Dear Rose Park,
Last week Wednesday Sam, Simon, and I had the great joy of attending the candlelight service for the GEMS. If you’re unfamiliar, GEMS stands for Girls Everywhere Meeting the Savior. This is a ministry Rose Park has participated in for many years; young girls have grown into mothers and sent their own daughters to GEMS. It’s a beautiful image of discipleship to the next generation of young girls.
This particular Wednesday wasn’t just another ordinary GEMS night. Last Wednesday was their candlelight service; essentially, it’s the service where the young girls officially become GEMS. Jess Vanderslik did a wonderful job leading us through the service. She would call each age group up to the front of the sanctuary in order to be recognized by their parents, friends, guardians, and community. Each GEMS group leader would then help each girl light a candle signifying their commitment to GEMS. As you can imagine, cell phone cameras were flashing non-stop as parents were overjoyed to take their daughters picture while they stood by their candle. However, the most powerful moment would come as Jess would invite each girl to light their candle. As she did, she would say, “you are a precious gem of God, take your light from your Savior.”
As we sat in the sanctuary, with the brilliant light of candles surrounding us, it dawned on me yet again: we are all a precious gem of God, and all of us are being invited to take the light that is graciously and freely offered by Jesus. Though the candlelight service serves as a reminder of this invitation, this invitation does not happen annually on the third Wednesday in October. The invitation to “take your light from your Savior” is offered to you every single day. Twenty-four hours a day. 365 days a year. It is an invitation without strings attached. It is an invitation without an expiration date. It simply is an invitation for each of us to accept the grace that is being offered.
This is all to say, I wonder if we’ve accepted the invitation today. We might have accepted it years ago during profession of faith, a powerful trip to Camp Geneva many years ago, or even on a Wednesday night when you were apart of GEMS, but I hope we accept this invitation today and everyday. I hope we accept it as we commute to work. I hope we accept it as we sit in the waiting room at the doctor. I hope we accept it every time we enter the sanctuary of the church. I hope we accept it every time we taste from the bread and the cup or see the waters of baptism.
Thank you GEMS not only for being a light of hope and grace to our community, but also for reminding me to accept the daily invitation to “take your light from your Savior.”
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark