Hello from the Savanna (VBS)
It’s VBS Week here at the church and we’re having a BLAST with 204 kids registered – a packed house every morning to sing and shout and hear about the good and wild love of God!
Have we had a few snafus so far? Sure! Monday’s audio online was garbled up from some interference. Yesterday, I forgot to wear my hat in yesterday’s skit. And today… well, as I’m writing this, I just heard a loud BANG and I’m afraid to open my door and find out what went down (but I haven’t heard any cries or shouts, so I’ll assume it’s not that big of a deal). Which honestly, is true about ALL of these things. No big deal.
And yet, how many times to we allow ourselves to get focused on the little negative things and miss the HUGE good things that are happening all around us? Sure, we construct good reasons in our mind why that little inconvenience or modest annoyance is really important. And how it speaks to a “much deeper issue” that we need to address. But does it? OR is that just the way we allow ourselves to be sidetracked by the enemy into living our lives differently than what God intended, and offered in Jesus?
I walked out of the sanctuary this morning as our youngest kids, accompanied by our 6th Graders (before they head out on their service project) sang Forrest Frank’s Celebration; “You… you know what to do… it’s time to put your phone down and raise your attitude…Let’s have a celebration… it’s time to clap your hands and stomp your feet… let’s have a celebration… if you believe that Jesus set you free.” And it couldn’t fit more perfectly with today’s message about forgiveness (which is what we’ll focus on Sunday, with the second half of The Lord’s Prayer).
You see, in order to celebrate, we have to put down the thing(s) that we’re holding on to… that keep us mired and stuck in anger and frustration. Maybe it’s the promotion we were passed over for at work or the driver who cut us off or stole our parking spot. Maybe it’s the sibling who sat in our seat or stole the last cookie. Maybe it’s the friend who hasn’t been friendly enough or the spouse who’s too short with us, or the random stranger who posted or commented on social media that thing “we just can’t believe!” The more we hold on to it, the more it steals the joy that Jesus is offering us.
Forgiveness, of course, isn’t giving permission for someone to do something wrong. Forgiveness isn’t condoning bad behavior or unhealthy conduct. Forgiveness is the choice we make not to carry someone else’s baggage, someone else’s burdens, someone else’s sin (or our own, for that matter) any longer, when there is One who is stronger, more capable, and who has already told us He’ll carry it all, right there. Offering forgiveness to others, and to ourselves, is simply recognizing that carrying that junk with us is getting in the way of the life God has invited us in to, in Jesus. It’s a life filled with a beautiful celebration. And it’s happening all week here at VBS!
May you experience the depths of God’s offer of forgiveness and join in the celebration!
Welcoming You to Grow in Jesus,
Pastor Don