Counter-Cultural Rest

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together  (Colossians 1:17).

The above text, from which we draw our theme for this academic year, is cosmic in its scope. However, at whatever level, large or small, its implications are that in Him there is cohesion and integration….

So lets bring its implications closer:  in the midst of the multitude of ways we experience fragmentation and brokenness in our culture, I would like to isolate two elements. 

When we are in the midst of a culture filled with hurry and noise, where we are subject to hundreds of voices and many thousands of words along with a mind-numbing list of possible activities, all within a constantly shrinking availability of time, we are invited to heed to a Call.  Those of you who were part of our community last year will remember this call as our theme for that year: 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  (Matt 11:28)

On the surface, this call seems like yet one more voice and one more activity to fit into an already bursting calendar.  Have you ever responded to it that way?  But when we do heed it and respond to it, we find that rather than a source of further fragmentation and stress, it brings integration and peace. 

But our flesh resists it. The danger is when we use theological sophistication to aid it in doing so. The Call is to come and surrender. But there are many times we want to do almost anything but…. The noise and hurry drives us forward along the surface and we miss the depths that are ours to enjoy. I know for myself,  in such seasons, as I have finally yielded, bent my knee and come to Him in subservience that I have realized that all of my striving has not only been in vain but has been almost,  ‘insane’. 

At Redeemer, you and I are no less subject to the impact of hurry and noise than others in our culture.  The question is whether we will allow ourselves to be carried along in its current or whether we will break free of it by heeding Jesus’ invitation.  The logic of this carries over into the time we offer to Him directly, whether individually or as part of an academic community in Christ gathering in chapel. It is rarely convenient, but that is part of the point. We are being 'counter-cultural'.

The texts for the theme this year and last year are congruent. It is when we encounter Him, the One in whom all things are held together, that we know personal integration and can allow it to work outwards.

Indeed, he calls us to do so…