The Pastor's Epistle

Dear People of Grace,
I admit it. I’m not the most patient driver on the road. So far I’ve never gotten out of my car with a tire iron to smash in the window of another driver. That’s not to say that I haven’t muttered a few unclergylike words under my breath! Fortunately I have low blood pressure! At this point in my life I’ve come to the conclusion that if I ever stop getting “bent out of shape” over wacky drivers on the road, I will either be wholly sanctified by the Holy Spirit….or dead.

When I moved to Florida last year, I had “braced myself” for slow drivers. With all the elderly people on the roads, with supposedly sluggish reflex times, I had counted on getting behind a few “slow moving vehicles” once in a while. To my surprise, though, it’s not usually the older drivers that feed my frustration. More often it’s the younger set that makes me crazy with all kinds of unusual antics on the road. Without a doubt the one thing that causes me the greatest consternation about driving in Spring Hill and Brooksville is the driver who slows down for a green light. I confess that I have a heavy foot. So far, with four decades of driving behind me, I have never gotten a speeding ticket. Nevertheless, plenty of parishioners in previous congregations have prayed while riding with me, and a few have the wobbled out of the back seat with white knuckles. It should be no surprise, then, that, when I see a green light, I want to make it through the intersection. To me, green means “Go!” That’s why it makes me wild to be behind someone who approaches a green-lit intersection with his brake lights flashing. “Where did these people learn to drive?” I utter to myself in disbelief. “Red means stop. Green means go. Go, dog, go!” [Remember I collect children’s books!]

Sometimes I wonder whether a lot of people approach life like they do those intersections on the road. I wonder whether they approach the opportunities of life with fear and hesitation, holding back, expecting the “light to change” so they won’t get through. By now you dear people know that I have plenty of joie de vivre. I sit down every chance I get to eat at life’s banquet, to experience the abundance of life that God has brought to us. It’s hard for me to understand why anyone would not go through an open door or drive confidently through a green light. In Revelation 3:8 the church of Philadelphia is told “Look, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut.” It’s an invitation to use the opportunities God sets before us.

In the past several months God has thrown open a door to us. Every single Sunday we have visitors in worship—people seeking a spiritual home. Our area is awash with those who have been turned away from or hurt by churches who are daring to try again with us. It’s the looming green light at the intersection, beckoning us to go forward, to keep the speed and travel into our future. We need to see it for what it is—a momentous blessing that God is offering to us. Let us not be hesitant. Let us not “slow down” in fear. Let us not expect something to go wrong (like a light turning red before we can make it through). Instead, let us expect wonderful things. Let us go boldly into our future. Don’t hold back! When you hear of someone who doesn’t have a church home, invite them to come to worship. When you listen to someone who has been hurt by negative experiences with a church, help them heal by treating them differently. When you sit next to someone in the pew on Sunday morning who is unfamiliar to you, don’t be hesitant; race through that door of opportunity by making a new friend. Let us walk through every open door and use every golden moment to go where God is leading. Never slow down for a green light—especially if you’re in front of me!
Pastor Carlan