Ah,
summer . . . all of us, regardless of age, engage
summer with a sense of anticipation. It may be
genetic:
longer days and warmer temperatures trigger
chemical reactions which bring on primordial urges
to swim, camp, fish and travel. Or, it may
be cultural conditioning: school is
out, theme parks are open, shoe stores are having
summer sales—so we automatically think, “Time to
party!”
I
don’t know if it is true that, when we were kids,
summers were really long and each day employed a
litany of activities including running in the
sprinklers, lying breathless in the shade with
friends and the dog after a triumphant game of
softball, getting up with the sun to go fishing
down at the pond . . .or if these are simply the
fantasies of someone who is breathless because he
is out of shape and who hurts himself trying to
dodge the sprinklers.
We
adults do, however, manage to jam these months
with much of the same business that occupies our
time throughout the rest of the year. Summer needs to
be different. These warm
days, I think, ought to parallel in our attitude
and in our planning the same concept as that found
in the Sabbath year or the Year of Jubilee found
in Old Testament law. Summer is
time for a break, time for rest and re-creation,
time to forgive old debts and start
fresh.
Here is a challenge: designate
some time each
week for a summer vacation. Find a way
to make at least one day or part of a day each
week for the next three months purely play
time.
Put aside that work that needs to get done
(it will still be there) and sit in the shade, go
to the pool, whittle, nap, read, talk quietly with
a good friend, turn off the TV, join the teenagers
in a volleyball game and show them you’ve still
got it . . . . (I can hear the guffaws from here .
. . .)
You’ll be glad you did.
And
along the way, listen for a still small voice in
the quiet of a summer morning: God has
something to tell you this summer. Be still
long enough, regularly enough, to hear Him—you’ll
be blessed.
I love this church! There is
not another like it in the world. I
encourage you to take some time to look around and
appreciate the good gifts the Lord has given
us.
Take note of the faithfulness and
dedication, the love and encouragement, the
patience and great sense of humor, and the
uniqueness of this collection of saints!
I
asked you to suggest some topics for summer
sermons.
You did not disappoint. Here are
some of your ideas: Peace:
Where is it?
Is it available in this world? Marriage
and Divorce:
Let’s look at these issues from all
sides.
Longing for God: How do I
get there when the world promotes
self-sufficiency? God’s
Love: How do I know God loves me in spite of how I
feel?
Is there a measure of (or limit to) God’s
grace and love for us? The
Strange and Unusual: How do Jay
Leno and others relate to being “holy”? (I’ve got to
think about that one.) Reason
versus Faith: Does an
“understandable” religion diminish the experience
of faith?
Address the dichotomy of the Christian as
an “enemy” of the world in a world that is
influenced to some degree by Christian
principles.
Revelational: Talk about
the “end times.”
What fun! We’ll give
a shot at addressing some of these topics over the
next couple of months. A Sunday
message will be followed by the “Talk Back” Sunday
morning class wherein you may ask questions, make
observations and take the exploration a bit
further.
Let’s enjoy the
summer.
Let’s trust that God will work in
surprising ways in our lives.
I’m
so glad to be sharing this journey with
you.
Love,
Pastor Chuck
