It’s Fall Y’all
I was having a coffee with two buddies the other day. One is a professor at a Christian-based university and the other is a part-time music director at a local church and a traveling musician. At one point while we were each sharing the various difficulties we were each facing in life and vocational ministry I said “Well, I thought the grass was always greener on the other side, but I guess it’s not” And then my musician friend said, “Dude, the grass is brown everywhere!” All three of us paused and laughed at his comment. It was the truest statement I had heard in a long time.
To some his comment may sound fatalistic but, at that moment, it brought me great comfort. It brought me great comfort because it reminded me that I am not alone. It gave me permission to acknowledge that life is hard. I think a lot of the time most of us feel like we have to pretend like life isn’t hard. It’s easy to compare our life’s circumstances to somebody else who has seemingly more difficult circumstances and then feel like we have to keep our mouths shut and be grateful for what we do have in this life. I am sure there is some truth and wisdom in all of that, but sometimes we just have to say, “Yeah, life is hard and I am freaking tired.”
Somehow the idea that life will be easier once you begin to follow Jesus has snuck into the Western Church’s water supply. It just isn’t true. If you read the pages of scripture, study the lives of the early saints, or listen to the stories from the church in the global south you will quickly discover that following Jesus is difficult. The grass often looks very brown, and for many, it never turns green again. Uplifting I know.
The thing I love about being part of this weird little tribe called the Lutheran Church Missouri-Synod is that we always preach Christ crucified. When the cancer diagnosis comes, where do you find God?
Suffering with you on the cross.
When your loved one is ripped from this world by a senseless act of violence, where do you find God?
Suffering with you on the cross.
When your spouse breaks his marriage vows, where do you find God?
Suffering with you on the cross.
When anxiety, depression, and self-hatred flood your mind, where do you find God?
Suffering with you on the cross.
Jesus didn’t pretend that the grass is always green. Jesus took the reality of his broken world seriously. So, much so that he entered into the brokenness that we have created and became broken by us, for us.
I grew up in southern California where the grass used to be perpetually green. When I moved to Texas, I realized that I had grown up in a false reality. I didn’t realize that for most of the country the grass turns brown every year. Today the temperature in Texas is a brisk 69 degrees, which means it’s Fall y’all! That means I can finally wear my favorite flannel shirt and that my lawn will soon turn brown (well it has been brown all summer thanks to the lack of rain, but you get the point).
Every year there is a little nagging thought in the back of my mind that my lawn won’t come back, it’s not going to make it, winter finally did it in. But every year with the arrival of Spring, when the temperature begins to rise and the sun begins to shine, a few blades of bright green grass begin to shoot up from the brown cold dirt overnight. Every year each new blade of grass reminds me that one day the grass will be eternally green. One day there will be no more brown grass. One day we will see the risen Lord face to face. But till then I encourage you to look to Christ crucified. Look to your suffering God. For he cares for you.
Grace and peace ‘til we rise in glory.
