There are many sights and sounds of the season that remind us that Christmas is drawing near. I love to listen to good Christmas music because it gets me into the spirit of the season. I especially love the Christmas hymns that we will be singing as we gather to celebrate the first coming of Christ to earth. There is the familiar offering kettle with bell ringer from the Salvation Army that can be found at the doors of department stores collecting money for those in need…
As we enter the month of October, some of you may already be thinking about Halloween. I have spent plenty of time over the years on my front porch handing out candy to princesses, fire fighters, scary monsters, witches, star wars characters, Winnie the Pooh, and the list goes on. I have fond memories of trick or treating and fall festivals at church when I was growing up. Overall, I am convinced that most folks celebrate Halloween out of a spirit of good fun and enjoyment. My purpose is not to be critical of those who enjoy Halloween. However, I think most would agree that Halloween does include an element of darkness: death, monsters, skeletons, ghosts, witches, tombstones, etc.
As we are dealing with a second round of the Coronavirus, the delta variant, along with other crisis around the world, it can cause us to question whether God is in control or not. Admittedly, even as a Christian, it is all too easy to look around at the world we live in and think that things are spiraling out of control. Fires in the west, floods in the mountains, earthquakes in Haiti, and the onset of a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan are all indicators that something is terribly wrong with the world that we live in. In our own congregation we have parishioners that are battling sickness and grieving over the loss of loved ones. In this article I would like to discuss 1) Why things are the way they are, 2) whether God is in control or not, and 3) walking by faith and not by sight.
Imagine with me for a moment that you are on board an airplane. A spirited debate arises between passengers as to what is the most important part of the airplane. One passenger says that the engines are the most important part of the plane. Another passenger responds, “No!”, the wings are the most important part of the plane. A third passenger says, “I disagree with both of you!”, the rudder is the most important part of the plane. After a period of dead silence, another passenger calmly and quietly suggests that “ALL” of these parts are important for the airplane to function properly. You see the first three passengers were engaged in an “either/or” debate. The wise passenger was thinking more in terms of “both/and”.
We will often hear our politicians end a speech with the phrase, “May God Bless the United States of America”. It is good that they say this. We, as one of the greatest nations in the history of the world, owe a debt of gratitude to our Creator for the myriad ways in which He has blessed us. The writers of the Declaration of Independence closed with these words, “And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”
The question that rolls around in my mind is “Will God continue to bless America?” Better stated, “Can God continue to bless America?” If the answer to these questions is Yes, then the follow up question becomes, “For how long?”.