King of the Hill

By Pastor Kevin Van Wyk
Do you remember climbing up a huge pile of snow and shoving your friends and siblings off? It was great fun! Even getting pushed off was fun as you landed in the snow and slid down. There are some great hills right now just off the church parking lot… maybe I should challenge the deacons tonight at their meeting :-)

Speaking of hills, I was recently reminded I’m on top of the hill and turning 50. I was so grateful to receive an early birthday card from Agnesian Healthcare! What a wonderful healthcare system to send a card. Then I read the inside and thought, “the gift of a colonoscopy was not what I was looking for.” 

Thanks for the hard truth. I’ve peaked. I’m over the hill. I’m halfway to 100, as my daughter likes to put it. 

God reminds me…”Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” (Isaiah 46:4) What a great promise from God. He will carry me when I can’t go on. He will sustain me when I lack nourishment. He will rescue me from my sin and this world of sin. 

Not only do we have these promises, but we have this challenge… “Now that I am old and gray, do not abandon me, O God. Let me proclaim your power to this new generation, your mighty miracles to all who come after me.” (Psalm 71:18 NLT) The psalmist Asaph is not done, retired, and useless. He has a purpose, a calling he cannot ignore. 

I have no desire to be a king of some man-made hill. I want to serve the King of kings and see the next generation stop pushing each other off the hill and start putting Jesus on the hill. May the last half of my life not be about what I like, what I want, or what I think I deserve. May it be about giving my all for the sake of the next generation, that they might know the grace and truth of God. 

If you have some gray hairs, or maybe no hairs like me, will you join me in giving all you have to the mission of Jesus, in letting go of the pursuit of comfort and happiness; crushing the “me first” mentality of our culture, and living like Jesus really is your Lord?

Here’s my hope…

• Too many youth coaches
• One gray-hair for every youth at the bridge dinners
• A gray-hair assistant in every Sunday school class and Bible Class
• Generosity that ends any need for youth fundraising
• Estate gifts that enable us to fund church plants without denominational grants and to fund students going into ministry

Will Jesus be King of your hill?