Pastor’s Message – May 14, 2019

Bicycle Theology: The Farewell

Ten years ago, I bought a bicycle. It was a mountain bike that was affordable and versatile. At first I was wobbly and had to re-learn the gears. With careful patience, I was soon cruising up and down hills along a river. Before long, bike rides became my regular physical and mental exercise. Because I had to focus on what was right in front of me, I easily forgot what had weighed on my mind.

A few years later, the bicycle with its worn wheels made the trek north with me when I moved, but something had changed. The bike was no longer comfortable. I thought about trading it in for a road bike or getting different tires. I tried to ride early each morning, but I dreaded what I once loved.

The truth was: I no longer wanted to ride the bike. I wanted to walk on two feet at a neighborhood trail instead of riding two wheels around town. I put the bicycle in the storage room and laced up my sneakers.
Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing: now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? ~ Isaiah 43:18-19a, New Revised Standard Version

Change is difficult because it includes an ending and a beginning. As Isaiah wrote, clinging to the old prevents us from embracing the new. God constantly presents us with changes for our good. How often do we avoid risk-taking in favor of what’s comfortable, familiar, and easy?

We tend to think of change as sudden and drastic, but change can be much more gradual. God gently eases us into the new with something as simple as our hobbies. Perhaps in simple changes God wishes to teach us great truths.

all good things to each of you,
Pastor Darian

Lectionary for Sunday, May 19, 2019

Acts 11:1-18
Psalm 138
Revelation 21:1-6
John 13:31-35

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