"God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers, clouds and stars."

Martin Luther

This Friday my calendar bespeaks a number and two words: "22" &"Fall Begins."  September 22nd is the start of the autumnal season ...and you probably feel either like by your schedule it's already begun or by the muggy conditions it seems still a ways off.  In addition to the warm weather none of the trees show any sign of shedding their leaves...yet.  And one cannot trust the retailers who are already out in force with Halloween decorations and candy a full seven weeks before the event.

Fall is my favorite time of the year...especially this one.  On October 29th we celebrate 500 years of Luther, I have the privilege of confirming 6 special kids, and it's my birthday!  Baseball is coming down to the wire with football ramping up and basketball not far behind.  Holidays are right around the corner...being grandparents of toddlers make it even more special.

 

Fall could also be my least favorite time of the year if I give in to the lurking depression that recognizes that following this season is the chill gray winter,  then a spring that at first tarries and then abruptly disappears pursued by the heat (it's the humidity) and poof...another year is gone.  It seems Luther is a bit to cavalier in offering a canvas for the gospel that redounds with almost a naïve and bucolic approach to nature...as if sunny skies, puffy clouds, colorful flowers and clear nights were the setting for good news.

Well of course they can be...but the gospel is for all seasons.  There is good news in the decaying leaf that falls, in the hibernating plant with no bloom or fruit to behold, in the foreboding storm clouds...even in the stars despite being unable to observe them.  When but in death is the clarion song of Gospel hope heard more plainly?  The Good News is the cover for dormancy and warmth in the north wind, it is shelter from the storm and safety in the face of billowing and bellowing darkness.  And it is the incentive to enjoy both the thought and deeds of even too short a spring...it's not so brief that there isn't always time to fit in Easter.

So I guess it's fair to say that sans Gospel I wouldn't take much joy out of any season and with it I look forward to them all!  Case in point is just three days (biblical #) after winter starts the skies will part and reveal just one clear star, the Natal one, which more than proves Luther's point!

For this holy house, for all who worship and praise, let us pray to the Lord,

Pastor Brent,