“So you are no longer servants but a children, and as children you’ve become God’s heirs” (Galatians 4.7).
Show of hands: how many of you complained when you had to do chores as a kid? Particularly when you were right in the middle of playing, did you sigh or moan “Mom” in as many syllables as you could? Because, I certainly did. To be honest, I still do it; though, the voice telling me that the trash needs to go out or the dishwasher needs emptying is coming from my own head. And my own voice will nag me until I put a book or game controller aside and do whatever thing just has to be done.
But that’s being an adult, isn’t it? Doing chores when you’d rather be playing.
Paul’s words from his letter to the Galatians are, to me, some of his most ambiguous. Honestly, this idea of being children instead of servants hasn’t often made much sense to me. Sure, in its simplest interpretation it’s a declaration that there is nothing we have to do or accomplish in order to have a relationship with the Divine. That relationship is ours by inheritance—given because of who we are instead of what we’ve done. But what about the life we’re meant to live?
I have spent so much of the last twenty years or so wondering how I can serve. I’ve spent hours upon days trying to figure out just what God would have me do in this world. That’s part of what Jesus calls us to do isn’t it? That’s what feeding the poor, caring for the widows and orphans, reaching out to those whose hearts are broken is all about, isn’t it: serving God? That’s what we’re put here to do: discern and act where we’re suited to serve, right?
So what does Paul mean by saying I’m not a servant? What am I supposed to do then, go for a swim, play basketball in the driveway, sit in the floor and play games all afternoon? Is God intending me to play all day?
Really, what if that is the intent? What if what Paul is getting at is that it’s not really about service but play?
Not, I think, that taking care of one another and doing what we can to heal the broken places of the world isn’t our calling, but that it’s less about chores and more about enjoyment. Chores, after all, are just a list on the fridge, things that can be ticked off as they’re completed. But play, there’s no list for that, no plan at all as a matter of fact. You just go with the Spirit, I guess.
It’s scary. It means I may not have a clear answer on what I’m supposed to do. I might even end up with whole days where it seems like I’m not doing anything. I may never know if I’m doing exactly what God means for me to do.
Except, I guess, for living like a child.
Jesus, you told us that it’s only as children can we enter into the Realm you tell us is already in our midst. And it may be that I’ve worried too much about trying to serve you and please you that I’ve neglected the joy of living in a world ruled by love. Can you teach me, this season, to be less a servant and more a child?