Never ever leave grace out.
Kirk Byron Jones
Dear Friends in Christ,
Summer is not over. God may rest on the seventh day, but works for at least six. We may find ourselves seasonally resting each summertime and sometimes distracted in a culture of distraction, but as Jones says in a book called Soul to Self, never ever leave grace out. No matter what. No matter when.
Some people have (legitimate?) complaints about the Apostle Paul, but credit him with emphasizing that God’s way in Jesus’ life is all about grace. Which is good news, because along with mercy, forgiveness, honesty, apology, clarity, persistence, community, dedication and old-fashioned wisdom (Just thou shalt not some things…) — along with all that and more, Christianity is grounded in grace.
It is a blessing (a grace) that we Re-Covenant each September, this year on September 13. Reminders, refreshers, re-calculation, and resumption all start as we re-covenant. It’s an intergenerational worship service at 10:00 a.m. with communion, and our choir comes back!
It is a community delight that we’ll resume Confirmation this fall, and celebrate the Rite well before Advent.
It is meaningful that our Deacons organized lay Sundays this summer, and then on three Wednesdays we broke bread together instead of Sunday worship, for the third year in a row. It brings out people that summer Sunday mornings either cannot or do not (many folks leave town on weekends each August).
Thank Jan, our music director, that much of the crew who sang at the All Newton, All UCC worship in August will reunite for Lessons and Carols this December. That is, a bigger choir, a bigger congregation. A big blessing.
And already we are planning Black History Month (February) and even beyond, into next spring.
But then come the surprises, even when we wish we were resting. I was not far from Biddeford, Maine, when ICE killed an innocent local this summer. I was turning off my computer for a weekend when someone in Newton was facing eviction, with racial overtones. I was hoping that some day funds would be restored for pregnant women and infants in Haiti, but it got worse this July. I was finding the summer extra hot, and then storms and floods hit several spots in America, and a glacier melted too soon in Nepal, and on our “seventh day,” near and far, there was danger, injustice, health care loss, and lethal climate challenges. So I recognized the grace given me, stayed at work, faced the needs, and got ready for the seasons we share together. Because there are measles cases in Maine and Massachusetts, I got two boosters. Because we needed resources for some of our summer missions I contacted some of you, to organize for the challenges. And — while some of this is bad news — it is a grace that we can face it, sometimes fix it, and fit our future to be ready, come what may. Together.
So, September is still summer. We are a church for every season. And each of us and all of us and frankly our whole nation benefit from the grace to face it all together. Along with mercy, forgiveness, honesty, apology, clarity, persistence, community, dedication and old-fashioned wisdom. Which reflects the best of the Bible, the core of Christianity, and our program plans for this fall.
Therefore, come back to worship. Come along to sing and serve and celebrate that God’s way in Jesus is all about grace. It’s just what we need, and just what we share, thank God.
