Change is in the Air

A Time to Plant, A Time to Reap…
a Time to every purpose under heaven.

Many of you know these words as lyrics to the song “Turn! Turn! Turn!” by the Byrds. But did you know they come from the book of the Ecclesiastes in the Bible? (Eccl 3:1-9) (Yes, not often looked upon, this book follows the book of Proverbs, which follows the Psalms, in your Bible).

We are about to enter a season of change. Leaves are changing colors. Temperatures are generally dropping, but some days are hot and others cool. Days are getting shorter, nights longer. Kids have returned to school. New schedules require new daily routines.

As a country, we also have been swept up in a sea of change. A fiscal crisis on Wall Street beginning over two years ago has upended lives from the poorest among us to the wealthiest for years to come. No one has completely avoided having to adjust to the changes in our economy and our lives. An electorate is fed up with the status quo on Capitol Hill and a Tea Party rebellion threatens to throw a national revolution in the face of the elected. Political change is potentially imminent.

In the face of all this, it seems that the most comfortable and safe thing to do is grab hold of the safety net of complacency and return to what we have always been doing, or to at least stand still where things are safe.

Church is safe. Right? It’s basically the same from week to week.
God is safe. Right? He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Yes, the church and God are safe, but what we are called to be is not. Unfortunately, God does not call us to grow moss. “A time to build, a time to break down…A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together.” In all things living there is change. You can not grow unless you shed your old skin. Old fears and habits must die so that new venturing and faith will spring up. BUT, we do not need to face this change alone or in fear, because God, who never changes, is there beside us all the way and will carry us when we grow weary.

“Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

St. Andrew faces a challenging time, not unlike the rest of the world around us. BUT, standing still is impossible if we are a people of God. It is time to change…to cast away that which does not draw us closer to God, so that we can grow into the people we are called to be…so that we can reap what God has sown in this place. God has a plan for us. He will not let us fail. Open your heart and your mind to what can be and we will move forward together in faith toward a bright future, in God’s time.

“I know that whatever God does, endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has made it so…” Eccl. 3: 14