Scripture “For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” Ephesians 2:10
A Word of Hope
A couple of weekends ago, our Youth and Youth leaders packed two vans and headed to Granbury, Texas on our annual Winter Camp retreat. By the time we arrived, they were tired, hungry and sleepy. Our worship was planed to start at 10:30 p.m. and I kept wondering along the way if our youth would be up for it. When I shared our schedule for our weekend, we had heard some grumbling: “Why? Do we have to play? Can we wake up at a later time?” (Youth are a lot like adults in this respect!) I just kept on praying and moving forward with our schedule. We were taking our youth out of their comfort zone into a weekend packed with worship, games and entertainment that did not include one electronic device or even a cell phone.
As our weekend developed I started to see some attitude changes. The silly games were now filled with laughter and the wakeup call was not early enough to groom their hair. Worship music led by Chris Chism had progressed into our youth leading it with him. The keynote message started to make sense and through smaller workshops and discussions our youth opened up. As I walked around the camp grounds, I could not help but think "We are standing on holy ground." Our Youth were in a safe place, laughing, engaging in meaningful conversations and having good old-fashioned kickball fun with their friends.
Our Bible verse for the weekend was "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works." My young friends were reminded that their indentify in Christ was based on love, compassion, forgiveness, and courage. We learned together that we all have been given a gift that empowers us to contribute to God’s good works. Our teen and pre-teen participants learned that they were not too young to help create change or to inspire and motivate others. Saturday night through a stone ceremony led by Rev. Mike Wright-Chapman, they took new names. For those who's name was fear, they took the name courage and so on. We closed our worship with prayer, and a surprise letter written to each youth by their parents, guardians or youth leaders. As they knelt by their chairs, they read their letters and many had tears streaming down their faces. In a world full of technology, texts, emails and apps to communicate, a hand written letter was a surprise; even a novelty, to our young friends.
I wonder in our lives how many times are we uncomfortable with the prospect of trying something new? We continually question our own best judgment. Is this the proper way to worship? What will others say if I ask this question or make that comment in a Cathedral U class? Will that person think I'm weird if I just reach out and welcome them at Worship? What will happen if I just reach out to someone and invite them to a service? We’re never to young, or too old either, to do a little experimenting, Maybe our enthusiastic youth can teach us it often pays off to take a chance.
Prayer May you be reminded that you are God's handiwork created through Christ Jesus to do good work. May God above fill your day with peace, grace, love and many blessings as you try something new and out of your comfort zone.
Amen