October 13, 2013
Stetson Memorial United Methodist
Church
Worship Theme: Shine
For God
Exodus 34:29-30 MSG
Matthew 17:1-2 GWT
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
MSG
Show Your Colors…
A reading from the book of
Ecclesiastes, chapter three, verses one through eight. I will be reading from
the Message Bible this morning. Listen for a word from God to you and me, the
children of God. The Message Bible titles it as “There’s a Time for
Everything.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 The
Message (MSG)
There’s
a Right Time for Everything
There’s an opportune time to
do things, a right time for everything on the earth:
A right time for birth and
another for death,
A right time to plant and
another to reap,
A right time to kill and
another to heal,
A right time to destroy and
another to construct,
A right time to cry and
another to laugh,
A right time to lament and
another to cheer,
A right time to make love
and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and
another to part,
A right time to search and
another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and
another to let go,
A right time to rip out and
another to mend,
A right time to shut up and
another to speak up,
A right time to love and
another to hate,
A right time to wage war and
another to make peace.
The
other day I was on my way to Howland to visit my mentor. As I crested the hill
that you can see Mt. Katahdin, I just had to pull over and take some pictures.
It was breath taking. You could see the mountain and just below it was sort of
this fog that separated it from the beautiful autumn leaves of the trees below.
I don’t think I have ever seen anything like it myself…I mean I have seen
pictures in magazines but never with my own eyes. As I gazed at the spectacle
God created I was again brought back to the thought of those beautiful colors
that God had created.
You
see…those colors were the true colors of the trees below Katahdin. We, as
humanity wait for Spring to arrive and the earth to become resurrected from its
winter nap. We wait for the flowers to bloom again…the birds to return with
their songs…and for the trees to full again with their green leaves of life.
Then, as always, the earth begins to make itself ready for its time of rest…the
time when it hibernates with the promise of Spring again. As the change takes
place we see the earth…Gods handy work…begin to sing…well…sort of a Swan Song
as it shows the beautiful colors that reminds us that the cold winter is just
around the corner.
But
there is something in those colors that we may not really think about or ponder
on. We may hate the fact that the change in the color of the trees signifies
that winter is coming but it is within those colors that the trees truly live.
You see the green color we see is during their growing season. The trees are
drinking in nourishment from the ground and the warmth of the sun. They are
making oxygen for the air around them. They are actually waiting for Fall.
Fall
is the time when they really shine. It is in Fall that they show their true
colors that they were created to show. They need that growing time in order to
be as spectacular as they are in the end of their time and the beginning of
their rest and restoration only to rise again in the Spring renewed and
refreshed. It is their environment that they live in that creates this process.
When the weather begins to change to a colder one that has more darkness then
sun, it triggers this metamorphous…a transformation…into something that many
people come from miles away just to see its brilliance and grandeur.
As
I consider the words from Ecclesiastes this morning…the season of Fall has
caused me to ponder on what this season means for my own life, for the lives of Christians… There is a
time for everything…a time to grow and a time to show the true colors that we
are meant to be. I was reading a devotional by Julia Bettencourt about the
colors of Fall. The colors themselves have meaning and significance for our
walk with God.
Take
the color red, it is a color that sticks out in the vast array of the colors of
Fall. It is the color of passion. No matter where we are in our faith journey,
we can show passion for God and what He is doing in our lives. We need to show
that passion for Christ in a world that is dark and grey. WE should show the
brilliance of Christ like in the Matthew Scripture this morning. We are to show
our light…to shine before men. As we shine, others will see the good works of
God and praise Him ever more.
The
color orange is beautiful. It is not only found in the trees but in the color
of ripe pumpkins that are harvested this time of year. It reminds us of warmth
and comfort. This is a virtue…a character trait that we should display. We need
to be warm and inviting to others.
We
also have the color yellow within the colors of Fall. Now yellow is a happy color.
You must all have seen smiley faces. What color are they? That’s right yellow.
We need to be that happy, cheerful color. You never know whose life will be
changed by our “shiny” outlook on life. As we show the life of joy, even in the
tough times, we let our faith shine in each new day. Since we have Christ in
our lives we are able to be that shining beacon in a world that is in the dark
looking for a light to shine in its darkness. By the way, joy is one of the Fruit of the Spirit that we are studying
in our Spirit Study groups.
