SunJul292007
‘AND THE BUS PULLED AWAY”
COLORADO SERVICE
July 29, 2007
MESSAGE BY Martine Scheuermann
Before I begin with this morning’s message, I would like to take a few minutes to mention someone who was very special and instrumental to me in my early years here as a member of Federated. The altar flowers this morning are in memory of Bob Marquart, a very dear friend of this church, whom God called home in 1996. Bob’s wife, Mary holds a very special place in my heart as she does in the heart of many others. Many of us also know and love Bob’s daughter and son-in-law, Pam and Pete Lubs, who are also active members of this church family.
Bob was a very special man for many, many reasons. If you had the opportunity to know him, you know what I’m saying. If you didn’t, I will tell you that I am thoroughly convinced that Bob is the Head Greeter in heaven; so, some day when you leave this place called Earth and God calls you home, you will indeed have a chance to meet him.
Prior to this year’s trip, Marty asked me if I would like to be a part of the Colorado church service again this year and provide the sermon. I reminded her that I wasn’t going on the trip this year, (as though she had forgotten or something).
As many of you may know, I had been on the Colorado trip all fifteen years since it began, and I made a conscious decision prior to last year’s trip to retire from that volunteer position.
Marty said that she thought it would be good for me to speak about how it might feel to NOT be on the trip. So, I agreed.
I suppose I could sum it up with a story from the day before the trip – Marty and I were somewhere, I don’t remember exactly where, and the sales clerk taking care of us said “Have a nice day” to which Marty replied “I’m heading out to Colorado with a bus full of youth group kids”. The clerk looked at both of us and said “Have a good time”, and I said “I’m not going on the trip”. He quickly said, “Then have a better time!”.
Well, someone very prepared and organized might have begun to work on their message a week or so ago, but not me. I did give it a lot of thought last week while the trip was happening, and also early this week. I was at theFLC when the bus RETURNED --- at nearly midnight this past Monday night. But, still, for some reason, I have been slow to put my thoughts down on paper. I had a conversation with Marty on Thursday and she said “Have you thought about the title of your sermon yet”? (The bulletin was being prepared for print) I responded, “No, but I was thinking I would speak about how it felt when the bus pulled away, and some of the emotions and learnings that I experienced the remainder of the week”
So, she said “Okay, we have it…..AND THE BUS PULLED AWAY”.
Well, that doesn’t sound nearly as inspiring as the titles of my messages from the previous six years:
“And God Showed Up”
“Pushing Life’s Pause Button”
“One of the Twelve”
“Learning to Breathe”
“Word of the Day”
And, last year’s message which was entitled
“How Wide, How Long, How High and How Deep”
I am hopeful that this morning I am able to inspire you to thinking anew, and to determine what it is that God is calling you to do.
Ted read a few minutes ago from the third chapter of Paul’s letter to the people of Phillipi: “But one thing I do….forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which god has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
This year, The week leading up to the trip was pretty different for me; no, it was very weird. I wasn’t getting stressed out about my gear, my clothes that I’d need to pack, the work at my “real job” that I would need to make sure was finished before leaving, or the physical challenge of the whitewater rafting, rock climbing, rappelling, hiking at high altitudes on narrow trails, and wilderness camping. Quite honestly, I was at an all time low stress level. I managed to maintain that low stress level amid a lot of questions from friends and colleagues:
“How does it feel to not be going on the trip this year?”
“Aren’t you going to miss going to Colorado?”
“How many years did you go? 15? Isn’t it weird to not go this year?”
I snuck into the final meeting for the kids and parents, which was on the Tuesday before the trip. I brought in candy, cracked a few jokes, got a few laughs (well, I’m pretty sure I got a few laughs), and then I pretty much reminded myself that since I was not part of the trip this year, I should get out of the way and let the final preparation happen.
The Friday of that week, I took a half-day vacation, so that in the afternoon I could help out with some of the last-minute preparations. I taught Suzanne as best I could about the meals and the packing of the food, and hoped she would be as near anal-retentive as I was for years on this trip. I’m sure that some of you know that we actually developed an Excel spreadsheet for the food preparation; all you need to do is put in the number of people eating each particular meal at the top, and the formulas calculate everything, down to the number of slices of bread needed, the ounces of lunch meat and slices of cheese and the snacks and fruit. It was actually pretty entertaining to teach it all to Suzanne who would be taking over that portion of the trip. There were a lot of times during the few hours we spent together that Friday when I found myself saying “I know this sounds pretty weird, but this is what you need to do, because it works”, and “This is something that you don’t need to worry about because it will just happen”
When the families gathered at the FLC at 1:00 in the morning on Saturday, the trip departure time, I was there. There were a few parents who I think, quite honestly, may have thought I was going on the trip. Somehow my self-proclaimed retirement wasn’t really happening. And, to be honest with you, as I got caught up in the excitement of the gathering, the roll call, the last minute instructions, and the prayer circle, I actually felt like I was going. It was a bit surreal being in the great room at the FLC amid all of the last-minute activity. And, I took a few minutes to step onto the bus, and realized that someone else’s stuff was in “my seat”. Reality set in for sure at that point. I thought for a few minutes and second-guessed my decision, but then I remembered the biff, sleeping on the ground, being out in all weather conditions…..and I snapped right back.
