Monthly Message | August

Grace and peace to you friends.

After all the preparation and plans for St. Mark’s 200th anniversary celebration, many of us may need some rest! Each of the past several years, my family and I spend a few days of rest camping around the Raystown Lake area. We stay at the same campground and just enjoy some relaxation time there, usually toward the end of summer before school begins.

I know many of you enjoy camping, and I have heard about or seen photos of some of your trips. All of that had me thinking What is it about camping that appeals to so many? We leave behind some of the luxuries and conveniences we have at home to go, among other things, sleep in uncomfortable beds or sleeping bags; move around in tighter living quarters, including bathrooms that have little water pressure; and enjoy limited entertainment options, especially if it rains! What is the appeal!?

Speaking for myself, I think part of the appeal is the simplicity camping brings. We can get away from our everyday experiences to spend time in nature and with family and/or friends in a somewhat more simplified way. We escape from distractions and things that need to be done around our homes or at work and can just sit around a fire and roast hot dogs or marshmallows. One of my favorite parts of our camping trips is simply sitting outside with some music streaming — and doing nothing, except maybe read or talk with family or think about what I may be grilling later.

So that, of course, had me thinking about faith and our lives of following Jesus, and this question: Do we complicate things? Does Jesus want us to have a life with him and following him to be simpler than we sometimes make it?

Jesus boiled down God’s laws to two — love God and love neighbor. Now, just because things may be simpler, doesn’t make them easier. They are not. But with all the complications we face in life — from work to finances to home to even relationships we have — Jesus wants us to know, from Matthew 11:29–30, that with his gentle and humble heart, his yoke is easy and his burdens are light. Don’t get caught in complicating his love and a life following him.

Following Jesus isn’t easy, but it also isn’t meant to be too complicated. It is knowing that we are loved by God, that we can repent and ask God to forgive us and know that God gives us God’s grace freely, and that God, in a sense, says, “Know that I love you. Now, go and do likewise toward others.”

As we enter into a busy and complicated time of year with summer winding down and a new school year starting, I pray you find time for actual camping or having a camping mindset, where the fire of Holy Spirit is always burning and distractions and complications are put aside, at least for a little bit, for the one thing that matters — God loves you!

Go in peace. Live by the Spirit!

Pastor David