THE PEANUT GALLERY

THE PEANUT GALLERY
It has been said that history is like a party. It is a party that you have been invited to. You arrive late and the mansion where the party is held is thriving with people. Upon your arrival, you get your bearings, listening to different conversations. Eventually, you join a group and begin to speak. You take sides on certain issues and align yourself with certain people along the way. As you stay longer those who were here before you begin to leave while others have just begun to arrive. Eventually, it is your time to leave. You say goodbye and leave the party. 

This, in a sense, is what history is like. Neither you nor I began the conversation and we shall not bring it to an end either. We are simply one voice, entering a conversation that those before us began. Certainly, this should help us remember to go the extra mile in patience with all people. 

Consider the implications of this within the Church. When we remember that we are one voice among many, it helps us to remember those who have gone before us. I hope it is no surprise to you that there have been many faithful Christians who have lived throughout the two millennia since Christ’s ascension. It is not as if, all of a sudden, the Church finally got everything right within the last 100 years or so. Rather, it has been an unfolding story from year to year as the gospel has been taken from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Somehow the gospel of Jesus Christ made it to Bridge City, Texas. On and on we could go to speak of the history of this town and this church. Yet here we are. Here I am with you. May we all be faithful this day and every day that the Lord gives us. These are my thoughts. These, dear reader, are my comments from the peanut gallery.

Grace be with you,
C. R. Hamilton