For the last month I’ve noticed a sign on my way to church. It’s a white piece of poster board stapled to a utility pole. Each day the hastily handwritten note on the poster board gets a little more faded but the text is still readable. As I zoom by, I can see an address, the words “garage sale” and a date that simply says “today + tomorrow.” The sign announces a perpetual garage sale that is happening right now and will be coming again tomorrow.
I haven’t taken a drive to see what’s actually happening at that address. I would be surprised if an actual sale is still going on. That sign is pointing to something that no longer exists. Barbie hunters from miles around descended on that spot, not long ago, looking for deals, toys, and things for their home. Hope-filled hosts entered that sale praying they would raise enough to fund that new experiment or vacation they always wanted to go on. In a brief moment of time, people poured into this one spot, talking, laughing and forming relationships with each other as they haggled over the price of a wall mounted dancing fish. The sale might be over but the promise and hope announced by the fading post board sign lives on forever.
This month we will do what we always do: we’ll live into God’s promise of a hope-filled future. We’ll gather on October 16 to do our part so no child, no matter what happens in their home, will have the food they need to learn. We’ll celebrate 9 youths who will affirm their faith and live into their calling as leaders in the body of Christ. And we’ll teach, sign and profess our faith in new and life giving ways because the church is never a static thing. The church, like God’s love, works best as a verb. And like that sign announcing a promise that is here now and coming soon, we’ll keep sharing Jesus because he’s the hope the world needs.
See you in church!
Pastor Marc