Liturgy: “God’s way over your own way”
I was born with a rebellious streak. The Bible says we are all sinful, and therefore I often have an ongoing struggle to choose God’s way over my way.
What is the King’s Liturgy? King’s Liturgy defines our experience together as a Christian community. It outlines the rhythms we celebrate with the Church at large: Scripture readings, Sabbath habits, and celebration of Holy Days and historical events.
This Week’s Lectionary Readings
Nehemiah 8:1-3
1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Luke 4:14-21
Psalm 19
This week’s liturgy is contributed by Dr. Kimberly Thornbury, vice president for strategic planning:
I was born with a rebellious streak. The Bible says we are all sinful, and therefore I often have an ongoing struggle to choose God’s way over my way.
The pattern of “no one is going to tell me what to do” started early. For example, in Kindergarten, I hated the dress my mother chose for school pictures. I didn’t have the agency to swap out the dress, so I decided to sneak into my mother’s bedroom, steal her dangling gold clip on earrings, and wear them for the school photo. I am still not sure why the photographer didn’t challenge a 5-year-old wearing long shiny adult earrings – but hey, it was the 70’s.
I wish all my sins could be as mild as stealing my mom’s jewelry and breaking school photo rules.
Adult versions of “no one is going to tell me what to do” stem from a popular thought pattern. “If I obey God, I will not be happy.”
It is the oldest trick in the book – the first one Satan used in the Garden of Eden. That God does not have your best interest at heart. Tim Keller says “We distrust God because we assume he is not truly for us, and if we give him complete control, we will be miserable.”
A purposeful life seeks to obey God not for fear of punishment or to gain rewards, but because He is a good God who absolutely loves us and continues to pursue us. We will never impress God with our obedience. (In Christ you are perfect. That’s the whole Gospel – you could never even come close to obeying God enough.) But choosing God’s way over your own way will transform you, because we serve a loving God who wants to use tools of obedience to make you more like Christ.
Today’s liturgy from the Psalms continue to layer the truth that the law of the Lord is perfect. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy. May we begin the semester asking God to give us a heart and will to obey him, and fill us with a greater trust that His statutes and ways are perfect for us.