God Be With You

Author: Mark Fenstermacher
August 19, 2022

During the past week, one of my favorite writers -Frederick Buechner- left this world. His words, the way his prose often danced into poetry, and his faith both shaped my own journey in so many ways.

Buechner in “Whistling in the Dark” once wrote about those moments in life when we say “good-bye.” The writer talks about the woman with a scarf over her head who hoists her six-year-old onto the first step of the school bus: Good-bye.” The Christian writer tells us about the time when the girl at the airport hears the announcement that her plane is starting to board, and how she turns to the boy who is seeing her off: “I guess this is good-bye,” she says. Buechner describes the moment when two men shake hands, and say over the sound of the passing traffic, “Good-bye.” They say it so nearly in unison that they both smile.

What people used to say to others, when their paths were going to diverge, wasn’t “good-bye” but “God be with you.”

In this last note to you in the weekly email, I want to say “God be with you.” The really good news is that we know, because of Jesus Christ and the resurrection, that God is with us! So when I say “God be with you” I am confident God is right by your side as you step into your future as both individuals and as a congregation. 

John Wesley, the English priest who helped the Methodist renewal movement/revival, was dying on March 2nd, 1791. As he died, he is reported to have thrown his arms up in the air, and shouted with all his strength, “The best of all is, God is with us.”

In those moments when you may panic and momentarily think it’s just you and the world, remember what Jesus said in Matthew 28:20b: “And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

“God be with you.”

+++++

I also want to say:

• Thank you for the grace and kindness you have shown me in so many ways.
• Thank you for your openness to the Holy Spirit as she moved among us healing broken places, giving us new visions, helping us dream new dreams.
• Thank you for going with me back to the basics: Jesus and his love for all.
• Thank you for having the courage to continue offering Christ-like love and acceptance to all. Never be ashamed of loving others the way Jesus loves you. (Even when your deep grace may scandalize others!)
• Thank you for throwing open your hearts to Pastor Rob and Lesley.
• Thank you for seeing more and more that our words of faith must be matched with deeds of compassion, acts of service, and justice.
• Thank you for letting go of what is done and leaning into what God is about do.
• Thank you. I have been blessed.  Love the stranger the way you have loved this pastor, and you will change Auburn…and the world!

+++

Please remember:

• This Sunday is “Back to School Sunday.”
• To sign up for Faith in Action.
• We will have one worship service at 10 am on September 4. (Pastor Rob’s first Sunday here at First UMC.)
• Watch for new classes and small groups starting this Fall - places to connect with others and grow in Christ!

In Christ and for Christ,
Pastor Mark Fenstermacher

BACK