Pastor's Corner

I know it's going to happen -- always does at this time of the year. Do you know what it is? It's the battery on my electric lawn mower. It's just a matter of time. At some point this fall, it won't start. Just when I'm in the biggest hurry, it won't start. Do you know why? Well, it's because I've neglected to charge the battery. I think it's supposed to charge itself, it probably does. I charge it up in the spring before the first mowing, and I think the instructions indicate that it should be recharged periodically during the summer, but - - - I don't do it. All I have to do is plug a small charger into the power outlet in the wall of our garage and attach the battery. It silently will do the trick.

Well, what I want to suggest, it you haven't already beaten me there, is that fall is a great time to get your commitment to the life of your church recharged. Like my mower's battery, I think some of us probably need to be recharged in the fall, especially after a laid-back summer.

And I believe one way to become recharged is through regular participation in Christian learning and worship. It's through these experiences that we plug in to our power source and keep our spiritual batteries charged to the max.

In Psalm 51:10, we find these words: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." Sounds like pre-battery talk to me. As with all the Psalms, these words were designed for use in the midst of the worship of a religious community. So, what the author of this Psalm is talking about (singing about) is coming before God on the Sabbath in the company of other folks and getting plugged into God's power. Only by plugging into this divine power source will the author and his fellow worshippers have a chance to be the kind of faithful people God wants them to be. They confessed that, on their own, they could not keep their hearts clean. Only God could do that. They also acknowledged that, on their own, they couldn't renew a right spirit within themselves, a receptive spirit, a recharged spirit. Only by worshipping God could they hope for their spirits to be renewed.

There is such a thing as a battery tester. You just hook it up, and it will tell you whether your battery needs charging or not. But I don't think we need one of those testers when it comes to our faith and involvement with the church. We pretty much know the intensity of our commitment, whether we're fully charged or not.

Well, if your spiritual battery got a little run down this past summer -- if you have neglected to take proper care of your faith over the last few months -- then it's time to get plugged back into the power source to "renew a right spirit" within you.

I really like the following words and never tire of their simplicity. The author writes in the first person, making it difficult for us to dodge their meaning for our lives.

MY CHURCH AND I

I am part of the Church, one among many, but I am one.

I need the Church for the development of the buried life within me; the Church in turn needs me.

The Church may be human in its organization, but it is divine in its purpose. That purpose is to point me to God.

Participating in the privileges of the Church, I shall also share in its responsibilities, taking it upon myself to carry my fair share of the load, not grudgingly but joyfully.

To the extent that I fail in my responsibility, the Church fails; to the extent that I succeed, the Church succeeds.

I shall not wait to be drafted for service to my Church; I shall volunteer, saying, "Here am I, send me."

I shall be loyal in my attendance, generous in my gifts, kind in my criticisms, creative in my suggestions, loving in my attitudes.

I shall give to the Church my interests, my enthusiasm, my devotion -- most of all, MYSELF! -Harold Roupp

If each one of us follows Mr. Roupp's suggestions and God's directives, we shall certainly have churches filled with charged-up folks for Christ. Rev. Gary Mayes is pastor of the First Christian (Disciples of Christ) Church in Kennett.