At the time, I responded only by listening, but I suspect that many of us feel either the same way or the exact opposite. We want someone to tell us what we ought to do or we don't want anyone to tell us what ought to do! Sometimes we may even to want both. In my own life that shows up in a desire for a Rule of Life, a guide to how I intend to live out my faith on a daily basis, and also an aversion to deep and honest confession to my Confessor. I want direction, the "Thou shalt...", while at the same time not really wanting to face how I've broken the "Thou shalt not...".
I strongly believe we need to hear both. But I also believe that the order is important. If the first thing we hear is how wrong we are, how badly we behave, and look first into the depraved depths of our sinfulness... well... I personally tend to run in terror or hide in shame. But if my first look at God is grace and mercy and love, if I honestly and truly know that there is nothing I can do to make God love me more or less, then and only then, can I face my brokenness and find redemption. I respond best to the "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not" once I know the loving heart of God that they emanate from.
And so, yes. On Sunday, as veteran and rookie disciples, young and old in Christ, gather together for Word and Sacrament, you will find the sweetness of God's Love most prevalent. This is no sugar-coating. Christ reveals the nature of God, that God is Love, and this strengthens us for all else.
Therefore, I trust that we will not stop at a Sunday faith. I trust we will continue to grow into Christian maturity. I trust that as our experience of the boundlessness and bond of God's love deepens we will go on to wrestle with God's Holy Perfection and our own brokenness. Then, and only then, shall we find Godly and graceful strength to live into "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not".
