Sunday Summary: Finding the Sacred in the Secular - Part 2

At last Sunday's service, we got to hear some popular music that inspired us to find the sacred in the secular. One particular song stood out; U2's I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. Here are some of the lyrics:

"I believe when the kingdom comes, then all the colors will bleed into one. But yes, I'm still running. You broke the bonds, you loosened the chains, you carried the cross of my shame. You know I believed it. But I still haven't found what I'm looking for..."

As you can see, the line between sacred and secular is blurred. Some call this Bono's Ecclesiastes song. Maybe it is simply a song about the search for intimacy... and why so many can relate. In the song, he describes the joys and pains of his relationship (possibly with Jesus, though that's not implicitly stated); his lyrics keep coming back to love. "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" suggests that, even if we have found our path, doesn't mean we have all the answers. It's all about the journey... and sometimes, we'll spend our whole life looking.

Our reading was from the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Luke 15:1-10 (The Living Bible)

Dishonest tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus’ sermons; but this caused complaints from the Jewish religious leaders and the experts on Jewish law because he was associating with such despicable people—even eating with them!

So Jesus used this illustration: “If you had a hundred sheep and one of them strayed away and was lost in the wilderness, wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine others to go and search for the lost one until you found it? And then you would joyfully carry it home on your shoulders. When you arrived you would call together your friends and neighbors to rejoice with you because your lost sheep was found."

“Well, in the same way, heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who haven’t strayed away!"

Or take another illustration: "A woman has ten valuable silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and look in every corner of the house and sweep every nook and cranny until she finds it? And then won’t she call in her friends and neighbors to rejoice with her? In the same way there is joy in the presence of the angels of God when one sinner repents.”

Many of us can probably relate to being a lost sheep. Perhaps we know what we believe, but go back and forth, questioning and doubting our faith. A great majority of us probably live in that imperfect scenario.

Cody shared with us stories of growing up in rural ND, where his neighbors had sheep. "Sheep are dumb... Really dumb" he said. "And worse than that, they're persistent." They spend most of their time wandering around, looking for food, water, or shelter -- which the farmer has already provided for them... but they want to find it on their own. They have a very strong instinct to seek out food and will put themselves in danger to get to it... even if an easy meal is right in front of them.

As Christians, we may find ourselves wandering from the flock. We think our way is the right way, or that our opinions are superior. Sometimes we're not satisfied with what's in front of us and seek more. God, the one who brings us back home, understands this and rejoices when the lost are found. God is not content for us to be "lost sheep" and celebrates our return.

 Written by Kay Weiss, guest blogger

Sunday Summary: Finding the Sacred in the Secular - Part 1

Sunday's music was particularly enjoyable for Bob Dylan fans, as the guys started worship with "Knockin' on Heaven's Door."

Cody's message this week was about finding the sacred in our everyday, secular lives. He asked this thought-provoking question:

Have you ever had a moment of sheer wonder and awe?
A spiritual revelation...
A profound and deeply moving sense of clarity...
A realization that the world is bigger than you ever imagined...
A mystical experience of comfort or inspiration...
A flash of overwhelming emotion in the face of something supernatural...  

Maybe it's a moment of solitude in nature, watching a sunset, holding your newborn baby for the first time, attending a U2 concert, watching a campfire burn late into the night... Everything in life can be sacred; it’s really a matter of perspective.

Sometimes it's about finding the holy in the midst of the mundane, ordinary life. These experiences aren't always overtly religious, but a facet of our everyday lives that isn't always seen. Earth is full of the weight of God's significance and, everyday, we are drenched in God's presence, even when we're not specifically looking for it.

Even people who don't know God can live the way God intended... it's hardwired into us. Some researchers speculate that we are born with a deep need to be transformed by God. According to the "God gene hypothesis," we have a physiological arrangement that produces the sensations associated, by some, with mystic experiences, including the presence of God or others, or more specifically spirituality as a state of mind.

Our scripture was from Acts 17:22-29 (The Message). The apostle, Paul, stood in the open space at the high court in Athens and laid it out for them:

“It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with."

And then he explained, “The God who made the world and everything in it, this master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ 

It can be argued that sacred and secular are one in the same. Everything in and of our lives is from God, and it speaks to us sometimes when we least expect it. Stand in awe of God, and claim the majesty of this world as that of the creator. If it is beautiful and indescribable, claim it as God's. Claim the holy. With awe, comes appreciation.

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”

― W.B. Yeats

With that, here is some "awe" for you....

Written by Kay Weiss, guest blogger