Already and Not Yet

I don’t often have enough time to watch a full-length movie or comedy special. By the time evening rolls around and the kids are in bed, the house is relatively (emphasis on relatively) tidy, garden tasks are completed, and my partner and I are sitting together on the couch, I usually have just enough energy to read a few pages of a novel before my eyelids droop. As many friends remind us, my partner and I are in that season when ‘the days are long and the years are short’. These days, the days feel particularly long.

The letter to the attorney begins, “I am Wesley Heersink's brother, Stan... It is with frustration and disappointment that I am writing this letter to you now. The letters we have written to the church leadership go unanswered...”

As soon as I read that sentence, I thought: “Leadership has to respond to an overture. Write an overture.”

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

“You’re Korean? I fought in the Korean War.”

Students at Calvin Seminary are taught the ABCs of writing and preaching sermons that are biblically grounded and theologically Reformed. They are also given the option to put their education to use by providing pulpit supply to CRC congregations all throughout West Michigan and beyond.

We’ve been hearing lots of talk about family lately.

In the USA, the nomination of a new Supreme Court judge has prompted talk of family values. The detainment and separation of migrant families has done the same. In Canada, the announcement of compensation for those harmed by the Sixties and Seventies Scoop has raised questions about Canada’s treatment of Indigenous families. And then, of course, there is the more banal talk of family vacations and weddings that each summer brings.

I went to a concert in Toronto last night. Donovan Woods played the Danforth Music Hall. He walked on stage, hat in hand, and said (paraphrased): “I live in Toronto too. And I’m thinking about that van that hit those pedestrians on Monday. And I’m going to keep thinking about it, all night. And I’m going to sing some songs. And I’ll probably tell some jokes. But the whole time I’ll be thinking about it. And so will you. And that’s okay.”

“Know that the Lord our God loves refugees and His Spirit is moving among them. I pray that their stories will capture your heart like they did mine because then you’ll be moved to do something, too. If you do nothing else, pray that they will find Jesus, pray they will be reunited with their families, pray that they will find purpose and meaning in their lives. We as a country, and we as the Church, have largely forgotten them.”

I first started truly learning about the Syrian refugee crisis in November 2015, when I heard about children dying and boats capsizing and sentiments expressed in off-hand comments like "Why should we let them in? They're not refugees, they're just migrants."

The Creation Care Preaching Challenge submissions are in! Watch Do Justice this week to read more submissions. Thank you to everyone who participated for helping us to reflect on the Bible's teachings about creation care. 

Texts: Colossians 1:15-20, Psalm 24 

A reckoning. A cleansing. A settling of accounts.

Journalists and commentators have been at pains over the last several months to find new words to describe the ongoing revelations of sexual assaults, harassments, and misconducts by powerful men in a variety of industries and sectors. Politicians, news anchors, film executives, actors, comedians and more have seen their careers come to an abrupt halt as victims courageously stand up and come forward with unsettling stories of severe abuse of power.