Don’t Miss

Sunday mornings usually mean final preparations for sermon delivery and then getting to the church to make sure the room is ready, the music and tech teams have all they need, and time in prayer to ready my heart for the morning service. But not last Sunday. Last Sunday, one of our elders brought the message, and I had to trust everything would be taken care of without me. Not an easy thing for a guy who likes his finger on the pulse like I do. To step away is always a challenge.

Sometimes things are important enough to let me live with that discomfort. This was one of those moments. Since our daughter started high school in 2016 we have been marching band parents. A month from now our son the drum line captain will be a high school graduate. Sunday was his last parade. The last time one of our children will don the red wool uniform with the plume on the hat. The last time we’ll hear our offspring join the band in Time Warp, Uma Thurman, Fireball, or Holiday. Not to mention all the drum cadences in between.

We rarely willingly miss last things.

They matter to us more than the same thing when we know it will happen again. That sense of urgency when we know we only get this one time to appreciate it moves us to make certain we are able to really take it in.

Here’s the issue. Most of the time we don’t know when something will be the last.

Just yesterday I was behind a car swerving in and out of traffic. I had the presence of mind to give some space, and thankfully nothing happened. But what if? When I was in my early twenties I developed a blood clot in my right femoral artery. My body handled it on its own, I have a God-given bypass system around the block. But there’s always a chance something gives. That could change my life in a heartbeat.

I still remember enjoying watching my son pitch in little league. He had talent, we thought this might be something we watched him do for a long time. One season was all he wanted to do. He and I used to watch all the Marvel movies on opening night. We missed the last Ant-Man all together and waited until the weekend to catch Guardians of the Galaxy. There will likely be a day when one or both of us lose interest entirely and we just don’t bother. Will that be the next movie? The one after that? Ten more down the line?

There will be a last day I tell my family I love them. A last hug. A last joke told. And I have no idea what day that will be. (I’m not crying as I think about this…maybe a little).

How wonderful is it that God gave us the book of Ecclesiastes?

Again I saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift, or the battle to the strong, or bread to the wise, or riches to the discerning, or favor to the skillful; rather, time and chance happen to all of them. For certainly no one knows his time: like fish caught in a cruel net or like birds caught in a trap, so people are trapped in an evil time as it suddenly falls on them.
Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 CSB

God isn’t surprised by our lasts even when we are. Just before this sentence, the teacher tells the reader to enjoy life, eat, drink, and enjoy your family. The whole book looks at life as a vapor that has substance but is ungraspable.

Today you will have opportunities to love God and love people. You will have a moment in the store you can never get back. You will have chances to share the love, grace, and joy of Jesus. The bad news is, we never know if this will be our last. The good news, is we know we have the moment we are in and can make the most of this one.

I would not have missed the last parade. Lord, help me not miss the moments, the people, and the chances to serve you in front of me now.