Tough Times and Apple Picking

This time of year always reminds me of apple picking when our kids were growing up in Michigan.  There was an orchard just outside of town and I can see it clearly to this very day.  The sun was warm (but not too hot), the sky was blue, the breeze was delightful and the scent of autumn filled the air.  To be out in the country away from the noise and bustle of everyday life – sensing the rhythms of nature with its’ growth and fruit time – is to embrace the wonder and care of creation.  We tasted many different apples in the process of picking the dozens we eventually took home.  The varieties of sizes, shapes, colors and tastes were incredible.  And it was all topped off with fresh cider and piping hot donuts – while lingering in the grass discussing which had been our favorite apples.
 
This coming Sunday is World Communion Sunday – a symbolic day in the life of the world – as Christians around the globe affirm their connectedness to Christ and one another.  In our fall sermon series: “The Heart’s Re-turning” we will explore the theme, “The Tough Taste of Tenderness.”  As we go through our “tough” time of isolation due to the pandemic, we are gifted with time for reflection and I encourage us to consider the wider contexts and connections of our faith, life and commitments as part of God’s plan.  Our worship this weekend will lift up the difficult and painful realities of life along with the joy, love and service of faith.
 
Celebrating communion will be different this year and we hope to do it in a meaningful way.  When you are about to share in worship through our online video, let me invite you to prepare a small piece of bread and a small cup of juice, wine, or water and then be ready to partake when we come to that part of the service.  Even though we cannot be together physically, we can be united in spirit as we share in the Lord’s Supper each in our own respective places.
 
Every year up until now, we could count the number of bread pieces and juice cups which were prepared.  And by counting the number of unused pieces and cups at the end - easily determine the number of people who participated in communion.  But then, anybody could have done that.  This year only God will know – and more importantly, only God can know the amount of faith, hope and love that is contained in our family of faith at the Neighborhood Church.
 
The presence of our Lord as shared and embraced in communion is an incredible gift.  In fact, it is the seed of life which grows and stretches into all our tomorrows and all our becomings.  If we will let them, these strange and challenging times can strengthen our faith through the wondrous grace of God.  This week, sink your teeth into life and the fullness of creation.
 
In the Taste of Love,

Rev. Dr. David D. Young
Senior Minister