The time between Sundays

Sundays were always "THE day" set aside to God or for God. 

It was the Sabbath day we kept. Except we would occasionally mow the yard or do chores. 

We didn't know much about any of that except that it was what people said about Sundays. 

It was a little confusing when we learned that the Sabbath day was Saturday, but that we did it Sunday.

We just took it for granted that what the preacher said was probably what God thought and just did that.

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Back then, it wasn't the case that Sundays were the day we got "recharged" for the week ahead. It was more a reminder that you'd better get it right this week and if you messed it up last week, this is your chance to "go forward" at church and get right with God, again.

It's kind of crazy to think about that now of days.

Now of days Sunday is/was the time to get together to get filled up for the week ahead and to recharge our batteries. And if that seemed too selfish to say, we modified it with, "It's our time to serve others and build them up so THEY'RE ready for the week ahead."  

It sets up an artificial, unnecessary, and un-Biblical dynamic between one day and the other days.

But that's the nature of getting stuff done, making sure that people "come back to church", and keep coming back - because they NEED what they get "there" to be able to make it or survive through the week ahead that is going to be, apparently, really hard.

And if your week wasn't going to be hard on it's own, they'll make sure to point out how what you're going through IS hard if you just think about it enough and how you really need to come back to hear us again next week so we can help you through your hard week.

We'd say our battle is not with flesh and blood, but we'd talk about our week and "the struggles ahead" as if it 100% was the people and situations we would be facing in the flesh - hardly anything "spiritual" about the battles we'd be facing.

And that goes on continually today in many places - "always be closing".

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The time between things is valuable and important. For different reasons, it is what makes notable events notable. It is or can be the set up or the preparation time for things or events or moments.

But sometimes the time between things is very valuable and the moments or events are simply a reflection on what happened in that in between time — but we can easily get fixated on the reflection times and make them the more important thing instead.

Sunday is not actually any bigger or more special than Tuesday or Friday. If you take the time to unpack Jesus' words and history, you'll remember he said a time was coming when location or day isn't important.

It was out of people struggling to hold on to their old religious traditions that continuing to honor one day above another became "a thing".  Paul told the Colossians to not let it worry you if you don't keep some days holy and get blowback from people who do - the heat is just from them, it's not from God.

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We look where we're trained to look. 

We go where we are told there is a path - usually THE path that someone wants us to go.

A big thing I've picked up on in this deconstruction/rebuilding time is a new perspective on days and times. I don't "have to" be somewhere to make God happy. Some people nearly blow a gasket when I acknowledge that. They don't often say it aloud, but the look on their face says they're having a reaction.

And I remember those kinds of reactions. I remember when I'd be around someone who'd "cuss" and I'd have an internal, visceral response of "Oh, no!".  I remember going into staff meetings at a secular university and almost bowing my head for prayer at the start or finish, assuming internally "that's what you do to start or finish a meeting" - which is what we always did "at church".

Those are learned reactions to values that well meaning "church people" taught and still teach.  Even though they can absolutely ruin our ability to be with and/or "witness to" outsiders because they cause us to react or cringe in front of them and their behaviors...

...you know, "hate the sin, love the sinner" but our reactions show we don't care for either and/or that we're not mature enough to be around someone different from us.  As if our negative reaction to their "sin" is gonna be attractive to "the lost".

But I digress.

The point is, we're trained to respond and react to things, including how we see, think about, and feel about the different days of the week.

Sundays or Saturdays or Wednesday PM's or whatever day of the week - none of them are picked as "the day" for believers to set aside to do anything. That's from people or churches or groups, not from God.

When Paul told the Corinthians to set aside money on a certain day, it was most likely because that day was when the average person settled accounts for their business and it was a logical, convenient time to set aside some of the money that was literally in their hands.  

They were setting it aside for a one-time contribution he was putting together to send to poor "Jewish Christians" in the Jerusalem area that were going through a famine.  And he was hoping against hope they'd see it as a nice peace offering from the "Gentile churches" for those who were still suspicious of the non-Jewish Jesus followers.   

It was a one time thing, not a "for all eternity" thing.

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So why learn to see all days the same and NOT hold Sunday or any other day as special or different? Mainly because we're not told to in scripture; IF scripture is of any importance to shaping how we believe.

Also, because it sets up another law for people to follow that God didn't give. It makes us the creator of it and the keeper of it. And we can be super harsh in our role of keeping it "holy".

Also, perhaps more importantly, it distracts us from the leadership of the Spirit and focuses us on someone else's created "spiritual calendar". 

Maybe, just maybe — where and when you and I are —having the ability to pick our own time to be and do things with and for God might mean that we'd get together with someone to encourage or be encouraged on a Thursday AM and NOT a Sunday AM.

Maybe, just maybe, it might mean that the person we've been working with and having good conversations with - maybe over lunch is the time we might share the good news of Jesus or the hope we have within us.

Also, if Sunday is "the main day", it leans us back into "going to church" as being the big thing to make God happy and we quickly feel the gravity of the whole Christian-industrial complex pulling us back into keeping of a law of some kind to make God happy, to build the church, etc.

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Imagine the possibilities. 

One reason some people don't think they're imaginative or creative is because they're never given or allowed the time to be.

One of the ways we're not give the time to be imaginative or creative is because we institutionalize the gathering of believers to the degree it changes how they see time, how they can or cannot hear the Spirit, and what they can or cannot do, because they're told "THIS (going to church) is the most important thing".

I'm not saying a group of people can't have a day or time when they regularly get together - at all. If a group decided to pick a different day of the week or time, they can just as easily institutionalize it and thus remake Sunday adherence, only on a different day.

So what do we do that?  I think *become aware* is what we need to do.  Or at least consider doing.  Become aware of how traditions, no matter how much we adore them, can and do become idols.

And keeping certain days is certainly one of them for many.

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God is the God of the time between Sundays and he doesn't favor one day over another - that's totally something we have made up.

Remember that the point of the journey isn't always to arrive.  

The journey itself is of great value and provides more than we've allowed ourselves to imagine.

It's not all only about getting to heaven, it's about being with God here and now, all the time.

When we "get there", we're not meeting someone we've never communicated with before.

It's a continuation from where we are now; living in-between today and eternity.

Grace and peace to you today.  And now.