The people of Israel love their rituals of sacrifice, but to me their sacrifices are all meaningless. I will hold my people accountable for their sins, and I will punish them. They will return to Egypt. Israel has forgotten its Maker and built great palaces, and Judah has fortified its cities. Therefore, I will send down fire on their citiesand will burn up their fortresses."
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There is a certain comfort in rituals and traditions. There is a happy familiarity in having everything done the same way every time you do it. There is a confidence in knowing what to expect when you approach a certain event or setting or road.
As I am typing this I am starting to whistle that familiar tune from Fiddler on the Roof Tradition! I can remember me, or dad, belting that out at Christmastime as we went through all the same traditions in the same order as we did the year before and knowing that we will be doing the same next year. It is a part of what makes those memories so great.
I think in some ways tradition has been given a bad rap by many in my generation. With my counter-cultural-buck-the-system tendencies I tend to often look disparagingly many traditions simply because they are tradition. But it is far more difficult to recognize the rituals and traditions that I am creating in my own life through my habits and repetition.
When in college I had a difficult time getting up and doing my devotions in the morning so I would get up and go over to the chapel and do it there. But I would still find myself falling asleep over there so I would start walking back and forth in the balcony as I prayed. Now I cannot sit still and pray. It's not just that I'm ADD. It's very much because I've built up a ritual that I cannot get past. Really, I don't want to. It helps me focus.
Back in my senior year of high school I started a program of reading and studying the Bible that has evolved into something that I am still using more than a decade later today. My biggest problem is not sticking to the program but rather keeping it from just being a ritual or program or tradition. How do I keep it fresh and new and real? I'm building up spiritual fortresses and palaces. I've got these huge spiritual fortifications and theological palaces that I continually build on and decorate and garnish.
Fortifications can be good. Theological systems can be good. Just like traditions can be good. The question is always where the focus is. If my focus is on the tradition rather than letting my tradition help me focus on my family, or community, or God, than it needs to be overhauled. If I am depending on my "fortifications" to keep my from evil attacks rather depending on the God who helped me build it, than it needs to be razed. If I am simply building these theological systems so that I can know that I know what I know rather than understanding that theology is simply an attempt to know God more, than it is time for Him to break down my box.
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Egypt, especially in the old Testament, is symbolic for the world. It is used in prophetic writing very much the same way we use the word "secular" today. Judah's exile to Babylon was a punishment. But it was also a blessing. Until that time they simply didn't "get it". It took seventy years in the world for them to finally break their addiction to classical idolatry. Yes, they still had other issues to work out but never, ever was that a problem from that point forward.
So sometimes traditions and rituals can be good. But sometimes God needs to give us a good dose of the world, a good dose of reality, to help us keep our focus on Him. Sometimes He needs to mix things up, so we can keep it straight.
totally! Especially, in a church. I was raised in a small, stained glass window southern baptist church. We've had the same pastor for 27 years...so people get comfortable and they build traditions, which were excellent. We were a very well known church, and a mission focused church, but over the years we've had a split, and had one pastor after another. Some people were willing to stop and make new traditions, others kept holding on to the past, and you have to let go start something new. Not many people wanted to do that, but recently thank the Lord Almighty. and maaan is He a MIGHTY! The Devil's gonna get a gooooood butt whoopin' our Pastor rocked the mic last Sunday! He told'em, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Anyway..it's true traditions are good, but sometimes it's time for a change. Change can be good as long as Jesus Christ is your foundation
This is my first blog I've read of yours, and it has intrigued me to read all of your blogs, which I have done. They are amazing! You have a wonderful writing ability. It's so visual, I can picture it all. I enjoy reading your thoughts. You are very wise. Also, great song choices to accompany them :)
<P>You know it would seem that tradition vs. change is everywhere I look recently. I have just completed the first chapter of "The Life You've Always Wanted" by Jon Ortburg. It went along so well with what you have written here in your blog. Over the past couple of weeks we have struggled with the music at church. I know in the "big picture" of things, the music seems small and petty. But hey, I have seen churches split because of the music, Lord help them.</P><P>It is difficult to know when to hang on to the old and when to embrace the new.Sure, we can mix them, but theh fact that the "old" is sharing it's space is a big deal. Some feel like the new is compromising, while others feel the old is for a time that has come and gone. It is an issue. I have kept quiet as I usually do when conflict is involved on a micro level. But when ask "what do you think" I let go:</P><P>"I do not think there could ever be words to describe Amazing Grace. I have hear this song play before and watched mens lives literally change before my eyes. The Old Rugged Cross still moves mountains in my life to this day. After being an 11 year old little girl watching her mother pass away in front on me, I can not help but respond to It is Well With My Soul. I find myself in these songs. They are my feelings, my hearts cry, they are my past. What would seem like lifetimes ago later God inspired others to write and sing songs just as moving. I can not listen to Rita Springer sing Worth it All without crying. The first verse of that song says "Lord, I don't understand your ways, oh but I will give you my song". In the bottom of a valley in the writers life, they mustered up enough strength to say It is well with my soul just in a different way. It is contemporary, but it is not compromising. It is well with my soul was written for a purpose back then as was Worth it all recently. </P><P>Seasons change and there is not a soul on earth who can stop that. But it happens for a reason. If it were winter year round, we would all starve to death. Food for humans or animals could not grow. God had a plan even from creation. " I made the point that tradition can be great, like you said with memories and Holiday rituals. And then I said this: " You guys... the bush is not burning anymore. If we go to the same mountain that Moses stood on in the presence of God, the bush might even be there, but the fires out. There. God's presence is not out, its just somewhere else. We can spend the rest of our lives staring at that bush that once burned with fire or we can move on. Go find it somewhere else, or even host it in our own lives." Hahaha all this over the music!...No...all this over tradition vs. change. </P><P>Anyway, thanks for the blog. Confirmation. Now if you will excuse me...I have a fire to start!</P><P> </P>
our Pastor rocked the mic last Sunday! He told'em, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! Anyway..it's true traditions are good, but sometimes it's time for a change. Change can be good as long as Jesus Christ is your foundation
