For this week’s graduates…email has always been the preferred form of sending a message. Michael Jordan is really only known for his line of Nike shoes and apparel. Fergie is a pop singer, not a princess in England. Wired telephones connected to the walls exist in case your cell phone battery goes dead. Czechoslovakia has never existed. American companies have always done business in Vietnam. Russians and Americans have always been living together in space. Cold War? A slide show involves a computer...Kodachrome what? Computers have always come with CD-ROM disk drives. Gasoline has never sold for less than a $1.50... It is amazing how things change. The truth is, every one of us has a list of things that have always been normal that would have astonished previous generations. Considering how assuredly things do change, we should be more amazed that people are amazed at change in the first place.
The same is true for our church, of course. The normal we know now was new and cutting-edge not too long ago. Bulletins on the website? Pews in the Sanctuary? Sunday School books people could take home? A Fellowship Hall large enough for everyone to fit into?
The same is true for our church, of course. The normal we know now was new and cutting-edge not too long ago. Bulletins on the website? Pews in the Sanctuary? Sunday School books people could take home? A Fellowship Hall large enough for everyone to fit into?
The same is true for worship, too. Not very long ago, Methodist churches did not have organs, did not sing from hymnbooks, did not recite creeds, and certainly did not have sanctuaries. All of those moderns changes have come about in the last 100 years for most Methodist Churches. The normal we know would have been unheard of to the folks who came before us.
Jesus included the need for change in his teaching when he said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3).
Jesus included the need for change in his teaching when he said, "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 18:3).
The prayer for our church extends to those graduating from high school and college: that we stay current and true to ourselves by clinging to what matters most and letting the rest pass away. Like acid-wash jeans or mullets as a hairstyle. Grace and Peace, Scott
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