Do we have to?

If you are (or were ever) a kid, you've said this. If you are an adult, you've thought it. The situations might vary from time and station in life, but our reaction to compulsion...to the rule of someone else's law over us...is remarkably consistent.

And while it would be nice to think that we never have those feelings about our relationship to God or to the Church, that's simply not the case. Ask any 13-year-old who's been hauled out of bed in time to make Sunday School...or any 47-year-old who knows that going to church means missing the pre-game show. The reaction is the same.

I think we learn that reaction from assuming that this "Gospel" the Church talks about all the time is really just another way of forcing us to do stuff we'd rather not do...to sit still and pay attention and give our money and shut up. If that's what you've been hearing as "good news"...well, it's no wonder that your reaction is "do I have to." It is my firm belief however (and I think Fr. Martin would back me up on this) that more law...more guilt...more demands...those things are not the Gospel at all.

Try this on for size instead: The Gospel of Jesus...the good news of God's grace and love for us...are not about what God demands from us. It's about what God unconditionally gives us: forgiveness, hope, freedom and such rich possibility that's there's no other way to describe it other than to call it "new life." The good news is that all this is ours simply because God has chosen to love us. That's it. End of story. You don't have to do anything. These gifts are yours already.

So where does all this law stuff come from?

Well...it has its place. But the law always comes after the fact that God comes to us first. Think of it this way: Because God forgives us, we are free to forgive one another. Because God's engagement with the world is in love and humble service, we are free to love and humbly serve one another and God. Because God chooses life over death, we too can set aside all those things that would (and do!) kill us and choose life instead. And we do these things not because we have to. Remember: God's taken care of what must be done. We do these things because (drum-roll, please) we get to.

Ooooh...now there's a turn.

Can you imagine how joy-filled and fun faith and life would be if we approached it with a "get-to" rather than a "have-to" attitude? You don't have to go to Bible study; you get to learn and experience more about how gracious God is. You don't have to go to Church; you get to share God's joy and comfort with the rest of God's people. You don't have to stop the dishonoring, killing, lying, coveting and adultery (just to name a few of our favorite commandments); you get to live in peace and harmony with your neighbor.

It's a fact: God's grace opens up the very best deal in the world...and you "get to" be a part of it. Really now...who wouldn't want to be part of something so good?