Exodus 14:19-31; Psalm 114; Romans 14:1-12; Matthew 18:21-35
The Rev. Candice B. Frazer
It’s Good Vibrations Sunday, and apparently we are Going Coconuts. I have to admit, there is something about this Sunday that sparks joy for me—in part, it is seeing all of you in Hawaiian shirts—but even more so, there is something wonderful about watching the church come alive again after the slower rhythms of summer. Celebrating Good Vibes together is more than just signing up to volunteer for a particular ministry this year or gearing up for the start of Sunday School. It is a celebration of all that we do to serve God, one another, and the kingdom. It is a re-membering of our common life together. And that life is rooted in God.
Saint Augustine said, “Always we begin again.” What he meant by that is that we are always being renewed. That is the essence of Christianity.
Some of you—I won’t mention the staff—might be thinking, “Here we go again. The start of another program year.” Wednesday nights are back with children, youth, and adult programs. New Beginnings tutoring is back. Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts—all the Scouts—are back in the building on Mondays. ADS is going strong with around 140 students. EYC has already started on Sunday nights. Not to mention all the mission and ministry we do throughout the year—our feeding ministries, Mahjong Mondays, Ascensionaires, choir, ushers, altar guild. The SERVE Commission alone hosts eighteen ministries that are vital and active in the life of our congregation.
And over and over again, all of our ministries are beginning again. Some of them have a fresh start every September. Other ministries seem to begin again every time we open the doors. And all of us begin again every day. Christianity is a religion of beginning again.
Israel gets a new beginning in our reading from Exodus. They are caught between the sea and Pharaoh’s army, and God provides a way. God has been leading the Israelites—a pillar of cloud by day, a blaze by night—and protecting them from the Egyptians. They come to the Red Sea, and God parts the waters, allowing them to pass through on dry ground.
God made a way, and the Israelites were willing to step into the waters. When they reach the other side, they discover that God has delivered them. They have been given a new beginning.
God is always making a way for us. We may not know exactly what this year will bring. We don’t know which new ministries might flourish and which might falter. We don’t know who will walk through our doors or what challenges we will face. But we do know that God is already ahead of us and beside us and behind us. God is making a way. And we are invited to step into it.
Let’s teach. Let’s sing. Let’s serve. Let’s make friends. Let’s welcome strangers. Let’s forgive each other. Let’s try something new. Let’s discover the gifts God has given us and figure out how to give them away. Let’s be willing to get a little wet, go down a water slide, get a little messy, and maybe even be a little ridiculous. Because we get so serious about church and doing ministry that sometimes we forget that joy is part of the Christian life.
The Bible is full of people singing, dancing, feasting, laughing, celebrating, splashing around in the water, and discovering that God is in the middle of it all—in the middle of all the ridiculousness.
When the Israelites get to the other side, they will sing. Miriam and the other women will play tambourines and dance. They will delight in their new beginning. They will celebrate the ridiculousness.
There is something wonderfully ridiculous about a church having a ministry fair called “Going Coconuts,” followed by a potluck and water slides, as a way to celebrate the beginning of another church program year. So we know God must be in the middle of this too. I’m pretty sure God’s favorite color is Hawaiian shirt. God is making a way for us as we begin again, and that way is the way of joy.
Joy isn’t a distraction from ministry. Joy is part of ministry. It is one of the ways we recognize the Holy Spirit moving among us.
Psalm 114 tells the story of Israel’s exodus from Egypt and it starts with “Hallelujah!” When Israel came out of Egypt, the sea danced, the mountains jumped, the hills skipped, and the earth trembled. If that is not Good Vibrations, I don’t know what is. It is the story of beginning again. It is the story of their joy.
Gareth Higgins says, “If you want a better world, tell a better story.” Good Vibrations is the better story. It is the story of Ascension. It is the story of God’s people. It is the story of God—and that is always the better story.
Our story is God’s story because we are a community where people discover that they are not alone, that they belong to one another, that their gifts matter, and that God is working among us. That is the Good Vibe. And we Go Coconuts not because we sign up for things at a ministry fair but because we find ways to share our gifts and passion, not just do a job. We make space for others to belong, and we find new ways of belonging. We discover that the gifts God has given to us are not meant to be hoarded, but shared—they are the means by which God makes a way for us to live in community.
The better story is the story of Good Vibes and Going Coconuts because it is the story of the Hospitality Committee, the Welcome and Belonging Committee, the Chili Cook-Off, Stewardship, Church Olympics, Daughters of the King, Food Boxes, EfM, Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Women’s Bible Study, Children’s Church—all the things and all the ways that we do ministry as a celebration of the kingdom of God on our little corner of Clanton Avenue. This is our story. It is the story about what it means to be a community. And we tell it again and again because Christianity is a religion of beginning again.
Always we begin again because God keeps calling us back into relationship, back into community, back into the work of becoming God’s people. God doesn’t wait until we have everything figured out and then show us the way. God says, “Step into the water. Step into the mission field. I will make a way.” And when we step into that water together, we discover that we are not just making our way through it, we are becoming the people God called us to be. So Go Coconuts! Because our Good Vibe is that here at Ascension, we are alive, connected, generous, and joyful together.
Amen