Lord’s Day 38 (Q/A 103): ALWAYS A PACIFIC GUY

103 Q.   What is God’s will for you
in the fourth commandment?

A.    First,
that the gospel ministry and education for it be maintained,^1
and that, especially on the festive day of rest,
I diligently attend the assembly of God’s people^2
to learn what God’s Word teaches,^3
to participate in the sacraments,^4
to pray to God publicly,^5
and to bring Christian offerings for the poor.^6

Second,
that every day of my life
I rest from my evil ways,
let the Lord work in me through his Spirit,
and so begin in this life
the eternal Sabbath.^7

^1 Titus 1:5; 1 Tim. 3[:1]; 4:13; 5:17; 1 Cor. 9:11, 13-14; 2 Tim. 2:2; 3:15
^2 Ps. 68:27; 40:10-11; Acts [2]:42, 46
^3 1 Cor. 14:19, 29, 31
^4 1 Cor. 11:33
^5 1 Tim. 2:1-3,8-9; 1 Cor. 14:16
^6 1 Cor. 16:2
^7 Isa. 66:23

 


 

LORD’S DAY 38 (Q/A 103)
“Always a Pacific Guy”

In an ordination service for a teaching elder/minister of Word and Sacrament, there is a moment where there is a giving of the symbols of office (the so-called traditio symboli instrumentorum). This time involves immediate family members or a close friend giving the newly ordained minister a liturgical stole, a cross, a Bible, and, almost always, a liturgical robe. The investing of these symbols of office collectively express that the ordinand is now ready to function as teaching elder, carrying with her the blessing and prayers of the community, and expressing upon him the community’s confirmation of God’s calling.

On the occasion of my ordination, my parents and parents in-law placed a black Genevan gown on me.  This was then followed by words from a dear friend of mine and a ministry colleague who exhorted me to never forget that underneath my ministerial garb and the trappings of the ordained office, I am a man, a Pacific guy, a boy from the islands. (I was born in Guam if you didn’t know)  His was a necessary reminder then, and everyday since then, that my core identity is as a child of God who entered this world at that little island in the Pacific.

When I reflect upon Q/A 103, I’m brought to the Pacific islands from whence I came. The fast-paced urbanites of New York City or Los Angeles will wax impatience in Guam or any tropical island for that matter because there’s an easy-go-lucky, “Qué sera, sera” (whatever will be, will be) posture towards life; in my Filipino culture, we call it “bahala na” (loosely translated, “let it be.”)

Things in the island get done….eventually. Don’t sweat it, we’ll get to it. Stop looking at the clock, pull out a chair, grab a Styrofoam plate, go to the feast table, get some food, some drink, and enjoy your family, friends, and neighbors.  No need to drive 60 or 70 mph to get to your destination..not that you could anyway, it’s too small of an island. Cruise at 30 mph, you’ll get there. Don’t sweat it. Bahala na.

What matters in the island is God’s beautiful creation around you (the blue skies, the coconut treets, the white sands, the warm breeze, the blue water, the multichrome flowers and birds, the green gecko on your ceiling) and God’s beautiful image-bearers around you – your parents, your siblings, your grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, extended family, godparents, next door neighbors, their friends,…and anyone in the island who wishes to join the party.  The people matter, you matter. God matters.

Q/A 103 and its description of what the fourth commandment is about tells us that – the people matter. You matter. God matters above all else.  When we want all of the “i”s dotted and “t”s crossed, when we want all of our ducks in a nice neat row, when we stress, and our overly anxious hearts want our life and the world around us to be perfectly on-time, perfectly planned, and perfectly controlled, the Lord of the Sabbath says, “Cool it.”  There’s a time for work, but you weren’t made for just work. The Sabbath is a welcome gift from God, our Creator who knows our limitations, even when we are erratic and want to transcend our God-given limits; pay attention to physiological/physical signs of stress, the emotional and mental evidence, and the pangs of the soul.

When the Sabbath is lived into, we find a restful freedom to let go and let God. It’s a comfort and consolation that even when we are sleeping and slumbering, the God of the Sabbath neither slumbers nor sleeps.  We are creatures, not the Creator. And as such, we honor and express our love and thanksgiving to God by being still and believing/trusting that God is God and we are not.

In the Sabbath rest, the assembling together of God’s people in corporate worship is the primary place that our hearts and minds are kindled to this divine awareness of our limitations and God’s limitless love and care for us and the entire creation. In Word and in Sacrament, in prayer and with praise, the people of God are recalibrated and refreshed, to let go, and let God.

Yes, worship is like being ordained and being re-ordained, all over again. Gathering in worship is being confirmed in our God-given calling that began in the waters of baptism, where letting go and letting God was the only thing we could do.

That’s where our lives need to be – a continually calling that let’s go, that lives as we do in the Pacific islands.  Bahala na.