Earlier in the evening, I had told Larry Trace that after everyone was gone and the bus pulled away, and the parents cars peeled out (oops, I mean pulled out), he shouldn’t worry about me remaining behind. I told him to turn off the parking lot lights and go ahead and go. I thought I’d most likely take a few minutes to just sit and be once the bus pulled away. I did have a bag of newspapers in the car that I was going to put in the green bin. I think that was my cover in case I needed a reason to not be driving off right away. Well, once I put the papers in the bin and got back in my car, I felt completely overwhelmed with emotion. The bus was no longer in sight, the parents’ cars were all gone, the parking lot lights were off, and Larry’s truck was even gone. He had done as I requested and not worried about me remaining behind. (Although it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that he simply had pulled next door into the Northwoods Restaurant parking lot until I left, just to be sure I was okay).
Some of you may know this, but I am not a “crier”, however I sat in my car and wept…..but only for a few minutes. Then a feeling of calm came over me, and I drove home, where Majic and Lucy (our two wonderful Springer Spaniels) were waiting for me. In past years, when Marty and I have both gone on the trip, we have had a dog-sitter who is there at our home when we leave with all of our gear. I think Lucy and Majic somehow knew this time that I’d be coming back. And, it was with their unconditional love that I was greeted at the door, around 2:15 a.m. I was home. The bus had pulled away.
It is amazing to see how second-nature something can become when you do it a number of times, or, in my case with the Colorado trip, several years in a row. Coming to the decision to retire from being a Colorado advisor was not an easy one for me. But I knew in my heart that it was time to walk away gracefully. It felt more like a calling to let something go than a calling toward something. It was quite different.
And, I wonder just how open I’ve been to hearing God’s call in my life. I read something the other day that said “sometimes when one door closes, another door opens. But we spend so much time looking at the closed door that we aren’t able to ever see the door that opened”.
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal.
Where in your life has God perhaps closed a door for you, only to leave another open? Where do you need to forget what is behind and press on ahead?
Now, please don’t get me wrong. I’m not here this morning to advocate that each of us should walk away from a commitment we’ve made, or simply throw in the towel and give something up that we’ve been doing for quite some time. However, I will suggest that we all need to examine our lives, the call God has for us, and how we are approaching the closed doors as well as the doors that are being opened.
For me, the most difficult part of Paul’s words in the Gospel reading this morning are the following: Forgetting what is behind. I’d like to re-phrase those words, at least for me, and say “learning from what is behind”. I think forgetting about the past without having a learning experience or a takeaway is somehow selling ourselves short of God’s plan for us. I have a friend who periodically, actually, quite regularly, will ask me “what did you learn today” or “what did you learn yesterday.” It’s an interesting reflection for sure.
On some Colorado trips, we have taken a rock or stone to the mountain top, carried it with us on the trail or the hike to the summit, only to leave it on the summit. This symbolized something we needed to leave behind, as we pressed on toward our goal, listening for God’s call in our life.
On other trips, we’ve written letters to ourselves to be mailed by our guides several months after the trip. Maybe we’ve promised ourselves to do something different, or leave something behind. Whatever the symbolic action we’ve taken, it’s been a way for us to make a commitment to ourselves and to others to press on. I am certain the experiences of this year’s trip are varied and will have an impact on each one of the kids as well as their families.
To this year’s Colorado kids, I would like to say: Hang onto the experiences you’ve had on this trip. Listen to what God is trying to tell you and how you are being led. Be open to things that lie ahead. Don’t let the Colorado trip experience be a one-time thing. Hold onto the learnings. Remember the challenges and the fears that you may have overcome. Learn from each experience you had, each conversation, reflection, or sharing.
To myself, and perhaps to some of you who didn’t experience the trip, I would challenge you to determine (in a symbolic way) what bus or busses in your life might you need to see pull away. What do you need to leave behind, in order to press on toward your goal?
May I suggest that we all take a minute or two right now, to be in prayerful reflection.
think about what is it in your life that you might need to put on the bus, so that it can pull away, so that you can experience a learning… ….. (No, not your boss, or co-worker, or spouse or your partner or your kids, or your brother or sister. That’s not what I mean).
It might be something simple; perhaps it may be time to make a minor change in your life, or even a significant change…..to mend a fence or repair a relationship that has been strained or broken. Maybe you have been thinking about reaching out to a group that can use your talents as a volunteer. Maybe it’s something simple like changing your daily routine. Perhaps you can alter your drive to or from work, and take a more scenic, but slower, drive, maybe even stopping along the way to observe nature or just reflect and be. Whatever it is, we need to be open to the call in our lives. Focus on the door that is opening rather than the one which might have closed.
Look ahead.
Press on.
Let us pray.
Dear God, thank you for yet another safe Colorado experience. Please continue to be with each of these Colorado kids, the advisors, and their families. Help us to be open to whatever plan you may have for our lives, in each moment, every day. Thank you for this loving, supportive congregation. In your name, we pray. Amen