It has been a little while since I have posted something substantial, and I’m afraid to say that it is going to be a little while longer. We are now in vacation time, so the posts will slow down a little bit. I do have to preach one more sermon before I go away, so here are some thoughts:
MAIN IDEA – I always feel like I could and probably should do better. I look at the days and weeks that I haven’t read the Bible, that I haven’t prayed with sincerity and devotion and I feel like I could do better. I notice those times when my actions have become routine and rote and I realize that there is an emptiness in me and I could do better. When I feel this way my usual first reaction is to adopt a system, a schedule, a routine that will make my life better. I think that if I just controlled my life more, if I just made myself read the Bible and at least go through the motions of praying, then I would do better. Even if I don’t feel better at least I could say that I was doing something and that should count for something.
More often than not this does not work. More often than not I find myself resenting the morning Bible readings, the forced prayer, and I think I am drawn further away from God. At best I am a hollow shell offering forced prayers. At worse I am a bitter individual forcing prayers. Neither are good.
The scripture calls me to consider reconnecting with God before doing anything else. It does call for actions, for taking care of the least, but it also calls for a recognition of the Sabbath. As a pastor this is not an easy thing to do, but one that I must take seriously. The Sabbath is a working day for me, but it should also be a day to reconnect. To reconnect means to find harmony in my relationship with God, with others, with nature, and with myself. That is why for many the Sabbath is supposed to be a day of rest. But it shouldn’t be a forced rest. It shouldn’t be a forced worship. It should be free and honest. Can I imagine taking the Sabbath and really using it to regain that connection with my family? Can I imagine taking the Sabbath and really using it to regain that connection with my faith? In all honesty, it is something that I need to do, something that I cannot avoid. Can I do it?
Free me from a sense of obligation, Lord. Free me from that drive that leads me to think I only need to read scripture and say the right prayers to be a good Christian. The relationship I have come from you, God. You are found in those relationships. May I use the Sabbath as a way to find you again, to find moments of rest, and to find harmony in my life.
Amen
THEOLOGICAL IDEA – While it may seem obvious, the relational nature of God is key in this, specifically that God is found in relationships. Such a concept comes from a specific view of the Trinity emphasizing the mechanics of the relational nature of the Trinity – that all are equal, and that each dwell within each other while maintaining their individuality. In our relationships with others, when they are at their best we find God. Consider Volf, Fiddes, Zizioulus, and the Capadocians. Also consider Buber.
Secondly, this seems to address the idea of works vs. faith. While there are works in worship and reconnection, these works must come out of faith. A faith that is rote is empty. A faith that is relational is deep and profound. Consider Luther and Augustine.
Finally, this speaks to the nature of worship. There is not a right way to worship or a wrong way, there is just the way is authentic in one’s relationship with God. In the same way of thinking, there is not a right or a wrong approach to the Sabbath, just a way that honors one’s relationships. Consider Heschel.
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