Holy Play

  Pastor Fred continued the series by preaching out of Zephaniah 3:9-17 and we learned about how play as worship. Play can be defined is something we get to do and not have to do and enjoy doing. For clarification, this form of play is God honoring and often feel His presence and joy over us. Here are some random thoughts about this weekends message

  How often do we see God not as joyful, a singer and who delights over us but as angry, domineering and even vengeful. Do we take Jonathan Edwards famous sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God (it’s a classic sermon and deserves to be read and meditated on) to the extreme and think that God wants to smite us for every little thing we do.  Now I recommend reading the three short chapters of Zephaniah to gain a context for the final eight verses, because in those chapters God is judging His people for their sin and stupidity, but there is hope. The first sign of hope that there are consequences for sin and stupidity and we are going to be held accountable. Secondly, God wishes for no one to perish, but to seek forgiveness and to be made new. Thirdly, God promises us a remnant or a group of people who stayed faithful to His calling and sought forgiveness and grace and continued to seek after Him. So instead of seeing God as vengeful, see Him as a loving Father who desires to sing with and over us.

  I consider Luke 15 as the Lost Chapter. Luke shares three parables of a lost sheep, lost coin, and the lost (or parodical) son. In each of the stories, someone or something was lost. When all three things were found or returned home, God celebrated by stating what was lost is either found or came home and all of heaven and earth celebrated. Instead of the father shaming the son, or the shepherd doing the same to the sheep, they were met with great joy and a celebration ensued. Now there were consequences to be dealt with, but they could wait till tomorrow. When something is lost and is returned, we often feel great joy. How often have we lost something of value, such as car keys, a wallet or even a child in a busy park. We often put everything else on hold so we can find those things often turning everything upside down. God does the same with us. 

  If God laughs, rejoices, sings gand creates, shouldn’t we do the same since we are created in His image. In essence holy play is when we worship as we play. Telling great jokes, putting together puzzles to spending time outdoors hunting or fishing. I consider holy play as worship because it’s not only fun and something we enjoy doing, it also helps us connect with God and for us to not only delight in each other, but also it helps us to keep God in His proper place. For me, I like to be go to various state parks to take pictures on my days off.  Not only do I spend time in thought and worship, but I have found people who go to state parks friendly. I have my share of random conversations with random people on various topics and had many laughs. My favorite is when my mom and a family friend joins me to go exploring. We share many laughs and take many rabbit trails but often ends with either a picnic lunch or ice cream. In essence, Holy Play is time for worship and for finding joy in God, but also connecting with others. If we go back to the creation story in Genesis, God created us so that He could be in relationship with us. This means that we can and should commune ad enjoy God and each other. May you find time and events to holy play and to worship God with each other. 

Grace and Peace 

Tom Boustead