God Is Doing a New Thing

You can hear it can't you? That song. That tinny song that plays as you crank the handle of this toy ...

 All around the cobbler's bench
the monkey chased the weasel
the monkey thought is was all in fun
(pause here - heart racing - eyes quickly blinking - reconsidering all of my life choices up to this point)
then POP (cue fear induced tears and screaming)
goes the weasel.

Who on earth thought that this would be a good toy for children? I mean look at it!!! Without the creepy music and the constant blood blisters from closing the rusty metal lid, the clown alone is the stuff of nightmares. No wonder so many people of my generation have a fear of clowns. We all had this toy.

“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland."
Isaiah 43:18-19

I grew up in a United Methodist Church. I liked it enough to even marry a United Methodist pastor. I find comfort in the things of church. I like the liturgy and music (all the music - hymns, praise, organ, guitar, choir, band - all of it). I like the rhythm of the year as we move from Advent to Christmas to Lent to Easter and the Ordinary time in between it all. I like the people and the potlucks and the pews and the chairs and the classes and the events.

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past."

The church I grew up in is changing. All churches are changing - denominational and nondenominational. Our church is changing. The desire to cling to what was, to cling to the comfort of the known, is strong.

"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?"

If you listen carefully you can hear it. In the midst of the noise and the chaos of the world and the fear of the unknown, something new is springing up. We often overlook the third member of the trinity, the gift, the Advocate, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. But it is that spirit that strengthens our hope, guides our faith, and helps us to grow and mature in our beliefs. Christ brought the world a whole new way of living and the Spirit continues that work within us each and every day.

"I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

New is scary, but I think new wouldn't be so scary if we could learn to anticipate it. Turning the crank of the Jack-in-the-Box became less scary when I learned to expect the surprise of the smiling clown. Change is scary, but God is always making a way through the wilderness of our doubt and fear.

"The church" as we knew it is changing.

Again.

It is scary, but it's time to let go of what was and buckle up for what God is doing right now and in the future. It's going to be pretty awesome. Can you feel it?

POP!

Be blessed,
Becky Long
Director of Communications

Apparently parents are still torturing their children for their own amusement with this toy.  You can watch a video HERE.