For the past 10 years my Church has a
Sunday in October that we deem “Salvation Sunday”. The purpose of “Salvation
Sunday” is simple. It is a day of intentional evangelism. It isn’t the only day
of intentional evangelism, but on “Salvation Sunday” we celebrate offering
Jesus Christ and the gift of Salvation. The good folks of my Church
intentionally invite their unsaved, unchurched friends and family. We
intentionally offer them Jesus Christ and His Salvation using special music and
media. Finally, we intentionally fellowship with all in attendance…over an
intentionally cooked dinner. (I really like that last part!)
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A year ago we added a new tradition.
It was suggested that we take balloons, place a simple gospel message inside with
the Church’s phone number, and release it to the world. Last year we tried this
.We had our fellowship meal together (scrumptious!). We handed out the 35 to 40
pre-stuffed, Helium balloons. We went outside and prayed over the balloons. Then,
we let them go. It was a beautiful
gesture of releasing the gospel to the world.
So...we did it again this year with
more balloons. This time we filled 79 balloons with a gospel message and
Helium. After we intentionally ate our dinner together, we took the balloons
outside, prayed over them and let them go.
That’s when it happened!
As we released the balloons, a down
draft came out of nowhere pushing the mass of balloons down almost to the
ground. Instead of all bunched up, the balloons spread out and rose into the
sky quickly…at least 72 did. There were 7 balloons that got pushed to the side
and when they started going up, they were caught in the trees. Most of the
balloons were held by the balloons themselves, but one pink balloon in
particular was caught by its string.
As most eyes were fixed on the mass
ascension of balloons (pun intended), conversations began about who might read
the message inside and hopes and prayers that God would allow the right person
to find the message at the right time. Slowly, the congregation’s attention
turned toward the detained balloons and the conversation began to shifted to wondering if the detained messages would be
freed. Slowly, one by one each balloon was individually pushed back and forth
by the wind until they were worked free. It seemed as though each balloon was
time released. Each balloon was held until it was time for the message to be
released. As each captive balloon became released a cheer would rise from the
crowd. With each release the cheer would grow louder and louder until there was
one balloon left.
The last balloon, the pink, entangled
balloon, was swaying back and forth. At times it was stretching straight up
with the string so taut it looked as if it would pull the tree out by the
roots. Folks stayed awhile to see if the last balloon would be released. But
that was impossible as the string had wrapped around a thin branch and knotted
itself to the limb. The crowd dwindled as the moments passed
There were only a handful of us left
to watch the entangled, pink balloon’s struggle. I, personally, didn’t see it.
One of the good folks of the Church said, “There it goes!” I turned my head in
time to see the balloon that was knotted at the string, impossible to fly…fly
away.
I stood in awe of God and learned a
lesson. His message is released into the world. At just the right moment, when
we are ready, God releases His message into our hearts. There is nothing that
can hold it back or keep it from coming. Even if it seems impossible, God can
and will release His message into the world...just like a balloon caught in a tree.
Take heart O, Christian….God is still
in control!
