A Task to be Pursued with Courage

Recently I was called a "Brief Statement of Faith person" by a friend as we were discussing the spiritual needs of older adults. I have to agree. For those not familiar, A Brief Statement of Faith is the youngest document in the PC(USA)'s Book of Confessions. It was written when two denominations merged to create the PC(USA) and became part of the Book of Confessions in 1991. While I do love the Brief Statement of Faith, I have been reflecting on the following quote from Confession of 1967 lately:

"Life is a gift to be received with gratitude and a task to be pursued with courage." (Confession of 1967, 9.17)

For some reason this sentence has stuck with me for a couple months, ever since we studied the Confession of 1967 in my Presbyterian History course. I was really struck by the multiple ideas held together. Life. Gift. Receive. Gratitude. Task. Pursue. Courage. I especially like that the authors did not define these words for us. Words do change in meaning over time and depending on your point of view. Today I'd like to focus on courage. That's a tricky word to define in general, but what is courage to a Christian living in 2011 America? We can point to people we think are courageous. Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Harriet Tubman. Mary. Bishop Gene Robinson. I have many friends at seminary who are graduating this Saturday. One is taking a call in the mid-west and will be ordained in June. One has a job at their denominational main office. One couple has been called to the same church. But several do not have that security.  I think all of them are courageous.

Is pursuing a task with courage the same as being courageous? Being courageous suggests a state of being. Some people seem naturally courageous--globe trotters and dare devils. But anyone can pursue a task with courage. You don't have to be a courageous person to pursue a task with courage. People in abusive relationships may not be thought of as courageous people, but it certainly shows a lot of courage to leave an abusive relationship. It takes a lot of courage to dream of a better world for ourselves and future generations. It takes a lot of courage to dream of a life outside of an abusive relationship or a world where members of the LGBTQ community are considered for ordination on their call and preparation for ministry and not on their sexuality. It takes courage to pursue those dreams. It takes organization, support, and prophetic vision to see what needs to be changed in order to pursue the task. It is no easy feat. So much in our culture tells us to be content with the status quo... but there is a lot of injustice in the status quo.

It's easy to look back in history and say "Well, of course someone needed to change that." Of course slavery needed to be ended. Of course the Nazis had to be stopped. But how many of us are willing to stand up today, name injustice in our world, and pursue the task of change with courage? Courage does not mean there will not be fear or trepidation. Even Jesus asked for the cup to be passed from him. But then Jesus pursued his task with courage. Now that's me reading this confession's language back into the passion story, but the Bible is the basis of the confessions.

Taking time to reflect on these things leads me to more questions...

What are the injustices in our world that need to changed?
Are we participating in communities working towards that change?
What gifts/talents/passions do we have that can contribute to that change?
Are we being the change we want to see? (Mahatma Gandhi)

Well, are we?