Putting It Together

The exciting news in our family lately is that Derek is just starting to put words together and becoming able to read.  He's known his letters for years but the concept that letter sounds come together to make actual words has come more slowly.  Through his work in pre-school and some encouragement at home he's getting it now.  It's fun to watch recognition cross his face and to see him smile as he reads a word.  Even if he'd rather be out riding a tractor tossing a ball, he still finds plenty of joy in that moment of discovery.

Our faith should be exactly like that.  Have you ever had the experience of knowing a Bible passage or religious concept for years and then suddenly one day getting it?  It's an amazing thing!  One of the great joys about participating in this church community over the last few years has been the sheer number of "Aha!" moments for all of us, myself included.  I'm pretty sure God put faith into the equation so we'd have a lifetime of joy as we discovered new things about him and our relationship to the world.

Sometimes people trade in the joy of discovery for certainty of knowledge.  Often we walk through our faith lives thinking that we already know everything that's important.  Faith becomes a matter of defending what you have/believe instead of exploring where God is leading you.  That's sad.  The cost of "knowing" is way too high.  It cheats you out of growth and those transcendent moments.  It separates you from your neighbor (who probably doesn't think like you) instead of uniting you in a faith journey together.  It cheats your neighbor of importance, even.  After all, why do you need to listen to anything they say if you already know everything?  That's also true of your relationship with God.  Who cares if he shows up?  If he says something different than we already think we'll just claim he's not God anyway.

Don't cheat yourself out of the opportunity to discover something new just because you want to be comfortable possessing what you already have.  It's a bad bargain for churches and individuals both.  Find a 5-year-old and watch their face as they figure out something for the first time.  It's an irreplaceable experience at any age...God's gift to all of us.

--Pastor Dave (pastordave@geneseelutheranparish.org)