(P)Review Bible Study: 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17...Tradition!

    Why do we do it that way? I'll tell you why we do it that way!....I don't know why we do it that way....It's tradition, wrote Sholem Aleichem. 
   One hundred years ago Sholem Aleichem wrote the anthology, "Tevye the Dairyman" about the dairy farmer Tevye and his seven daughters and it has been entertaining audiences ever since.  It has been translated from it's original Yiddish into dozens of languages from Japanese and Indonesian to German and Turkish. Sholem is largely considered the Jewish Mark Twain for his use of wry humor, striking landscapes, clever stories, and local dialect. Most of us may not have read "Tevye the Dairyman" or Sholem's "Railroad Stories" but chances are you have heard the music from the Broadway musical based on his books: Fiddler on the Roof.  
    In the musical Tevye the Milkman points to the precariously perched Fiddler playing his tunes on top of a local roof and says. 

A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no? But here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck. It isn't easy. You may ask 'Why do we stay up there if it's so dangerous?' Well, we stay because Anatevka is our home. And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: tradition!

    I can't read those words without hearing actor Chaim Topol's voice saying them, and then the chorus chimes in singing "Tradition..." So much of Jewish religious life revolves around millennia old traditions. If you contrast this to contemporary life where trends rarely last for more than a few weeks to a month at the most (Remember all the scary clowns?  Now where are they?) then it really underscores how enduring those traditions really were. 
     In my home traditions are of absolute importance.  I think it may have something to do with the fact that for multiple reasons my wife and I did not have many stable traditions in our homes when we were growing up.  My wife is the queen of tradition building; she is a true master at the art of creating memories that get permanently affixed to very nearly ceremonial acts.  Each Advent

we put up nearly a dozen Christmas trees in our home, we have lengthy family times at the dinner table where we read Advent devotions, light Advent candles, and open Advent calendars. On top of all the classic traditions we have added our favorite new distraction: Elf on a Shelf. The kids love finding what mischief Buddy the Elf gets into each night. It should be noted that I am careful to include the actual story of the real St. Nicholas as we talk about Santa, and not the more contemporary Secular-Santa. That is just Advent, you should see actual Christmas...and Lent, and Easter, and Thanksgiving....etc. 
   Why do we do tradition that way?  Our lives, like the lives of the peasants in the small town of Anatevka in Sholem's stories, are precariously balanced tornadoes of barely controlled chaos.  We have four busy kids, two time consuming professions, and any number of hobbies.  We could fall off of our precarious balance at any point.  How do we keep from falling off an breaking our necks? I'll tell you in one word: tradition. There is power in sharing certain communal acts.  When Paul is calling the community in Thessaloniki to faithful life he says, 

2 Thessalonians 2: 13-17
But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth.For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope,comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word. 

  When I first read this I was struck by his use of the phrase "Hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us."  As Paul visited and formed new Christian communities he began teach them certain conventions and acts.  Prayer and blessing, hymns and roles...all of these things were part of Paul's teaching.  These served as anchors for the new Christian communities left afloat in the tempestuous waters of the first century.  These traditions were the solid points of ground that you could stand on when the world shifted out from under you. Maybe this is why tradition holds such a large place in Jewish culture, no one has faced more shifting ground in than the Jews.  
    But times are changing and our world is shifting too.  What faith traditions have been passed down to us to help hold fast to the faith that was given to us?  

   The author of Hebrews recommends that:

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Perhaps the single most important tradition in all of the Kingdom of God is the act of assembling to worship.  I know that folks seem to have thousands of reasons why they don't have the time and even more reasons why it does not matter, but I cannot stress to you how much it matters.  Worshiping with, and participating in a community of faith may be the single most stable anchor that moors us to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The traditions that have been passed to us in worship: singing, praying, communing, teaching, reading...these things make us into ourselves and without them we slowly erode away, beaten by the waves of this world.  
   I am not saying you need to come to worship with my congregation (although you are completely welcome).  I am not even saying you need to worship with a "traditional" congregation. When I started a congregation in Florida we only did contemporary worship (with a Lutheran, sacramental flair).  What I am saying is that participating in a community of faith may be one the most important traditions in all of the Christian faith.  Maybe you are not involved in a faith community because the notion of joining one is intimidating.  Don't be afraid, the church is a place where you can come and be welcomed by those who need salvation and grace just as much as you do.  
    In this life, where we all are like Sholem said, fiddlers on the roof trying to scratch out a happy tune without falling and breaking our necks, we need tradition to ground us and draw us closer to God.  May you have a traditional day.