The Easter Season has ended. The snow birds are headed back to cooler climes. The church enters that time after Pentecost called ordinary time. Ho-hum.

My Aunt Martha always had advice for the Sunday School at this time of year. “Remember, you don’t take a vacation from God.” When everything settles into a routine, it’s easy to take God for granted. We take a kind of vacation from God. We all figure it’s important to go to church on Easter Sunday, but does the third Sunday after Pentecost (Lectionary 9) really matter, especially if it’s a holiday weekend? We wouldn’t neglect to say grace at Thanksgiving dinner, but at a quick lunch at Burger Donald’s? Isn’t that excessive?

Sometimes we misunderstand acts of worship, prayer and devotion. These practices aren’t engaged in as a favor we do for God, but as God’s way of favoring us. Why would anyone say no to God’s gifts to us? We don’t stop eating just because every meal isn’t a Thanksgiving feast so why would we not want to participate in the Lord’s feast just because it’s an ordinary Sunday? There is so much God graciously gives us. Even the most ordinary act of God is extraordinary.

Don’t miss out. Enjoy it all. Don’t take a vacation from God. Read Isaiah 55:1-5, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne

Originally posted in May 2016