The Movement

We’re all moving. Even if we’re sitting as still as we possibly can, we’re still moving. Our breath causes our chest to rise and sink. And even if we hold our breath for a moment, or even for a world record 17 minutes, our blood is still moving inside our veins. We’re all moving.

There’s a word for us when we truly stop moving: dead. You’re not dead yet. You’re moving.

The question is: are we moving within a worthwhile movement?

The ten day period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called the High Holy Days by Jews worldwide. Rosh Hashanah celebrates the Jewish New Year (Happy 5769, by the way!), and Yom Kippur is recognized as a Day of Atonement when people confess their sins to God and ask for forgiveness.

Rosh Hashanah is more than a celebration of a new year – it is a celebration of the movement of God in creation and in those who have believed. In the Bible (Leviticus 23:23-25 and Numbers 29:1-6, specifically), God commanded Israel to celebrate these two highest of holy days by coming together as one huge family in celebration and reflection for what God has done, what they have done, and what God wants to do.

So, as you reflect on God’s creative work, take a moment and reflect. Who have you been created to be? How have you been gifted? What resources are you grateful to steward? How have you been blessed? What awful experiences have become lessons learned that will help you and others not to repeat them?

God called for this annual feast because God knew that people needed to be reminded of The Movement, and be encouraged to renew their commitment to it in community.

What is The Movement? The Movement is simply to save the world. To redeem it. To restore it to its original condition. To heal it. To make it whole. The entire created realm: the environment and the people who steward it.

The Movement had some significant milestones in history: the calling of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph to name some of the earliest Movers in the Movement. God called everyday people, peasants, nobles, men, women, educated, non-educated, Jews and Gentiles alike to invest in The Movement.

God has always been aware of the state of creation. God is not ignorant regarding humanity’s fouls against each other and the natural world. The goal of The Movement, however, is the Hebrew word Shalom, which refers to holistic peace and restoration in all of creation. In the story of creation, Eden is that prototype, and serves as the model for where we’re headed. An experience we really cannot fathom, yet one for which our hearts yearn.

If this reality happened tomorrow – shalom fully realized, The Movement fulfilled entirely – what would be different? What would be different about you? What would be different about your relationships? Your work? Your city? Your nation? The world? What would go away? What would replace it?

When God called people throughout history, God called them to a different way of life, a life of faith, where their actions were dictated not always by what the culture around them encouraged, but what they sensed God calling them to do. In the Bible’s Hebrews 11, we get a glimpse of what these people went through as they invested their everyday moving to The Movement.

Today reminds us that we are invited to join The Movement, which is still moving forward with us or without us. Today is a day when we take an honest look at ourselves and admit that we have been out of step, not in synch with The Movement at certain times over the last 12 months. Today is a day of collective confession, a day of repentance.

How have you been out of step with The Movement this past year? When have your priorities failed to coincide with the priorities called for by The Movement? When has your attitude not reflected that which propels The Movement forward? When were you lazy about your faith, apathetic about helping where help was needed, and stingy when generosity was necessary?

In ancient Jewish Yom Kippur services, the doors of the Ark of the Covenant were open for the entire service – the only service of the year when this happened. This symbolized Heaven’s Gates being open to people on that particular day. It was thought that those who confessed and repented would have their names written in God’s Book of Life, and God would bless them with a good year. Not so much for those who didn’t…

Actually, it makes sense. When we fail to recognize our propensity for idiocy, we usually repeat the same foolish mistakes, making our lives more miserable than necessary. But when we admit to ourselves, others and God where we recognize our error, we are less likely to repeat those mistakes, making for a better year ahead.

Confession was only half of the deal, however. The other half was commitment to The Movement. These High Holy Days were and are a time to remember what God has been up to, and decide to join God in The Movement.

How do we do this? With the very things we’ve been given to steward. Our relationships, our work, our gifts and abilities, our resources – everything.

God is calling us to recommit to The Movement. Should we commit, it will mean we bring more of God’s Kingdom in, which doesn’t leave much room for that which is not. It means the not-so-good stuff you mentioned earlier begins to fade. So, what can you do in order to be moving in The Movement’s direction? How can you pray differently? Speak differently? Love differently? Give differently? If you stop moving by this time next year, for what movement do you want to be remembered? What would you hope your obituary might say about the investments of your life?

In Jewish circles, the Ten Days of Awe that mark the High Holy Days ends with a Yom Kippur service when the people recite seven times, with increasing volume, “The Lord is our God.” Seven times proclaiming that we know we have a choice as to who rules our life, and we choose God. Not sex. Not sloth. Not silver. Not self. But God. Only God. Seven times – the number of perfection – pure devotion to God.

We are hear confessing our shortcomings and considering this commitment because countless people before us confessed and committed to the God who created them and called them to The Movement.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”

May it be so for you and for me and for all we invite into The Movement by this time next year.