Glen Avon Presbyterian Church

“Questions of Faithfulness”

Rev. Lon Weaver

One perpetual and interesting fact about life is that it provokes questions. The questions which matter are often the difficult and painful ones. Such questions arise in various contexts and places. They face us as a nation, as a community, and as a church. Summer offers us time to reflect upon them.

Our nation continues to debate whether torture is a viable tool for advocating the cause of democracy in the world. This question arises: in what do we place our faith?

Our community is adding a second hockey arena to the DECC complex, while our city has not fully faced the costs of rebuilding its sewage system, of revamping its pension/health care plan for its retired employees, and of reconfiguring and rebuilding its schools. This question arises: what do we worship as god?

Our congregation has had six different staff-people and a cadre of parents leading a solid youth program over the past eight years. Yet, we continue to face a double challenge: the incredible schedules of our youth, and parental consent to those schedules. This question arises: what are the fundamental values we are instilling within our youth?

In his concluding speech, Joshua challenged the ancient Israelites with these words:

“…choose this day whom you will serve

…as for me and my household,

we will serve the Lord.”

(Joshua 24:15)

In his memorable poem, “The Road Not Taken,” Robert Frost closed with these lines:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference.

Whom will we serve? What road shall we take—must we take—to be faithful? May God bless us as we ponder, contemplate, and seek faithful answers to these and other important questions this summer.

Amen.