LOUISVILLE (PNS) This morning when I awoke and peered outside the window, the rhododendron forest in which I reside looked dead. All of the slick, green leaves that remain in place all winter were closed up so tightly that they appeared to have no life. When I looked at the thermometer out our kitchen window I noted that it was 4 degrees, and the wind was howling. The television weatherman reported that the wind chill factor was minus 20 degrees.
I reflected on those rhododendron leaves. It is amazing how they tell us the weather conditions before we step outside. They close up when it is cold, and they open up when the weather is mild. They even flower when it is beautiful weather for a period of time each summer.
How much this reminds me of our denomination. It is so easy for each of us, in challenging times (like freezing weather) to withdraw and to shrivel up and appear that we have no life. It is easier to resist the criticism and the harsh winds by retreating rather than being bold. Sometimes we must do this in order to survive. Sometimes we must have a “strategic retreat,” as they say in the military, in order to reinforce our stamina and resources so we can come out even stronger. But in other times we retreat because we don’t want to face the realities of the harsh language, or winter.
For many of my sermons these past six months I have focused on the Romans 8 passage where Paul says, “I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely NOTHING can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.”
During my trips across our denomination and into other countries during these six months I have served as Moderator, I have seen the church from many angles. Some are giving up. Some are retreating. Some are defensive. But others are saying, “These are the elements of our society in which we have been placed to witness to our Lord. Let’s stand up and be counted. Let’s tell the GOOD NEWS that bonds us together. Let’s minimize those critics who wish to detract from our effectiveness as a denomination by being positive, and honest, and passionate about the wonderful parts of our family that hold us together.”
We may be smaller in size, but we are getting stronger at the core than we have been for a number of years. I believe that sincerely. And I ask God to continue to show us the way to do God’s will in the name of Jesus Christ as we journey onward. If we need to turn inward to protect ourselves and renew our spirits, let’s do so. But like the rhododendron, let’s prepare to blossom and flourish in our renewal, and in response to His Resurrection and new life.
