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Summer is winding down and fall is just around the corner by the end of this month. Temperatures should be dropping. Farmers are preparing for the fall harvest season that will be here soon. Students have returned to school, and some of them are already sharing the colds that they got the first week with the whole family—just ask ours. And, of course, we’ll have the opportunity to try pumpkin-flavored everything for the next few months.
Seasons come and seasons go. The patterns of the seasons turn our focus on different things, different opportunities for family, friends, and work. In a similar way, the church year offers us a familiar pattern to follow each year. We too have our seasons. We will still be in the long “green” (for the color of the paraments) Season after Pentecost for a couple more months, in which we now focus on Jesus’ teachings for His disciples. But soon we will focus on Jesus’ Second Coming, followed by the start a new season with Advent (anticipation of Jesus’ birth and His coming again on the Last Day) and Christmas (Jesus’ birth). Then we’ll turn to Epiphany (Jesus manifest to the world), Lent and Passion Week (Jesus’ sacrifice for us), Easter (Jesus’ victory over death), Ascension (where Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father in authority), Pentecost (sending of the Holy Spirit both to reveal and share the Good News of Jesus with the world), and back to the “green” season after Pentecost. If you haven’t noticed already, all the seasons of the church year follow the life and ministry of Jesus. Our whole year helps us to see that Jesus is the center of our faith; He is our Savior. Just like the seasons of the Church year, Jesus is the center of our own “seasons” of life. No matter our current season—whether defined by age, family life, employment, or any other factor—Jesus is with us because we have been Baptized into Him, forgiven and given life by His cross and resurrection. On top of this, His life has given us a new pattern in which the Lord is shaping us. His life is the constant in our lives that ties it all together. In season and out, Jesus is present for us! Christ’s Peace, Pastor Rosebrock |
