Life Notes—May 17, 2012
“So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” 2 Corinthians 5:17
May is a crazy busy month. It is full of graduations and weddings and various celebrations. It is a time when we transition fully from the winter months to the summer months. Flowers are planted, vegetable gardens begin full-scale production and life swings into full gear. For families there are a host of end-of-the-school-year activities and children and teachers who simply cannot wait for school to end. Friends and family gather on patios and in backyards. Swimming pools are cleaned and opened. It is an active month, to say the least. The energy levels of May simply cannot be contained as rapid-fire changes abound and the new pushes out the old.
Although it is widely recognized as a month of new beginnings, May is also a time of endings—the danger of late freezes killing tender new plants ends, snow shovels and boots and sleds are packed away for the season. For graduates, it is the end of an era—the closing of another chapter of life. We celebrate Memorial Day in May and remember those influential people in our lives that have passed on to the next life.
But just as the passage above from 2 Corinthians extolls, there is a new creation. Certainly some will say it is the same creation; but it is the same creation made new! Life is reborn and there is no time like May to recognize and celebrate everything becoming fresh! It is time to let go of the old and embrace the new. A couple weeks ago, I whined in Life Notes about my children graduating to adulthood and that I was not ready to embrace that transition. Well, ready or not, the time is here. I can welcome it or not, but it will happen regardless. Changes in the world around us do not depend on our acceptance of them. But how those changes affect us depends a great deal on how we respond. Well, I am ready to respond to and rejoice in this new version of my life.
It is May and the days are long and the sun shines brightly and the grass is green and the air is warm and flowers are in bloom and my world is welcoming me to a new-born reality. Never mind that it looks much like a younger version of the old. It is still new and fresh and beautiful. The old familiar views have new clothes. May is welcoming us to another graduation, into a changing reality, into a new and improved version of the old.
Tom returns to the pulpit downtown, where Life worship is at 10:00 AM in Brady Hall and traditional worship is at 8:30 and 11:00. His sermon is “Chosen to Witness,” based on Acts 1:15-17, 21-26. Mitch preaches at the west campus where worship is at 9:00 and 11:00. His sermon is “How Bright Are You,” based on Matthew 5:13-16.
Come home to church this Sunday. What new realities waiting for your embrace?
Greg Hildenbrand, Life Music Coordinator
Contemplating Grace 