Instead of New Year’s resolutions, I have something else in mind: New Year’s Revolutions.

A revolution is a radical change, a change at the root, a complete turning.

A revolution casts out forces of death and replaces them with forces that are just and life-giving.

I’m not talking about fomenting revolution this New Year. I’m talking about being a part of revolutions that God is already bringing about. You may feel stuck, you may feel trapped, you may be unable to see any signs of change or hope, but know this: God is bringing about revolutions in your life, in this city, in our country, in the world.

The question for us this New Year is, will we be awake for God’s Revolutions? Will we swing wide the gates and dance on the walls? Or will we board up our windows and leave town? Will we hold on so tightly to what we have and what we think we know that we fail to embrace God’s new creation that can only be good news for all of us?

One revolution taking place in our midst is #BlackLivesMatter. God is in this. God is saying, “I have heard the cries of my people.” God is saying, “No longer shall a child be born into calamity or a young man die in vain.” That is what #BlackLivesMatter is about. The movement is the target of every kind of vitriol, every manner of critique about substance, style, strategy and timing – the same kind of criticisms leveled at Martin Luther King from all quarters when he decided to come to Birmingham.

But know this: God is in this. God is working a Revolution to dismantle a system of oppression that is larger than the sum of its parts and damages All Lives touched by it. We will all look back and remember how horribly wrong things once went, and how we came together with the mighty Spirit of God in 2015 to create a system that was more just, trustworthy and compassionate – for black, and Blue, and all the rest of us. Because yes, #AllLivesMatter. We are one body. We will all be set free.

New Year’s Revolutions will mean different things for different people, but regardless of who you are or where you are, remember this:

Forgiveness is revolutionary.

Not striking back is revolutionary.

Loving your enemies is revolutionary.

Standing with the powerless is revolutionary.

Feeding the hungry, visiting those in prison, sitting with those who are suffering –these are revolutionary acts.

Putting people ahead of profits, relationships ahead of rewards – do you know how revolutionary that is?

God is doing a new thing – can you not behold it? And I don’t want to miss it — that’s my New Year’s Resolution.