The tiger lilies are gone, and the corn in the fields has tassels and the ears are sporting colorful silk. June 20, the summer equinox, has passed, and Time marches on, double time, towards winter again.
Brown is the color of the autumn leaves
When the winter comes to the barren trees
There is birth, there is death, there is a plan
And there’s just One God, and there’s just One Man
Who can give us life, who can make us grow
That can make our sins as white as snow.
After the excitement on Thursday over the birth of Adaline (my 20th grandchild), I came home on Friday, worked furiously, wrote down some of the details of the birth, and then we immediately plunged into the 4th of July weekend.
The 4th of July is always a grand time at Calvary Chapel Lafayette. Even when we had a church of our own in Delphi, we always somehow managed to come to CC Lafayette afterwards for the celebration of the birth of our nation. As is the usual case with a holiday on a particular day, it shifts from year to year, but this year, 2021, the 4th was on Sunday, and that made it even better.
Pastor Joe loves Independence Day, and every year, a huge flag is draped in front of the door of the church like the veil in front of the Holy of Holies. Several of our worship leaders have balked at the thought of playing too many patriotic songs, but I believe Pastor Joe would have been delighted if we could have arranged to have a drummer and a fifer with a bandage across his forehead, marching down the center aisle towards the platform. In times past, we had arranged for our kids to sing “God Bless America” like Kate Smith, or “This is My Country” like Pat Boone. But this year, they were mostly all gone, so Pastor Joe invited a special guest from Florida (who’s spending the summer here in the Hoosier state) to sing “God Bless the U.S.A.” I was expecting President Trump to enter at any moment!
But before the service even started, I was surprised to see Valerie’s in-laws sitting behind us, and found out that Susie and Joe’s seven-year-old son Sammy would be baptized that morning. How did I miss that? These relatives had just decided to come early, while other sibling family members – Sammy’s aunts and uncles and cousins – would be coming later on, after their own church services.
Pastor Joe prefaced his sermon by repeating his wife’s admonition to “not scare everybody.” Because it’s supposed to be a joyful holiday after all. But I knew what was on his mind, because I’d read the same news articles. Our nation has enemies who are determined to crush us, and they are working overtime towards that end.
Here’s part of a passage from Joel 2:
“‘Now, therefore,’ says the LORD, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.’
“So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the LORD your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind Him?”
America may be dying. Pastor Joe said as much – that perhaps this, her 245th birthday celebration, could be her last one. But America’s birthday is one of several all-American feast days, so this was not going to be a day of weeping and fasting. Not yet. Stay tuned, though.
Outside in the parking lot, a large tent had been erected, with iron pegs hammered right into the pavement – somewhat reminiscent of the Jesus People days of early Calvary Chapel. Our church members had invited their friends and promised they’d find fellowship amongst our church family (which they did!) A large pool had been set up next to the tent, with children ready to swim, and a small kiddie wading pool next to it with balls floating in it.
Someone had donated a large amount of meat for the grill. My peanut butter Rice Krispy treats didn’t hold up when taken outside – they kind of melted into a stack of crumbs – but there was enough other carry-in food that no one went hungry.
A whole section of tables was dedicated to Sammy’s relations, and there were actually quite a few of us altogether. At one point, Robyn’s son Ambrose (4) was spotted climbing the ladder to the pool. He either wanted to swim, or he wanted to be like his cousin and get baptized, but either way, he was strongly encouraged to dismount the ladder.
After we had eaten enough grilled food and sides, Sammy mounted the ladder, eased into the water, and was baptized by his father Joe and Pastor Joe.
Afterwards, I mused that our nation was birthed 245 years ago, under perilous conditions.
Adaline had been born about 3½ days earlier, also under perilous conditions, and we were all praying and holding our breaths, that it would happen safely.
Today, Sammy had been baptized, as an outward expression of an inward change. He had received Christ as his Savior and Lord several years ago, but now he had plucked up enough courage to follow his Lord in baptism. Was it perilous? Well, it involved death …
One born, and one born again. How excellent are your ways, O Lord!
That was Sunday. Then, on Friday night, Eric and I worked on family genealogy, and I entered Adaline in the family pages of the family Bible Robyn had made for us when she was still working at Leonard’s. Our family is growing! The family of God is growing. But look at this:
This poster had been placed on the ledge above the stairwell, where sunlight passing through a very large window shone down on it until all the writing had faded. Now we’ve freshened it up, adding information we only recently found out. Notice how only six generations from our kids, it had taken 64 individual people to come together and pass on their DNA in the forming of each of our kids. Now think of the thousands of individual people who are also our ancestors, who lived before our time. And now ponder the fact that with the exception of my dad, everyone born before Eric and me has already died. Those who had a personal relationship with Jesus are already with Him in Heaven.
And some of these same ancestors, along with God’s angels and the current crowd of church family, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents who came for the festivities, are part of the great cloud of witnesses, who watched and cheered when Sammy was baptized.
“… buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.”
~Colossians 2:12
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us … ”
~Hebrews 12:1
There is birth, there is death, there is a plan
And there’s just One God, and there’s just One Man
Who can give us life, who can make us grow
That can make our sins as white as snow
There is birth. Happy Birthday, Addie, and Happy Birthday, America!
There is death … and rebirth. Baptism is a re-enactment of the profound truth that there is no salvation apart from the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Without Him, we would be still dead in our sins. With Him, there is Re-birth, and there is Life.
There is a Plan! God is still on the Throne. His Plan is perfect and it is hindered by no one.
It’s been a very good week!
No comments:
Post a Comment