The universe looks different when
you receive a note saying "I love you", doesn't it? The note may have
been crudely written and full of misspellings when it was passed to you by the
little girl with the curly brown hair in 4th grade, but it made your heart
dance. Or it may have been perfectly said, beautifully put together, in the
middle of life and it changed the way the world looked to you.
Ella colored a picture for my
birthday, and she printed out the word "love" and spelled out
"Grandpa." You can imagine what it does for me each time I walk past
the refrigerator where the picture and note are displayed.
God sends notes our way. The
Bible says the rainbow is a note. The bread and juice of communion are a love
note from God. The Bible itself is -for all the passages that are puzzling, so
filled with the violence of human armies and the stories of dysfunctional
families where siblings don't trust siblings- a love letter from God to the
world. Step back from the individual verses a bit, look at the great themes of
scripture, and you'll find it is a love letter to the world. "God so loved
the world that God gave the world God's Son," the Bible says.
This Sunday morning we will each
have an opportunity to leave God a love note. And it's not a "one
time" note. It's not a dozen roses that go brown in a week. This love note
gets "re-sent" each time you and I make out a check to God's work, or
each time an automatic withdrawal is made from our bank account so children are
introduced to Jesus, so that teenagers are coached and encouraged in their
journey, so that people are nurtured and disciple in small groups, so that
persons in the hospital are visited, so that the Wednesday food ministry goes
on, so that the Interfaith Winter Shelter keeps happening, so that counseling
resources are available to those who are struggling towards new life, so that
the world is transformed by worship that is real and beautiful and shaped by
the Holy Spirit.
I've learned something along the
way of life. Love means showing up. And love means saying it. Don't swallow it
the words or the thought...don't keep silent. Don't leave someone guessing
about where you are in relationship to them. Put it out there. Make it clear.
Be unambiguous.
At the end of worship we'll all
be invited to come forward and leave our estimate of giving card (I like
calling them "faith promise" cards) in baskets along the communion
rail or stage. It's not just a money thing, you know? You're leaving God a love
note. And God will get to open that note every week or two throughout the year,
and read again of your love...your gladness...your thankfulness.
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Join us in worship this Sunday as
we again are blessed by great music, as we rejoice in the grace of God, as we
look at the way Jesus turns the world upside-down and as we each have the
opportunity to bring our estimate of giving/faith promise cards for 2014
forward at place them in the baskets in the front of the room. Note: we need to hear from you in the
next two weeks. At that point we begin putting together our 2014 budget based
on your response.
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Sunday school students recently
sent notes to people in the church. One child, along with his family, sent me a
note that said, "Pastor Mark - thank you for pushing us." I keep that
in my Bible so I am always reminded that preaching and leading means loving,
and it also means pushing people towards God's preferred future. "Thank
you for pushing us."
In Christ and for Christ,
Lead Pastor
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