We’ve entered into graduation season, that time of year in which high school seniors don robes and graduation caps and march in to the strains of Pomp and Circumstance. We gather in stadiums, auditoriums, and back yards to honor years of hard work, celebrate hard-won accomplishments, and witness a significant step on the road to adulthood. School administrators will struggle to read difficult names, air horns will sound despite announcements forbidding them, and students will display creative messages atop their mortar boards. At Conejo Church this Sunday, we’re celebrating Alyssa Hunnicutt and Taylor Wooton as they complete their high school careers and prepare to transition into their college years—woo hoo!
Graduation season also marks our unofficial transition into summertime, as schedules change dramatically for students and teachers at all levels of the educational enterprise and as people begin to scatter for summer trips, camps, reunions, and vacations. As we enter into this season, I’d like to reflect on the rhythm of the church gathered and the church scattered.
Like the two-fold rhythm of our lungs, which continuously alternate between breathing in and breathing out, the local church gathers regularly for worship, formation, and fellowship and then scatters for vocation, service, and mission. Asking which part of this rhythm is more important is like asking which part of breathing is more important—they’re both vital and one can’t exist without the other. During the school year, we tend to be more locally focused, whether on service in our community, local outreach, small group community building, or spiritual formation.
As we enter summer mode, we tend to scatter more. I would remind us, however, that whether gathered or scattered, we are still the church, God’s community of saints called to reflect the life and love of Jesus wherever we go. For those going on short term mission trips, we have the opportunity to love our (more distant) neighbors and embody the good news of Jesus. For those going to summer camps, whether as students or mentors, we have the chance to nurture faith, build friendships, and deepen our love for God. For those enjoying vacations, we have the chance to worship in new places and encourage other congregations, be refreshed and renewed in God’s creation, and reconnect with geographically dispersed family members and friends. Even for those staying home, the arrival of summer typically brings a slower pace, affording opportunities to connect more deeply with local friends and to be renewed in our spirits.
So wherever you find yourself this summer as part of the church gathered or the church scattered, may you always be mindful of your calling as a follower and representative of Jesus Christ the Lord.
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