Now
I don’t know how many of you have seen this color but it is a beautiful color
none the less…the color purple. Now this is the color of royalty. In Christ…we,
as Christians, are royalty…adopted sons and daughters of the most high God.
Being royalty we need to reflect royalty. Now I don’t mean that we should look
down on others and think of them as peasants…we should be striking as
Christians…we should stand out as something beautiful that will attract others
to the same royal priesthood we are called…that
we are honored…to be part of.
And
then there is brown. Now you might think to yourself, “Brown is such an ugly
color. It isn’t striking and beautiful. It’s just brown.” But brown has a
really important imagery. If there wasn’t any brown in the colors of Fall, the
rest might not be a striking as it is. Brown is the color of the earth…the
ground on which we walk. It is the color of stability. We are to be grounded in
Christ who is our Anchor. Others will see our grounding and want that for their
own lives. We show this grounding by our actions and words. If we are not
rooted and grounded in Christ, where would the stability be in life? It is not
found in the world around us but in the world of eternity which we are
promised.
We
may feel that the colors we show don’t matter but it is just the opposite. It
is within our colors that we live and breathe and have our being. It is within
these same colors that others will be attracted to the One who grounds us. When
we show our colors we honor God and Christ.
Brothers
and sister in and of Christ, we need to be an array of beauty. We, as
Christians, need to color our world with the vast array of Godly colors. We, as
Christians, are fed by the Spirit within us and now it is time to show our true
colors. There people of this world are looking for “brightness” in their
otherwise drab life. We need to be that color on the canvas of life. As we show
the colors of our God others will be attracted to the creative artwork of the Artisan
that puts His brush to the palette of creation. It is within these colors that
our witness is found. My question I pose to you and myself is this, “What are
the colors that you and I are projecting in and to this world in which we
live?” Are they the colors of a rainbow of hope or are they the colors of a
life of muck and mire?
I
would like to end my sermon with a prayer by Joyce Rupp. It is a poem about the
seasons of life. My prayer is that it will be our prayer to the Creator of
heaven and earth who splashes the true colors on and for the palette of our
lives…
Prayer
for Autumn Days By Joyce Rupp
God
of the seasons,
there
is a time for everything;
there
is a time for dying and a time for rising.
We
need courage to enter into
the
transformation process.
God
of autumn,
the
trees are saying goodbye to their green,
letting
go of what has been.
We,
too, have our moments of surrender,
with
all their insecurity and risk.
Help
us to let go when we need to do so.
God
of fallen leaves
lying
in colored patterns on the ground,
our
lives have their own patterns.
As
we see the patterns of our own growth,
may
we learn from them.
God
of misty days and harvest moon nights,
there
is always the dimension of mystery
and
wonder in our lives.
We
always need to recognize your power-filled presence.
May
we gain strength from this.
God
of harvest wagons and fields of ripened grain,
many
gifts of growth lie within the season of our surrender.
We
must wait for harvest in faith and hope.
Grant
us patience when we do not see the blessings.
God
of geese going south
for
another season, your wisdom enables us
to
know what needs to be left behind
and
what needs to be carried into the future.
We
yearn for insight and vision.
God
of flowers
touched
with frost and windows wearing white designs,
may
your love keep our hearts
from
growing cold in the empty seasons.
God
of life,
you
believe in us, you enrich us,
you
entrust us with the freedom to choose life.
For
all this, we are grateful.
Amen
Amen…amen…and
amen!
October
14, 2013
Worship
Theme: “Shine for God”
Ecclesiastes
3:1-8 (The Message)
Exodus
34:29-30 (The Message)
Matthew
17:1-2 (GODS WORD Translation)
children’s
message
We
all are unique
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Meditation on fall colors by Julia Bettencourt
“The Inviting Colors of Fall”
Prayer by Joyce Rupp
“Prayer for Autumn Days”
and
sermon “Show Your Colors. . . ”
& pictures of Mt. Katahdin
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
October 13, 2013
All of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted
by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016. All rights reserved. Contact me at
Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com)
for usage. See all 41,850+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.
Christ, Faith, God, grace,
love, UMC, calling, witness, Spirit, Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church, Pastor
Ruth Foss, journey, worship, joy, autumn, colors, Ecclesiastes 3, Exodus 34,
Matthew 17, sermon,
#sermon #faith #God #Christ #love #grace #calling #witness #journey
#joy #autumn
#colors #Ecclesiastes3 #Exodus34 #Matthew17
No comments:
Post a Comment