Learn from the Past – Celebrate the Future

Family reunions are a lot of fun. There is always lots of food. The matriarchs and patriarchs receive a lot of love and attention. New spouses are recognized and praised. New babies are passed around and spoiled by aunts and uncles. Old stories are told and retold. New stories are added and future plans shared. The past is rehearsed for the new generations, and future plans are shared by the next for the joy of the previous.

Family reunions, though always honoring and respecting the individuals and their legacies, focus just as much if not more on the future of the family as on its past. They are a time of sharing and learning what others had to face in earlier generations and from those lessons prepare for a more successful future by rising generations.

Church reunions are often called homecomings. They celebrate the founding of the local family of faith. They note great milestones in the history of the church. Eldest members and those holding the longest membership are often feted. And, yes, there is always lots of food.

During the worship service there may be a reading of a summary of the church history. Individual members may give testimonies of how the church family was there for them during particular crises. There may be a recounting of the sacrifices made by those earlier generations to insure a church would remain for future generations.

How is the future celebrated in these church family homecomings? One church of which I have read uses their annual homecoming to recommit themselves to the future by reading as a church body the original mission statement of their congregation. They remind themselves of what the founding members declared as their vision and then commit themselves to work to remain faithful to that mission statement in the future.

To make such a commitment to the future, however, demands honest evaluation of how things have progressed up to the present. How has the context changed? How have the needs changed? It may be the activity of the congregation must change because the setting has changed. The mission may remain the same, but the process of fulfilling the mission may need to look a lot different. As in the family reunion, the younger generations can learn from the older, but they cannot be restricted to the decisions made by their elders.

This takes wisdom, divine wisdom, and a lot of bold courage. A church homecoming service may need to be an annual time for the congregation to look at itself and ask some hard questions. Are we focused more on preserving the past or preparing for the future? Are we striving to be faithful to the vision of our ancestors or striving to be faithful to God’s call to be salt and light in our community?

Jesus offered a short parable to illustrate the need to use wisdom as we prepare for the future.

Mat 13:52 So he replied, "This means, then, that every teacher of the Law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who takes new and old things out of his storage room."

Homecomings for a family of faith are ideal times for the membership to “take new and old things” out of their cabinets of preservation and decide if these items support the vision of their church in its effort to fulfill its divine calling. The Church is in the business of storming the gates of hell and calling sinners to repentance. It is not in the business of preserving the dreams of other people, the trophies of other generations, or making idols out of ancient saints dead and gone. Respect is one thing. We must learn and use what we have learned. We cannot, however, allow respect to become idolatry or a set of chains that would hold us back from the future to which God calls us.

Chasing That Little White Ball - Lessons from Golf

I have just finished three days of watching a group of ten-year olds chase the future. My job was to keep the coolers filled with ice water out on the golf course. There was purpose behind my work. Keep the players and their families hydrated. Keep tempers minimized by helping them keep towels and tongues cool. My coworkers and I succeeded rather well under the circumstances.

I wonder about the logic of the game of golf. You hit a small ball to move it along. You catch up with it only to hit again. You do your best to put it in a hole in the ground only to pick it up and hit it again. You are always chasing the ball and just when you catch up with it, you knock it out of sight once more. For these young lads and their often caddy-dads, there was at least the benefit of exercise. For most others that had carts, even the benefit of a good work out was absent.

Chasing the future is a phrase most fitting for these golf events. Many of the players know this is a short-lived interest. Others, however, dream of having their name inscribed someday on a silver cup as they win some notable tournament. They dream of the day when they will be on international television and have multimillion dollar sponsors. They are chasing the future.

As one modern proverb goes, "You are old when your regrets outnumber your dreams." Forgive my senior moments if I have quoted this before; it remains one of my favorites. To dream is to chase the future. You may catch up with it at times and find a dream has been realized, but there is always another tee from which to hit that ball, another green on which to putt, another hole into which you must drop that ball, and another dream waiting in which to lose yourself. You need to be chasing the future so that your dreams will always outnumber your regrets.

The golf course had multiple par three holes. Three young boys were good enough to have holes-in-one. The par fours and the par fives forced them to show their power and their consistency. Some caught their dreams and moved on. Others had experiences that resembled nightmares! All went to the next green determined to continue to chase their dream.

My dreams are like those various holes on the course. Some I have conquered with obvious divine intervention. Others have become nightmares that moved into the past with deep gratitude. Yet other dreams awaited. I was still chasing the future. I am still chasing the future. Though in my sixties, my regrets do not come close to outnumbering my dreams.

A follower of Jesus Christ does not carry the burden of saving the world. There should be no regrets that all things for the individual are not possible. Salvation and miracles are in the hands of God. A follower of Christ has one great dream in this life: to honor God in thought, word, and deed. The greater dream that will extend beyond death is to hear the words of acceptance, "Well done, good and faithful servant...Enter into the joy of your master." (Matthew 25:21, 23) When the end of this course arrives, believers will move into the celebration of victory that will last for eternity. Any regrets will disappear and what had been a dream will become reality.

Believers are pilgrims on a glorious path leading to the fulfillment of a glorious dream. Regrets are forgiven. Dreams are strengthened. We chase the future. That future is laid out before us as we come to tees to launch our dreams, move boldly along fairways, and come to greens where we will see the culmination of our efforts even as we prepare to move on to the next field of endeavor.

Whatever your age may be, keep your eyes on the future. Let it pull you forward. Chase its promise with all your strength. Long to hear the words of blessing. Refuse to allow regrets turn your focus to the past. Chase the future, and let your dreams multiply.