"Remember!"

So…

Change is a pain in the neck!

I don’t know about you, but every time my phone, or my computer, or the cable station listings change, I get so frustrated.

Just when I knew where stuff was, it’s not there anymore!

And don’t get me started on Walmart!

Sue and went there last week, and I was looking for some treats to add to the bags for the Confirmation class and New Member’s bags, and the whole stupid store is rearranged.

I literally wandered all over the whole interior before I discovered that the treats are all back in the supermarket part of the store, which evidently is where they always are when it is not holiday treats!

But me, I am fuming because while a good long walk is not a bad thing, I was hoping for a quick in and out – nope!

Change stinks!

So, you may have heard that Sue and I are retiring. 

Along with that we are moving to the Albany area.

And to make it interesting, I am now changing healthcare plans!
The first appointment I could get in the Albany area with a general practitioner or an internist was in November, and then they will only see me once they have seen my Medicare part C Humana Employer PPO card.

I use a form of long-acting insulin and a few other medications. I will need scripts and to get them paid for, I hope!

So, in my head, change is a lousy idea! But change is also inevitable!

How in heavens are we supposed to handle all this?

Perhaps – just a thought - remember that God’s got you!

I know, I know, that can sound so trite. Yes, we believe that, but…

When we are in the midst of crazy stuff, how in the name of all that is holy can we not only remember that, but in some way apply it.

We were made to worry!

I mean look at us trembling in our proverbial boots over the change of a pastor. 

It’s not a volcano that’s about to erupt. 

We are not facing a tornado or a hurricane.

A snow storm of the century is not bearing down on us such that we all need to buy out Shoprite’s supply of milk, eggs, bread and toilet paper.

We know up in our heads somewhere, that God is in charge of this process!

But our hearts are trembling!

Which is so weird, when you think that folks were doing the same thing 42 years ago and look how it went. Just saying!

We know God has got us!

None-the-less, we give in to our trembling, knowing that while our fears are certainly real, they are also not particularly faithful.

And into that uncertainty, in that challenge to our faith, in that moment of well, let’s say it, fear - comes the story of Noah and the Ark…

And even more astounding -the rainbow.

The symbol of God’s provision in a time of great uncertainty and fear!

Just think for a moment what that must have been like, standing on dry ground after the flood and going, um…

I mean, I assume you remember the story!

In a world of disobedience, Noah and his faithful family build an ark, fill it with food and animals, and watch the world destroyed by a flood.

Now, having landed safely in a renewed world, God both promises not to destroy the world by a flood - and gives them a practical symbol of that covenant…
God also gives them a very visible reminder that he’s got them!

A very visible reminder that God has got us too!

It wasn’t just for Noah and his family on that ark. 

It was also a promise to the animals.

And it is a promise to us!

That God is with us in the flood waters of every kind! 

And in the captivity in Egypt, and the captivities in Assyria and Babylon, and in the days of Greek and Roman conquest, even in the death of the Messiah, who was supposed to save Israel in all this.

A promise made to us in his resurrection, that we need not be afraid…

For God has got us!

Now I know, change is a problem. 

We don’t like change. We want everything to stay the same. 

I mean, why not go back to party line phones, and TV’s with rabbit ears, and 45 records, houses with gravity feed furnaces, and lead pipes!

They were good enough for me and my parents. But folks that is not where we are going no matter who tells you that.

But we are the children of the most high God! 
And while our God does not change, the world we live in ihas always changed.

In fact, that is actually God’s plan for us! 

To learn generation after generation to live faithfully and well in the midst of a changing world while maintaining our faith in the one who sent us the rainbow.

Who sent us His Son, Jesus.

And who filled us with the Holy Spirit!

We don’t need to be afraid – God has got us.

So, instead, lets look to see rainbows. 

And all the wonderful things God has planned for us!

Amen