A Commitment For Growth

By the Rev. Dr. Christopher D. Girata, Rector

The life of our church has been incredibly energetic this year! Since the opening of our new campus in August, Sundays have had a new electricity beyond anything I’ve experienced here.

I remember speaking in countless forums to thousands of parishioners over the course of the capital campaign, and one of the hopes I shared is my belief that the future can be even better than the past. That belief is not baseless optimism, but rather the fundamental hope of the Gospel.

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus speaks of the future as a promise about what God is doing in the world and where creation is ultimately headed. His central proclamation is that “the kingdom of God has come near” (Mark 1:15). Jesus holds together the present reality and the future hope: the transformative work of God’s kingdom has begun in Jesus and its fullness is still coming.

Jesus gives us a few ways to think about the future. Let’s consider four specifically.

First, God’s kingdom will come in fullness. When Jesus teaches his followers to pray, he teaches them to say, “…your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). It’s important to remember that the vision of the future Jesus gives us is not primarily one where humanity escapes the world, but rather one where God’s purposes are fulfilled within creation.

Second, suffering and death do not have the final word. Jesus repeatedly prepares his followers for his impending death, while always promising resurrection. His resurrection becomes the definitive sign that God’s promise of the future has already broken through into our present.

Third, those who suffer now are promised restoration. We see in Jesus’s most important teaching, the Sermon on the Mount, that the opening Beatitudes are profoundly future-oriented: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:4–6).

Fourth, Jesus promises his continued presence. Before Jesus’s death, he tells his disciples, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you” (John 14:18). And when Jesus appears to the disciples after the resurrection, he confirms, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). The vision of Christian hope is not simply waiting for something good to happen at some point in the distant future, but rather that God in Christ walks with his people toward God’s future now.

One of the most important features of living with Gospel hope is understanding that hope in God’s future changes how we live in the present. Perhaps you’ve heard one of the priests speak of the tension we hold between the “already” and the “not yet.” We believe that God’s future has already begun in Jesus, and we know that the world has not yet been fully restored. We live in that tension. We commit to one another in this imperfect world, knowing that our faith is helping bring about God’s perfect future.

Commitment is what we’re all about. Strong discipleship commitments are best made to one another and in ways that hold us accountable to who we hope to become. Here at Saint Michael, we have identified four guiding pillars of healthy discipleship: pray, learn, serve, and give. This year, we are expanding our call to commitment at Saint Michael. We are asking everyone in our community to commit themselves to new habits of giving, service, and prayer that will shape our individual and communal identity one day at a time.

I know the talk of commitment doesn’t get many hearts fluttering, but the work of discipleship is worth the effort. Yes, discipleship is real work. We won’t grow in our spiritual identities by wishing and hoping alone. We are called to commit ourselves to the true work that helps us grow, and the good news is that we are not alone! We are part of a fantastic community right here at Saint Michael that can support us each step of the way. Talk with a friend or family member about committing to growth together. The mutual support we offer one another is an excellent way to make sure we move in a good direction with purpose.

Through true commitment, our discipleship grows from being a hope to being an action. When we commit, we begin the journey of true transformation. This season, I want you to make a personal commitment to give and serve and pray that stretches you in a meaningful way. I want you to make each of those commitments because you wish to yoke yourself to God’s kingdom-building work at and through Saint Michael.

**This article was written by The Rev. Dr. Christopher D. Girata and was featured in the 2026-27 Winter Archangel.