“Will spring never come?” has become the exasperated cry of many folks living in New England though, of course, when you read these words, the issue will have been well-settled:  The snow will be gone, the flowers risen and blooming, and the sun standing taller in the midday sky (at least we are hoping this will be the case!).

          So, too, with Easter, I think.  We believe that Easter will come – every bit as much as we trust that spring will (finally) arrive every year.  It is reassuring that that is so but also a little bit regrettable:  In a perfect world, I think, Christians would be utterly shocked and delighted by the rising of their Savior from the dead.

        This is one way to think of the season of Lent, our yearly pilgrimage with Jesus through the wilderness of temptation and challenge, into the world of hurting, seeking humanity and to the cross of self-sacrifice.  It is surely the most challenging season in the Christian year but also the most rewarding for those who make the effort.

        Sacrifice is the word often associated with Lent, a tough word indeed, and those Lenten sacrifices usually mentioned are prayer, penitence and fasting.  Let me say from experience that none of these practices is particularly difficult:  As Christians we pray every day; we confess our sins on a more or less regular basis; we may even give up the occasional meal as a prayerful reminder of those who are in need.   

 Here follows one of my all-time favorite – and true – Christmas stories:

          A few years back, Margaret and I were co-pastors of Burnside UMC in East Hartford, Connecticut.  It was Advent, the Sunday on which worship included the annual Children’s Christmas Pageant.  The kids – our two included – were very excited and particularly because we were taking the pageant on the road to a local nursing home that afternoon, to be followed with ice cream sundaes at Friendly’s.

           The pageant was a triumph at both church and nursing home – and over their ice cream, the children chattered about how great it had been.  Said one little girl with absolute sincerity:

“It was neat.  The old people really liked it.  And we only made that one mistake when the Wise Men came in before Jesus was born – but that was OK because the old people had never heard the story before.”

         

There is a reason, don’t you know, why most churches traditionally run their stewardship campaigns sometime near Thanksgiving, and that reason is probably obvious to you:  The approach of Thanksgiving reminds us to be grateful for our blessings.

     We’ve been studying Adam Hamilton’s book “Enough” in our adult Sunday School class.  Very good book.  (Adam Hamilton is a United Methodist, pastor of the 12,000 member Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, MO.)  He makes a number of important, even profound points in the book and among them are these:

        I was shocked the other morning, Margaret and I taking our terrier for her early morning  walk, to notice a large maple tree half-turned a glorious red-orange, looking for all the world almost to be on fire.   

     Nothing unusual about that, you’re thinking – and you’re right. The color comes every fall and it is stupendous and wonderful – but hardly a surprise. It just goes to show where my mind was – or rather where it wasn’t:  Fall seems to have snuck up when I wasn’t looking.  (After a long, rather slow-paced summer, September came with a roar of activity, everything happening at once, and I’ve been preoccupied with many, many things.)     

No matter what we say or do, this is what we think of you.  Amen.
(A Pastor’s prayer over the Sunday offering)

          I’d like to talk to you about faith – yours, mine, ours – in Jesus Christ.  It is going to sound like I am talking about money but, in fact, I am not.  Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”  Do you believe that?  And by believing, I do not mean nodding your head as the creed is read on Sunday morning.  No.  What I mean is “Do you believe in Jesus with your whole life?”  Has Jesus become your way?  Your truth?  Your life?    

          An accurate gauge of what people actually believe is how they spend their resources of time, energy, and money.  We probably don’t even mind being preached to regarding time and energy – but when it comes to money:  Whoa!  Now the preacher’s started meddling!  No matter:  Let’s meddle a little bit.  Here follow five favorite fables held dear by (some) church members: