Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ by brothers and sisters. I pray this devotional finds you in good health and blessed spirits! The month of October is slowly drawing to a close and soon the streets will be filled with Trick R’ Treaters of all ages dressed in all manner of clothing or costumes. Pumpkins are filling the porches and certain people are just waiting for November 1st so they can bust out their Christmas decorations (we all know it comes earlier and earlier each year).
Speaking of Pumpkins! This past week I was able to witness an act of love that truly shows how the church can be a beacon of not only God’s love, but also the theme of the seasons! The church that I pastor, First United Methodist Fairfield, had its annual Pumpkin Patch event this past week. Now, I must be honest, I have had a love-hate relationship with “church pumpkin patches” during my time as a pastor. In one of my previous appointments the church would try to raise money for the youth group by selling pumpkins outside the church for the full month of October. While this in itself isn’t entirely bad, the problem came when the focus of the church became raising the money as opposed to ministering to the community. We could hardly find volunteers to help with other ministries because they were volunteering in the pumpkin patch. By the end of that experience when anyone said the word “pumpkin” I would run screaming from the room.
Now, let me clear, I have no problem with a church fundraising through a pumpkin patch or other ventures. I do have a problem when that fundraising overshadows all other aspects of the church. Jesus once warned, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money (Matthew 6:24).”
But this past week my faith was restored in the pumpkin patch ministry, because that’s exactly what I saw, a ministry! The pumpkin patch was set up as a variety of stations in which classes from the Elementary School could come each day and play games, listen to music, and hear a Fall themed story! The patch was staffed by willing volunteers every day and each child left with a small pumpkin (and a big smile). There was no cost to enter, no fee to participate, and the pumpkins were given as a gift from the church! What an amazing and benevolent way to show God’s love to a group of school children.
The Christian church must always ensure that its activities are at their core sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. If anything were to overshadow that purpose, then christians should flee or cast off such events due to their misleading nature.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, this Halloween you have an opportunity to do much more than pass out candy, decorate a house or trunk, or host a party. You have the opportunity to pass out God’s love, decorate your soul with grace, and host those into the witness of the Gospel.
Let us redeem our Fall festivities and turn them into tools that might better share the good news of Christ’s presence among us!
Blessings my friends!
—
Pastor Mike McVey
Minister – First United Methodist Church, Fairfield TX
ACS Chaplain – United States Coast Guard, Station Galveston TX
Chaplain – Texas Game Warden Association, Freestone County
Cell: 919-935-2513
Email: pastormike@fumcfairfield.org
