9 Feb 2016
“Tradition” is such a maligned thing today. Some people would point to today’s gospel as
a sign that “tradition” is totally contrary to the message of Jesus. For them, anything “traditional” is just
hopelessly on the wrong path. On the
flip side, of course, are the modern-day Pharisees among us who are obsessed
with the “letter of the law.” For them, “tradition”
is somewhat of a god—inviolable, unchangeable.
You know, so often, we talk about hymns as “traditional”
church music. And then we talk about
guitars and piano as “modern” church music.
But, really, so much of that “guitar and piano” music we’ve been singing
since the 1980s or so has become . . . traditional. And—strangely enough—a very great number of
our “traditional” hymns haven’t been passed on for at least a couple
generations. A lot of hymns aren’t “traditional”
anymore . . . they’re simply fading away.
But, you know, that’s actually a sign of a living tradition; customs and practices
are born . . . and they also fade away, to be replaced by new practices. And that’s a healthy thing—to a degree. But even as customs and practices come and
go, what they’re passing along remains unchanged. It’s kind of like a ball float atop the
water. The ball remains the same . . .
but the water moves and changes, and carries the ball along.
What remains unchanging for us is the Law of God, the Love of
God, the Revelation of God. That’s the “ball”
on the water. And the “water” is like all
our human traditions that come and go; they change, but they carry the
unchanging truth from one generation to the next. And this is the kind of “tradition” Jesus wants—one
that’s both stable and very fluid.
And so, we don’t want to throw out the idea of “tradition”—after
all, the rock-solid truth and beauty of our God is at the core of “tradition.” But, on the other hand, we don’t want to get
so married to our customs and practices that they become a god themselves.
Jesus asks us today, simply, to remember the fluidity of our human life
and customs . . . and the solidness of God’s life and unchanging Law of Love.
May our human traditions open us to God. And may God be the beginning and end of all
our efforts.
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