This was supposed to be the day that we closed on the sale of our church building. That didn’t happen today as planned, but it’s all good. It’s been rescheduled and the pieces that have been in place are beginning to move. It’s interesting to see the future to begin to take shape at our church. And how history comes to a close. But will we embrace this time of our lives? It’s funny how people embrace the same situation different. While some celebrate how God is leading, others are looking inward to…basically…a world that once was.
I wonder how the people of Israel felt…those that would left to die in the desert? Did they celebrate their children and future generations as they moved forward, or did they cry about opportunities lost? Our church parallels their story so much.
Many will cry. At one time our church was celebrated as ‘the place to be.’ People grew up in this church and vividly remember the glory days. Young and old, people came from all over and built a great place to worship, but did they worship? So many got caught up in the ’stuff’ of the church, that when trouble arose or ’stuff’ happened and they didn’t get their way, they left. There is so much history here. But so much of the history is not about what God did, but what people did. When God gets taken out of the equation, He will surely leave. Yep, I am sad to say there will be crying in the coming weeks and months as our church begins to make the ‘big changes.’
Still others will celebrate. They know that their time has past, or is it? They will look at the future generations of this church and celebrate what God is doing, and even in their old(er) age, they do what they can. Sure this is not the outcome they wanted, but God is moving and that’s all that really matters to them! They get their feet wet, dirty, scarred. They will pray, beg, and wrestle with God so that he will make His plan perfectly clear. And even if God doesn’t provide for them exactly what they asked, they still know….God provided.
And some are doing both. They are crying because they loved this place. They got married here, kids grew up here, spouses where memorialized here. They remember the past, but the celebrate the future. They want what they once had. They want the younger generations to experience what they did years and years ago. They want to worship God more holy and purely. But they know that future comes with a cost. The cost of comfort, security, even friends. So for them with celebration comes tears. Tears of joy. There are a number of people that are/will be great pillars of faith in our congregation…that bled for people here, but they look forward to doing it again some where else! For them, mixed emotions are being had.
No doubt, we will have trying days to come. I am having trying days right now, but God is moving and I am along for the ride! Should it be my turn to get off the ride some day WAY DOWN THE ROAD, God will let me know. But right now…full speed ahead! Am I sad for the people that feel that they are ‘losing’ their church…you bet! But it is my hope that in the coming weeks, that they will find God and God will show them again exactly where they can minister to others and church isnt about buildings or Sunday School departments, but building relationships with a dying world that needs Jesus!
