"For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
Matthew 18:20 (NRSV)
Not gonna lie. When we woke up to freezing rain this morning I told my wife Ruth that one of the great appeals of my impending retirement is that this will be the last season where I must tell myself that it doesn't matter how many people show up for church, as long as we worship.
Don't get me wrong, this is true. But it can be discouraging living in Canada where Mother Nature can be more of a bully than a benign presence. The first forecasts for this weekend called for the precipitation to come and go by Saturday evening. I am looking out my window at gently falling "sun and cloud." With an aging congregation many of our folk are understandable reluctant to venture out when the footing is treacherous.
Sigh. Just the same, we will celebrate the baptisms of three beautiful children and affirm the "messy" love of God made known to us in Christ. In 37 years of ministry I've never cancelled a service because of weather, although there have been occasions when that might have been a good call. We have always sung our praise, prayed from the heart, and listened to the Word proclaimed. That is the Good Forecast.
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