power in those words.
“I take thee, Kim, to be my lawful wedded wife.” That sentence changed things for me and for Kim. “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” Those aren’t just words—after those words are spoken you have a new reality and you’re going to need to get a lawyer involved if you want to change your situation.
So, what does it mean to be a Christian? Have you thought about that? What does it mean to be a Christian—in the simplest words possible?
There’s probably a few ways to answer that question but I would say at the center, the most basic thing it means is that a person believes Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who came to save the world and make peace between God and mankind. Romans 10:9 says it simply like this,
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
When you say and believe, “Jesus is Lord,” you become a Christian. Performative language. Once you say it, something changes—everything changes. There’s a lifetime of details that follow that simple confession, a lifetime of things to learn, to believe, to follow through on with actions—but just like saying, “I do” in a wedding ceremony—something changed when you confessed that “Jesus is Lord” and believed God raised Him from the dead—that it means something for you, when you believe Jesus is your Lord, that the resurrection was for you.
What does this have to do with New Year Resolutions?
I want you to make a commitment to use performative language to apply the Gospel—to other people and to yourself. Don’t just talk “about” the Gospel—make it happen.
Say this out loud, say, “Jesus is Lord.” (Jesus is Lord.)
How’d that feel? Did you mean it? Do you believe it?
Say it again like you mean it. (Jesus is Lord.)
Man. We can change the world with a confession like that.
What does it mean for us that Jesus is Lord? It means at least two big things:
It means He gets to tell us how to live our lives, what to do with our time, how to treat people, what to do with our talents and money—if Jesus is our Lord then we are not our own Lord. We can spend the rest of our lives trying to get all those things right. None of us are going to be very good at it but if we confess that Jesus is Lord, then we believe He knows better than we do and His ways are better than our ways.
But if Jesus is Lord it means something else, too. It means He’s not a harsh Lord—Jesus is a loving Lord. A kind and patient Lord. It means He not only has the authority and power to forgive you of all the ways you don’t do what He says, it means He wants to. “Jesus is Lord” means your sins are forgiven.
Performative language: You say Jesus is Lord, and you are saved. You tell people their sins are forgiven because of Jesus and God forgives their sins—and they’re saved.
I really want to encourage you to make saying performative statements your top resolution this year. Wake up in the morning and tell Jesus He’s your Lord. First thing. Then look for opportunities throughout the day to find the least awkward ways possible to give people grace through your words. Now and then someone will apologize and you’ll have the opening to hit a home run, “I forgive you, there’s no problem between us.” If you think they’re a believer, then you can add, “And God forgives you, too. We’re good!”
But usually you don’t have to be so potentially weird. Say things like, “Hey, I just want to let you know I see how hard you’re working—or whatever you can affirm. Tell them they’re making a big difference—that they are appreciated. Or if they tell you about something going on in their life, some situation they’re going through, don’t just tell them you’ll pray for them—use the moment to make it happen. Send them a prayer that includes performative language. Like, “God, I’m thankful that You care about my friend even more than I do, You love them and want what is ultimately good for them. Let them know that they are forgiven and have been promised all the hope in the world.”
This performative versus descriptive thing is a big Lutheran idea. No one else puts quite the emphasis on it that we do. It’s probably the most important thing that distinguishes us from other Christian churches. Other churches will tell you about the Gospel but the Lutheran idea is to actually apply the Gospel in the sermon and in the sacraments.
Like today, right after the sermon, we’re going to celebrate Holy Communion. I like to call it our altar call. Sometimes other churches will have this thing after the sermon where they encourage everyone to pray—every head bowed, every eye closed, no one looking around—and then they’ll try to get people to raise their hand, or stand, eventually get them to come forward as a response to the message. The idea is that if people take a step toward confessing their faith then it’ll be more real, more meaningful to them. I get it but we don’t do that.
Instead we have an altar call for everyone to come forward and receive forgiveness and salvation. We believe the bread and wine have the real presence of Christ’s body and blood in a mysterious way—that somehow Jesus is truly present in, with, and under the bread and wine. Also that eating and drinking the bread and wine is a means of grace—we actually receive the benefit of what Jesus did for us on the cross in the Lord’s Supper when bread and wine are offered with the words of promise. So, eating and drinking, and the words of promise are performative—they do what they say. “This bread is the body of our Lord given for you. This wine is His blood that was shed for the forgiveness of your sin. Eat and drink knowing that you are forgiven because of Jesus.” Even if you pass on the bread and the wine, you can come forward to receive absolution through the performative words of grace. So, we’re going to do all that in a few minutes.
Today is New Year’s Eve. Tonight the world recognizes that it will have been 2,024 years since Jesus was here. There will be celebrations in every major city of the world. People of all walks of life, every religion in the world, every confession and creed—everyone is going to bear witness, whether they know it or not, whether they like it or not—they’re going to bear witness to the fact that Jesus Christ walked the earth 2,024 years ago.
And a lot of resolutions are going to be made. Along with all the self-help, family, and career pledges—I would like you to consider adding three more:
Attend Sunday Worship Faithfully.
Be Faithful in Your Tithes and Offerings.
Use Performative Language to apply the Gospel to people.
And don’t make these resolutions in a vacuum. Let people know what your intentions are. Speak your resolutions out loud to the Lord in prayer.
Proverbs 16:3 says,
“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”
With the help of God, you can do this. AMEN.