A Moment of Insight
This past Sunday I decided to close the church service in a different way. Rather than doing a benediction and dismissing people, I asked them to all go and join me in the middle of the Pumpkin Patch. As they were gathering, I was trying to find the right words to say.
As I looked around, the pumpkins inspired me to say:
“I want all of you to take a look around you at the pumpkins. There are big ones and little ones. Ugly ones and nice looking ones. Some have smooth skin and some have warts. Some are deep orange and others are white. I would like to suggest that these pumpkins are representative of the kinds of people that will be visiting our church in the month ahead. They will be old and young. Handsome and homely. Smiling and grinning. Happy and sad. Our task is not just to sell pumpkins. Our task is to help people understand that they have come to a place where they will be welcomed and loved no matter what they look like on the outside. We know that on the inside, all of us are messy with sin and that the church is the place where we can offer them Christ.”
My prayer is that indeed this is what we will do this month and in the months that lie ahead.
