We had our first Summer Sabbath last on Sunday evening. We shared a brief worship service , after a delicious picnic summer. After singing “This Is My Father’s World,” we prayed:
“Loving Creator, you have given us many gifts – the most wonderful and the most ordinary is the gift of time. The past is gone and cannot be changed. The future is not here and cannot be used. We have only today. Help us to live each moment as a vital part of your great forever.” Amen.
Ecclesiastes 3 reminded us that “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven … and that God makes everything beautiful in its time.”
The Psalms contain many references to time: “My times are in thy hand … I will bless the Lord at all times … Happy are those who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times … The Lord is a stronghold in times of trouble … Trust in the Lord at all times.”
The pace of our world leaves many of us breathless just trying to keep even. We are running as fast as we can. There never is enough time to do all that we are required to do, let alone the things we would like to do. A wise person once said that we never “find time, we only make time.” We have only twenty-four hours a day. It is how we spend that time that enriches or impoverishes our lives. The time we offer to God can make the difference in the quality of life.
Time spent with God, in Bible study, prayer, meditation, or in whatever manner one chooses, is never wasted. It is during those times that a relationship is created. Out of our communion with the God of all time, comes the serenity, the peace, the abounding compassion that empower us. Each day is a gift. Let us enjoy what each day brings, and let us not waste it, but spend it in things that are eternal and life-giving. (taken from “A Matter of Time:” in There is a Season, by Betty Radford Turcott.)
Our time together closed with singing “In His Time”:
In His time, in His time,
He makes all things beautiful in His time.
Lord, please show me every day,
As You’re teaching me Your way,
That you do just what You say in your time.
In Your time, in Your time;
You make all things beautiful in Your time.
Lord, my life to You I bring,
May each song I have to sing,
Be to You a lovely things, in Your time.
We closed our time of worship sharing a beautiful prayer written by the Rev. Leland Richardson, a child of this church, who died a few months ago. “Lord God, we confess that we live in a world where the tides of time are forever ebbing and flowing, but we are thankful for You and Your love, that is the same yesterday, today and forever …”
It was wonderful to be together again at Eagles Nest Berry Farm, on a beautiful summer day, celebrating our first Summer Sabbath of 2022.
Elizabeth
In 1996, I was Commissioner from the Presbytery of the Peak to the General Assembly in Albuquerque, NM. Being so far away from home for a period of two weeks and rooming with a Commissioner from Taiwan was a growing experience, for sure! From year to year, I find myself revisiting my GA experience and following the current meeting. This year, the meeting is a hybrid experience, with committees meeting in-person in Louisville, KY, and plenary sessions meeting on-line.
The theme of the 225th General Assembly is “Lament and Hope,” and the Call to Worship declared: “We gather in faith, lamenting for all that is piercingly broken, lost, dismissed, or stolen. We gather in faith, hoping for all that God will beautifully redeem and make new…” The call to confession was entitled “Invitation to Groaning” : “As we bring our whole selves to God, let us give pause to the groan of Lament – that deeply profound sadness, regret, grief, guilt, yearning or weariness.” The prayer of confession was titled “The Call to Recognition” and it invited participants to, “…moan and groan in solidarity with those who are suffering, those who remain unseen and silenced, and with Creation.” It encouraged those gathered to be, “…deeply moved by the guilt of complicity, the comfort of apathy and the difficulties of enduring change.”
Rev. Gregory Bentley preached at opening worship of the PC(USA) 225th General Assembly. Micah 6:1-8 was the central scripture for the worship service, and the sermon entitled, “From religiosity to righteousness.” Bentley compared the context of 8th century Judah BCE of the prophet Micah with the modern context of the 21st century noting, “We’ve just become more technologically savvy, more advanced, more sophisticated and superior at working wickedness and implementing iniquity, in doing what my grandmother called ‘devilment.’ This ethical lapse amongst the leadership of the nation, the ones who are supposed to be modeling covenant life and commitment, the ones who have been charged with superintending the wellbeing and flourishing of the people, this ethical lapse has had not only disastrous economic consequences but devastating ecological consequences as well.”
Bentley contrasted religiosity and righteousness stating, “Religiosity is self-centered and righteousness is God-centered; religiosity is about piety, righteousness is about justice; religiosity is about rules and regulations, righteousness is about relationships.”
Bentley called those gathered to be people of righteousness and not religiosity stating, “God is not looking for more people in church, God is looking for more church in the people! God is not looking for more rules and regulations, God is looking for more redemptive and regenerative relationships!” He told the congregation that they need to rededicate themselves to the meat of this message in Micah 6:8, “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.” Bentley stated that these three actions reverberate with and interpenetrate one another, and that the shift from religiosity to righteousness will require a regeneration of the human heart and spirit. He closed his sermon with a call to be born again, born from above, to be alive to the spirit and brimming and bubbling over with the very life of God. (from Presbyterian Outlook Reporting, June 18, 2022, Greg Allen-Pickett)
I continue to ponder these words from the Prayer of Confession – our call to be “deeply moved by the guilt of complicity, the comfort of apathy and the difficulties of enduring change.” May God bless the Presbyterian Church (USA), a church reformed and ever reforming!
Elizabeth
At our last Session meeting we read this poem and reflected on our understanding of “Providence.” God’s providence is God’s caring provision for his people as he guides them in their journey of faith through life, accomplishing his purpose in them.
As we reflect on our lives, we can see “God’s providence and grace at work in the fabric of our lives.” How important it is to spend time in reflection, to see how God has been at work through all our “deciding, planning, wishing … through doors opened and at doors closed … and our best-laid plans and worst-kept secrets.”
Providence
God of our life –
God of all our becoming
winding
helical
hope-full
fear-full years –
When we look back
through all our deciding, planning, wishing
through doors opened, at doors closed,
best-laid plans and worst-kept secrets
how can we deny Your providence and grace
at work in the fabric of our lives?
… How can we look back
and not see haunting traces of your grace,
and trust in your providential plan
for each special life
even ours. Amen.
from Better Than Nice and Other Unconventional Prayers by Frederick Ohler
As we look back on our lives, may we see “haunting traces of God’s grace” and trust in “God’s providential plan for each special life – even ours.”
Elizabeth