Pastor's Pen for April 2011

Ahh!  Spring has arrived and the snow is finally GONE, hopefully for good until next winter, BUT now we have to begin contending with all the lawn work.  Picking up branches, twigs, and mowing the grass awaits us for the next five months.  The worse is of course mowing the grass.  Certainly, now as bad as digging out after a foot of snow, but that only happens every once in a while.  The grass however is relentless in its growth, especially after some heavy rains.  It won't be so bad if West Mifflin wasn't so hilly, but because it is, this is one chore I don't imagine that I will ever be able to hand over to my kids, unless of course they get as big as me.  My weight is oftentimes the only counter-balance I have when I'm cutting the lawn across the slope of the yard.  One summer while I was attending the Virginia Military Institute, I worked on the Grounds Crew, which meant that I spent most of the summer mowing grass.  During that time, I wrote a poem "Men of Grass."  The poem, long forgotten in its exact words, centered around how the grass that I was continually cutting was like the inhabitants of the world.  The metaphor compared our accomplishments, and even our very existence, as something very limited, which could instantly be cut off or cut down by forces beyond our control or power to influence.  Of course, this was before I became a Christian, and probably had a lot to do with me being very tired of mowing grass, thereby allowing my imagination to run wild, but that poem and that sentiment has stayed with me ever since.  So, every spring and summer as I am quietly bemoaning the amount of time I will have to spend on the tractor, I recall that poem, and think again to myself how much in common we, as inhabitants of this world, past, present, and future, have in common with the very grass that grows, and which I am determined and bend on cutting down.

Interestingly enough, this very point is made numerous times throughout the Bible.  Psalm 103:15-16 tells us, "as for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more."  But, David the psalmist tells us that despite our impermanence, "but the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him." (Psalm 103:17)  The apostle Peter carries this theme forward by saying, as he quotes the prophet Isaiah, "'All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass.  The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever,' and this word is the good news that was preached to you." (1 Peter 24-25)

Now, I wish I could somehow make these and other passages with the same theme reveal to us that we no longer should mow the grass, but sadly I can't.  What I can do is share how these passages tells us how God's love is not dependent on our limited time on earth, or those things we may or may not accomplish, but is instead an outgrowth of the abundant love He has for all those He has called and chosen for salvation.  This is great news for all those seeking the Good News that has been preached and taught since Christ came to earth and then by his disciples after he ascended into heaven.  God has gifted us with life, albeit for a limited time.  God has then given us all the skills, talents, and abilities we need to accomplish GREAT things for Him during that life.  For some these abilities will lead them to write, play, and create amazing works of art all to the glory of God.  For others, these abilities will enable them to raise wonderful families and become one flesh with those spouses who are equally yoked in faith and love.  Still for others, God will reveal that despite their mistakes and missteps, despite the fact that for much of their lives they have been more like crabgrass and dandelion weeds, than Kentucky bluegrass or Bermuda grass, or St. Augustine grass, God in Christ remains beside us, helping us to get back on track and become exactly the type of grass He wants in His Kingdom.  In the end, despite the joy that God in Christ calls us to have in this life, and despite those we might leave behind, God calls us home to be a part of His wonderful yard we are numbered days end and we go to be with Him.  As the apostle Paul tells us, "to live is Christ, but to die is gain."  Once again, I am not encouraging anyone to seek that gain in an undue time, but to instead offer encouragement and comfort to everyone in the realization that our lives are temporary here on earth, but eternal in heaven in the joy of being able to worship God in Christ for all time.  Therefore, I hope this helps while you are cutting your grass, by giving you something to thinking about, knowing that a day will come when our day will come to bring in the sheave of our life, and present it to God as His good and faithful servants and the men and women of grass that we are.  In the Love of Jesus Christ, Pastor Bob