Vol. 17 No. 24 | June 16, 2014
All week long I have been trying to think of something inspiring, encouraging, challenging, or funny for fathers, on this Father’s Day. Has not happened. So, here I sit late in the day on Father’s Day doing what I typically do on Father’s Day which has been a fairly t
raditional Father’s Day: preach in the morning, teach a class, enjoy a nice lunch at a nice restaurant, watch the final holes of the U.S. Open, later tonight I will watch game 5 of the NBA finals, and occasionally I flip the channel to check the scores in the College World series or the World Cup. It is a tradition.
It is a tradition that my wife and children have always tried to make sure does not get broken. They
have been, and continue to be, very supportive (maybe tolerant is a better word) of my tradition of watching championships in sports. It is a very relaxing way to spend the day. I love the tradition.
There are other traditions that I enjoy as well. I like certain foods on holidays. On Thanksgiving I like turkey and dressing. On Christmas I love sausage balls (made by my wife) and divinity (made by my sister and/or my daughter). On my birthday I like the coconut cake (Dorothy Johnson’s coconut cake) that my wife makes. I think it is important to be with family or at least have some form of significant communication on birthdays and other special days. I hope I can continue these traditions, but if they change I will survive.
I have other traditions as I go through the work week. On Mondays I like to do fairly light stuff in the office. Late on Monday I like to start working through my sermon for the next Sunday. By the time I leave the office on Thursday afternoon I like to have my sermon pretty much completed. I like to have at least an idea for these articles early in the week so that I can let it simmer, and prefer to have the article completed by noon on Saturday (that rarely happens). Traditionally I am finishing the articles late on Sunday…like today.
I have other traditions that involve spiritual things. I love that we have a fairly similar style of worship from week to week. And I love it that we are beginning to traditionally do things differently. I love our tradition of a cappella singing…when it is done well. I also love other types of worship settings and music.
There are other traditions that I am glad are changing. I love the way weddings that were once steeped in traditional language and activities are becoming more traditionally different. I feel the same way about funerals. I hope we can continue to adjust our worship settings to enhance communication and promote relationship building experiences. I am glad I am not required to wear a suit and tie when I preach or when I go to the office during the week. I love that if I prefer to wear a suit and tie I can.
I hope some of the tired and worn-out traditions continue to fade away. I hope that some of the new traditions that we are developing do not become tired and worn-out traditions. I hope we continue to be very prayerful about the traditions we change and the traditions we keep. I hope that we continue to understand that traditions are not necessarily bad because they are tradition, that they are not law and that traditions can and at times should be changed, and that changing them does not mean that we have abandoned the faith, the fellowship, or the Father.
I hope Jesus never has to say this to me: “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.” (Mark 7:8) Or this: “How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” (John 5:44)
Father’s Day is almost over. Another tradition is about to come to an end. If next year we spend the day differently I will be fine. Traditions, even really good traditions, can change.
Tom
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