Spiritual Hiccups - Old Habits

I know that some people detest sports metaphors, but I grew up playing sports and am a big sports fan, so I can't help myself.  One pattern I've noticed over the years is football teams that have struggled on offense promising to "open things up," to bring in a passing attack that will rack up the points, only to see things remain the same.  Coaches who've promised to throw lots of passes revert to old habits of running the ball up the middle.  On occasions I've even seen a new coach brought in to jazz up the offense only to end up looking much like his predecessor. 

I don't know if coaches who say they're going to run a more wide open offense are just saying what they think fans want to hear, or if they seriously intend to throw the ball more but simply slip back into comfortable patterns.  However, I do know how easy it is to be attracted to a new way of doing things but then fall back into old habits.  And Christians sometimes look like football coaches who have seen a new and better way, but then act as they always have.

Jesus encounters such in our gospel reading.  He is addressing people who are drawn to him, who I suppose could be said to "believe in him" when he says, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I tell you?"  To apply sports metaphors ad nauseum, "Why do you call me a coaching genius, and not do what I say?"

Human beings are creatures of habit.  As a pastor I see this every Sunday when people come in and sit in exactly the same place they sat the week before, and the week before that.  This is not all bad.  It's nice not needing to decide where to sit every week.  But we will persist in habits that are not helpful, even persist in habits that we say we want to break.  We're also pretty good at insisting our existing habits are just fine, even that they are sanctioned by God.  It wasn't so long ago that mainstream American Christianity proclaimed segregation God's will. 

Old habits die hard, but the first step in killing off bad ones is to recognize them.  Do our habits align with what Jesus told us?  Do our habits fit with being a disciple of Jesus, or have we simply gotten so used to the way we live that we presume it must be fine with Jesus? 

Love your neighbor, including the enemy.  Help the poor.  Offer kindness to the stranger and the alien.  Care for the hungry.  Those who try to save their lives will lose them while those who lose their lives find them.  Do not return evil for evil.  All these things and more are at the heart of Jesus' message, and yet many of us follow habits that don't always align very well with what Jesus says.

"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I tell you?  Do our habits help us do what Jesus tells us? Jesus says that developing habits that do builds our lives on a solid foundation that will stand the test of time.

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