This morning I was sweeping the
pine straw, sand and wrappers up from the floor of the bus when I came across a
bright shinny quarter. The last several days I have found change of various
denominations on the floor. That is strange. I now have Middle and high school
students on my route only. Previously I had elementary age children. For them,
the world revolved around a dime or nickel and to misplace one meant everything
stopped. Not so with this new group. That is different.
For the most part these older
kids just want to get to and from school and as quickly as possible. Not so
with elementary children, they find things to do and say. Yes, the older ones
are easier in that regard. They are not as animated and through today have not
produced any sermon material. The younger children were always sparking new
thoughts about life and living. Maybe I have not hit the sweet spot yet. Now be
sure in a crowd of 54 people there are exceptions and one 9th grader
and several 6th graders have the potential for future sermon fodder.
There is hope.
My new students have required a
different routine in my afternoon schedule. I am not sure if it is better just
different. Not as much sitting and waiting as before so I know that is better.
I hate to sit and wait (probably you too). Wait is the ugliest four letter word
in our language. Those ones George Carlin made famous all those years ago have
nothing on W-A-I-T. So that change is good. The other changes, the jury is
still out. That’s a danger with change, we often make judgements before we have
seen the full extent of the change.
All of us cringe with change at
some level or another. Yet, change is part of life. Queen Elizabeth is
attributed with saying, “Change is constant” recently. That is so true.
Consider the weather, it changes by the minute or hour. Seasons change every
three months. Cells in our bodies die and are replaced frequently. But
somewhere in there we equate the changeless nature of God with no change. That
is just not true.
God does not change but our
understanding of, our faith must be growing/changing or it is dying. To grow it
must change. Like a child to an adult change must take place. But we don’t like
it. I know. In just a few days a new shepherd will begin leading FBC
Springfield. A change from the past, ugh but really? A previous shepherd Jeff Rollins
said almost every day “God is in control.” He said that usually when I did not
want to hear that because something was changing that I did not like or want.
However, it is always true. God IS in control. He provides new leaders so that
his people have the opportunity to grow in the image of Jesus, to mature in the
faith and minster in their world as it changes. Our difficulty comes when we
try to evaluate changes in the short term and not consider the long term. Too
often we believe “all is lost” when it is just a new chapter in a very long
saga of faith and “followship.” No shepherd is the author. The author is the
King of Kings and Lord of Lords, he alone is the tale’s originator. By the way God
writes the best books with the craziest twists and turns and seems especially
fond of the underdog, like me and you.
How about we make some change?
By
the way, two dimes and a nickel are 25 cents!
In
HIS service and yours,
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