Once upon a time, a rabbi went to visit a member of his synagogue who had not been to worship in quite some time. The two men visited together for a while by the fire and finally there was a lull in the conversation. The man was certain that the rabbi would use this opportunity to chastise him for not being at the synagogue on a regular basis. Instead, the rabbi quietly reached over, took the fire poker in his hand and moved one coal away from the fire. Within the very short time the coal had cooled and died.
This is what happens to us when we separate ourselves from the warmth and life of our worshipping community - the fire and passion goes out of our faith life. Eventually, we believe we can truly justify sleeping in on a Sunday morning or "communing with God through nature" on the golf course. Eventually, we can skip worship again and again until "just one more week" suddenly turns into the whole summer.
Aaah, the lazy, hazy days of summer. It is tempting to take a vacation from church the way the children take vacation from school. We want a break from the routines of life and church often just seems like part of the routine. How fortunate we are that God doesn't take a vacation from us!
Summer worship is a time when we can experience God in new and different ways. All around us we have evidence of the lush life that God offers us, the green trees, the growing grass and flowers, the warm sun and the refreshing rain. Some Christians call summer the season of "ordinary time" but all we have to do is look around us to see that our ordinary days are filled with good gifts from an extraordinary God. And the gospel we have been given to live out is an extraordinary gospel. There is nothing ordinary about it!
Summer worship is a time for our worshipping community to gather strength and grow. Like the trees, grass and flowers, we need to be watered with the Word and strengthened by God's grace at the table. We also need the help and support of those in community with us so that we can continue to grow. On any given Sunday, you may feel that you don't need to be in church - but have you ever considered that someone else might need you to be there. Someone else may need to gather strength from your faith, from your presence, from your love.
This summer we will continue our regular worship schedule - 8:00am liturgical worship and 9:30am non-liturgical worship. We hope to have a Sunday School sort of offering during the 9:30am service through the months. Even our children need to be fed and nurtured in their faith during the summer months. Watch for news of this! I look forward to celebrating the "warmth of God's love" and the wonder of the season of Pentecost with you this summer
See you in church!
Pastor Mary