Pastor's Message for September, 2007
New Beginnings
"New Beginnings" is something of of the theme of our program year ahead at Dutch Neck as we return from summer back into the quickened pace of the fall season. "New beginnings," for me, is a notion that conjures up words such as...
hope...
possibility...
freshness...
discovery...
surprise...
We will be stepping onto some new pathways in our educational program with its offerings for children, youth, adults, and families. You can read about some of these exciting plans ahead in this newsletter.
Some of you may be in a "new beginnings season" in other ways. Perhaps you have recently moved here to this new place...or will soon be relocating to a new community. Perhaps some of you are moving through transitions related to your life situation, your employment, your family constellation ("empty nest" or maybe "he/she's back!"). Perhaps you will be taking up new challenges in the months ahead, maybe in a mood of both excitement and some trepidation. Some may be moving into new territories of the Spirit, growing in new directions spiritually.
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There is really a sense that newness is a gift at the very heart of our faith. Jesus spoke about the need to be "born anew," to become babes in faith again (and probably again...and again) when we are spiritually "dead" or at least weary. Paul spoke of the gift of the gospel as a "new creation" we are invited to step into in Christ, "the past is finished and gone" he says (2 Corinthians 5:17). John the Baptist issues the call to "repent," which means to redirect life in a new direction. And the Lord himself thunders through the prophet, "I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?" (Isaiah 43:19).
Of course, new beginnings can seem and actually be risky as well as exciting, and there is ever the temptation to return to the "tried and true," to turn back from journey into New to the land of Familiar. The Hebrews came to feel this way as they wandered in the wilderness prior to their entering the Promised Land. Can you imagine, some even came to the point of saying, "Maybe our slavery back in Egypt wasn't all that bad after all...at least we knew what to expect next" (see Exodus 16:3; 17:3). W. H. Auden, the great poet, wrote of following Jesus into new paths: "He is the Way. Follow him through the Land of Unlikeness; you will see rare beasts and have unique adventures." Exciting...and risky. Rare...and unique.
Mostly, it's not so much a matter of life or death as simply learning to live out of our comfort zones...moving through those seasons when we're working out the details...fine tuning the directions... discovering the best and most efficient pathways...living with a few loose ends for a time. I am sure our journey into new beginnings at Dutch Neck will know such stretches of the way. Our faith prompts us forward, knowing that at times we must relinquish our old securities to be "born again" into new vitalities. It's the new truth we learn from the "old, old story of Jesus and his love."
Keep faith fresh!
Pastor Floyd Churn
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