I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but in the past several weeks, I’ve been a little out of sorts in worship. I mean, I would like to think that as a “professional” with twenty-five years on the job, that I would be more than up to the challenge of comfortably leading in worship, but in the past several weeks, something has changed.
It might not seem like a big deal, but – for the first time in twenty-five years – I am using a different folder to hold all of my materials for the worship service. That’s right, for the past twenty-five years, I have been using the exact same black folder each and every Sunday. Over the years, I have used black tape to repair little tears and holes that have developed, but a few extra rips in one of the pockets meant that I’m going to have to retire my folder. Oh, I’ll break it out for special occasions, but for the most part, it’s going to go in the “Old Faithful Folder Hall of Fame.”
My faithful black folder has seen a lot of regular events – a lot of standard Sunday services, Christmas Eves, Maundy Thursdays – but also plenty of funerals and some weddings along the way. I have been carrying a bulletin from my own wedding, along with programs from both of my grandmothers’ funerals – one in Kentucky and the other in North Carolina. I held my black folder when we scattered my mother-in-law’s ashes on the beach in Florida. This is the folder that I held when I was installed as your pastor and the folder I held throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. I even used it once to sing at Carnegie Hall with my old college choir. If – in some Harry Potter world – my old folder could talk, it would tell you a lot about my growth as a pastor and a person (and probably about how I have a lot more growing to do!).
So, in an effort to preserve “Old Faithful,” I purchased a new folder. It’s a little bit bigger than the old one and I’ve moved all of my old papers – the bulletins from the past that are meaningful to me – but it’s not the same. If I’m careful, the new folder will likely get me through the next twenty years, or so. With any luck, it might make it to the “Old Faithful Folder Hall of Fame” but only time will tell. . .
The Bible reminds us – again and again – that the things of this world are fleeting and will not last. These days it seems like all sorts of things wear out far sooner than they should. There are, though, still some durable goods that do last (i.e. my 50 year old Bicentennial Tie from 1976, a few weeks ago) and I’m thankful for them but I don’t want to hold onto them too tightly for their (and my) own good.
Of course, as your pastor, I feel like I need to state clearly that the most durable “good” of all is the steadfast love of God – the gracious love of God that is everlasting to everlasting. God’s love is a gift that we are invited to carry and share, not just on Sundays in worship, but wherever we go. May we do so with great joy, thanksgiving, passion, and purpose.
See you in church! (I’ll be the one carrying the new black folder!).
Grace and Peace,
John
Prepare for Worship
This Week: “That They May Be One” (Foundations of Presbyterian Polity – Part 5)
Read Psalm 111
Read Ephesians 4:1-6
Read John 17:1-23 (see if you can count how many times Jesus says “Please”)
Read or sing Hymn # 793 – “O Christ the Healer”