Sometimes you have so many things floating around in your mind that you just have to release them all at once. Each one may not get the full attention it calls for, but each one has some level of importance in how your mind processes things. With that said, a few random things that have been floating around in my mind recently.
-God's work of forming us as His people never stops while we live in this world. We may be eight, or eighty-eight, but God continues to form us. Yes, the work of redeeming us was done once and for all with Jesus' death and resurrection. The work of re-creating us doesn't stop in this world as long as the sinful flesh still lives. When we start to think that we have little left to learn, we're now resisting God's work of re-creating us. Doesn't take us out of the realm of salvation, but definitely hinders our walk in Christ Jesus.
-It's amazing how quickly we catch on when we repeat things. My family typically prays the Lord's Prayer each day together, at some point. Even when my son was young, I would say the Lord's Prayer, Apostles Creed, and the Evening Prayer to him to help him sleep. Now, not quite three, he knows the whole thing. My daughter, a couple of years older than him, knows many verses, prayers, and songs because we repeat them. The Small Catechism's emphasis on repetition exists for a reason, folks.
-That said, I'm also amazed how some people react to songs or hymns that repeat verses or choruses. One criticism about some "contemporary" (I actually don't really like that word, but don't have a better one to use) songs is that they simply repeat the same thing over and over. Yet, then the repetitiveness of things like Bible verses and the Small Catechism are emphasized. It would seem that repeating things in song would also be a good thing. Sure, they can have more depth, but there is a place for repeating even simple thoughts about God.
-Way too often in this world, we get caught failing to listen. This plays itself out in many ways. Sometimes we listen only to catch something upon which we can build our rebuttal. That isn't actually listening. Sometimes we make issues about something else (i.e. kneeling for an anthem in protest of racial injustice then being construed as though it's anti-military), and we fail to listen to what those others are saying with whom we disagree. Rather than being reactionary, it's usually much better to simply shut our mouths, open our ears, and then proceed with respect and kindness. Outrage, social media posts, and the like typically through fuel on the fire rather than serve to achieve reconciliation.
-With that said, it's amazing how much we simply want to be proven right. The definition of sin that I learned in my theology classes is that of the self turned in on itself. When we find that we want to be proven right, and we want to have others know how right we are, we have turned in on ourselves, and could potentially be making ourselves out to be god. For sure, we are failing to love our neighbor as we should when we simply want to prove that we are right to them.
-We are a society still fascinated by sexual issues. Recent revelations of sexual assault and harassment show that there is nothing new under the sun. This has been a problem since Adam and Eve chose for themselves instead of following the Word of God. God's Story is replete with stories of sexual sin, despite the fact that God Himself spoke about that quite often. While it is good and right that we speak against such practices, I don't hear the desire to bring forgiveness, restoration, and reconciliation to the situations. Most often the sense is more, "I want so and so to pay."
Well, that is a rather full post. Since I haven't been posting regularly lately for a variety of reasons, some of these have been rattling around for some time. Perhaps in future posts, I'll spend more time on them, but for today, they just come out shotgun style.
-God's work of forming us as His people never stops while we live in this world. We may be eight, or eighty-eight, but God continues to form us. Yes, the work of redeeming us was done once and for all with Jesus' death and resurrection. The work of re-creating us doesn't stop in this world as long as the sinful flesh still lives. When we start to think that we have little left to learn, we're now resisting God's work of re-creating us. Doesn't take us out of the realm of salvation, but definitely hinders our walk in Christ Jesus.
-It's amazing how quickly we catch on when we repeat things. My family typically prays the Lord's Prayer each day together, at some point. Even when my son was young, I would say the Lord's Prayer, Apostles Creed, and the Evening Prayer to him to help him sleep. Now, not quite three, he knows the whole thing. My daughter, a couple of years older than him, knows many verses, prayers, and songs because we repeat them. The Small Catechism's emphasis on repetition exists for a reason, folks.
-That said, I'm also amazed how some people react to songs or hymns that repeat verses or choruses. One criticism about some "contemporary" (I actually don't really like that word, but don't have a better one to use) songs is that they simply repeat the same thing over and over. Yet, then the repetitiveness of things like Bible verses and the Small Catechism are emphasized. It would seem that repeating things in song would also be a good thing. Sure, they can have more depth, but there is a place for repeating even simple thoughts about God.
-Way too often in this world, we get caught failing to listen. This plays itself out in many ways. Sometimes we listen only to catch something upon which we can build our rebuttal. That isn't actually listening. Sometimes we make issues about something else (i.e. kneeling for an anthem in protest of racial injustice then being construed as though it's anti-military), and we fail to listen to what those others are saying with whom we disagree. Rather than being reactionary, it's usually much better to simply shut our mouths, open our ears, and then proceed with respect and kindness. Outrage, social media posts, and the like typically through fuel on the fire rather than serve to achieve reconciliation.
-With that said, it's amazing how much we simply want to be proven right. The definition of sin that I learned in my theology classes is that of the self turned in on itself. When we find that we want to be proven right, and we want to have others know how right we are, we have turned in on ourselves, and could potentially be making ourselves out to be god. For sure, we are failing to love our neighbor as we should when we simply want to prove that we are right to them.
-We are a society still fascinated by sexual issues. Recent revelations of sexual assault and harassment show that there is nothing new under the sun. This has been a problem since Adam and Eve chose for themselves instead of following the Word of God. God's Story is replete with stories of sexual sin, despite the fact that God Himself spoke about that quite often. While it is good and right that we speak against such practices, I don't hear the desire to bring forgiveness, restoration, and reconciliation to the situations. Most often the sense is more, "I want so and so to pay."
Well, that is a rather full post. Since I haven't been posting regularly lately for a variety of reasons, some of these have been rattling around for some time. Perhaps in future posts, I'll spend more time on them, but for today, they just come out shotgun style.
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