Beach
13 October 2021
The beach. Cashing in one of my vacation weekends, LuAnne and I spent two very quick but enjoyable days on a Florida beach this past weekend before we needed to shoot home for a funeral. I’m grateful to be an American with a job that offers vacation time. On vacation, my family feels we honor a measure of Jesus’ invitation, “come all to me who are weary and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28). The delight of connecting with a part of God’s dynamite creation like sea-scape makes me feel closer to my Lord and family both, and never fails to whisper some faith insights.
Here are three faith reminders from the beach:
3. The tide reminds me that every day is a fresh day. Martin Luther encouraged all Christians to take some water in the morning and make the sign of the cross, reminding ourselves, “I am baptized. I am forgiven. Today is a new day.” As the ocean water rises to wash the beach regularly, so too we are reminded that in our baptisms, Christ washes away our sin and washes the slate clean. Each morning brings a fresh opportunity to build “new sandcastles” of relationships and write new messages of hope on the beach. As high tide deposits new shells to explore, each morning deposits new life adventures to embrace.
2. Aren’t the circular designs of shells stunning? Sometimes, the routine rhythm of a week, month, or even year can feel repetitive in a burdensome way. When in “glass half full mindsets,” we complain of Groundhog Day seasons, ala the Bill Murray movie, when we’re stuck in too much of a repeat cycle. But when we step back, we see God has used the ongoing cycles of faithfulness and devotion to fashion something stunningly beautiful in our lives, just like the wonder of a shell’s spectacular spinnings.
1. The Sand Dollar. On one beach walk this weekend, LuAnne and I spotted a little sand dollar, bruised, but whole.
We asked each other when we were taught of the sand dollar’s testimony of faith. The five holes in the sand dollar remind us of the five wounds Jesus endured on the cross as he won our salvation: nail wounds on two hands and two feet, plus the puncture of the Roman spear into his side. Amazingly, when one breaks a dry sand dollar in two, one discovers pieces that look like miniature doves, reminding us of the gift of the Holy Spirit which comes to inspire the church!
Our sand dollar discovery inspired me to purchase a bunch of small ones at the local Shell Shack. Telling LuAnne that I looked forward to finding a time with Ingrid (our COS Director of Children and Family) to pass them out to our COS children in worship, she asked me if some folks might be disturbed that I would break apart the larger sand dollar. When I asked why, LuAnne said, “Well, they’re so beautiful.” Indeed. But maybe that’s another essential part of the analogy: the hard acknowledgment that Jesus, the Father’s beautiful son, is broken apart on the cross to allow a new day for all of us.
Questions:
1. How is your faith inspired on the beach?
2. Are there moments in nature when you feel closer to God?
Let us pray.
Dear God, thanks for “days off.” We’re grateful for all kinds of moments when we are refreshed by the beauty of your creation. As Jesus walked beaches with his friends, continue to walk with us wherever we are, on our beaches and beyond. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Note: This Sunday in worship, we will hear how Jesus predicts three different times that his future is not just “a day at the beach,” but involves the way of the cross as well. His first disciples are very resistant. Come to see what you, as his 21st-century disciples, think.