God the Tailor

Today’s message was written by guest pastor, Rev. Tasha Blackburn.

I once had a boss who was a big guy in every sense. He was 6’5” tall, with a booming voice, a pastor of a 4,000 member church. His name was Bill. Several of us were at his house one night when his 90-year-old mother was visiting. Bill got a call and had to leave. As he headed for the door his mother rushed to him, holding something. “Billy,” she said, “don’t forget your sweater.” This giant of a man was soon to retire and still, she hadn’t stopped being his mother. 

It reminds me of when Adam and Eve had to leave the Garden of Eden. We sometimes think that story is about lust: nakedness and poor choices and all that. But it is a story about growing up. We move from innocence to knowledge with lots of struggle in between. But it is in the struggle that we become fully ourselves. As Adam and Eve head out the door, something amazing happens. We see that God is busy sewing them some clothes to wear. Even as they leave Paradise, God hasn’t stopped being their God.

We thought it was funny to see our boss be mothered, but Bill was leaving because there was a problem. I don’t know what it was, but there was a struggle or an emergency, and so out he went to face it. Which is how life is. So it was not funny at all that his mother was right there—“Billy, don’t forget your sweater”. She did not know what he would face, but she knew it would be difficult. And there she stood, at the door, to make sure he was covered. “Billy, don’t forget your sweater.” It’s not funny at all.

This is our story. We grow up. We live with our choices. We take some hard paths. God knows that. Which is why he stands at the door. ”Beloved,” he says, “this is going to be hard. I can’t do it for you but I can cover you, so don’t forget your sweater.”

Let us pray: Gracious Lord, you promise you cover us under your wings, like a mother hen. Whatever we face today, meet us on the way, shelter us, and make us secure in your love. Amen.