Permission to be Nonproductive

I think that most of the Habits of Grace we have talked about play into our need to “prove ourselves to God.” What I mean is this - for many of my formative years, I thought that the reason you cultivated things like reading the bible, prayer, and going to worship was that because if you didn’t, God wouldn’t love you. Grace is such a hard thing to get our minds around that we take the things which we should do in response to being delighted in by God because of Jesus, and we turn them into things we do to get his love. There is, however, one of the “Habits” that is not like that at all. In fact, it is so far removed that you can’t use it to make God love you because of the simple fact that it is permission from God to be nonproductive!Everything in society tells us we get our identity from what we do, the gospel tells us that we get our identity when we rest - rest in what someone else has done for us. No wonder we are all nervous wrecks. No wonder we are all stressed out. If you listen up - God actually commands you to rest and celebrate. In fact, if you do not rest and celebrate, you are not only unlike the God who went to the cross for you, you are being disobedient! The Bible gives us permission to play, frolic, feast, and to live a robust life here "on earth as it is in heaven." Yes, that is right, feasting is "as it is in heaven."Yes, I hope that when people think of the St. Patrick Tribe they will think, "They sure know how to feast!" Incidentally, that is what was said of our Savior before us, except the religious people who said it were casting Jesus in a negative light! Are you interested yet? Most people are afraid to tell you that God gives you permission to spend money on food and drink to celebrate God’s goodness with your Christian and non-Christian friends. Here at St. Patrick we say just the opposite, our logic runs like this - If Jesus was master of the feast, and the first assembly in heaven will be a wedding feast, then being a disciple of Jesus must include the habit of recreation. We not only remake the world as we work for the glory of God, but as we play to the glory of God.We’ll talk about it Sunday. A perfect Sunday to do so, because what a week it has been! We have babies coming out of the wood work. If you can’t bust a gut, dance a jig, gild the lily, and embody your joy in food, drink, and song in the presence of God - come Sunday and let Scripture cut the breathing holes so that you can breath the air of gospel, joy, and freedom!Glory!Jim