This is the time of the year when we Northeasterners tend to channel our inner migration patterns. Like the geese we see heading toward warmer climates, we, too, start dreaming about warm beaches, relaxing days in the sun and those colorful drinks with the tiny umbrellas in them.

Well, maybe geese don’t dream about Dacquaries and Rumrunners…

But we are of hearty stock — we’re built to endure this kind of weather, they say.

In fact, we embrace it: It’s part of our DNA.

We need the four seasons, the times of dormancy, of slowing down, and waking back up and re-energizing for another growing season.

It’s who we are.

The quintessential poetic New Englander Robert Frost in his poem “Reluctance” writes:

“Ah, when to the heart of man

Was it ever less than a treason

To go with the drift of things,

To yield with a grace to reason,

And bow and accept the end

Of a love or a season?”

Of course, this is a metaphor for life, but our lives seemed inseparable from our Northern environs.

I lived in the South — South Florida and South Carolina — for about 15 years. In all that time, I can’t tell you how many days I pined for the rustle of leaves beneath my feet; the sound the snow makes as it falls on a perfectly clear silent night. The rushes of trout streams in the spring And the warm gift that is summer, to each day open its brilliance to enjoy.

In fact, on football Sundays, I would close all the blinds, crank the air-conditioning to where I could almost see my breath, make a huge vat of chili and sit on the couch with a blanket to watch the game.

I craved the seasons simply because this is my DNA. It’s in my blood.

And these seasons, I’ve come to see, are God-given.

Ecclesiastes 3.1 tells us there is a season for everything. One of them is to “build up.”

Now, we all might not feel that way, and by no means am I telling you that you should abandon any dreams of moving to Del Boca Vista with the rest of the Snow Birds.

And certainly don’t cancel those plans for a week or two on a beach somewhere warm or even tropical.

Those temporary reprieves are much-needed, and they truly are gifts.

I have a friend who is in Jamaica this week. She’s going to hit the beach, lay out in the sun, relax, probably do some snorkeling…

Soak up the sun…

These are truly times of refreshing.

See, she’s a pastor, and she works very hard for her congregation in Central Pennsylvania.

And not all of us are so lucky, what with obligations, kids, bills, busy schedules, health issues or the lack of a travel companion.

But while a trip to Cancun, Jamaica or the Keys is awesome, we can only look to the S-O-N — Jesus — for the only true times of refreshing.

And while God gave us the seasons, and even the blessings and gifts to be able to take sunny vacations, He gave us so much more than that.

And praise Him for that!

Because if we were simply given warm climates to flock to and four beautiful seasons, without Jesus, those times and places would be anything but refreshing — they would be temporal and leave us feeling empty, still looking for a way to fill the void in our lives.

No, God gives us His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Can someone say “Amen?”

Times of Refreshing

In our reading today in Acts, we hear Peter addressing people gathered in a Jerusalem temple who have just witnessed John and him healing a disabled beggar who wanted to be carried into the temple to pay his alms.

(We’ll talk more about the conversation at Solomon’s Porch in Acts 3 as we head into the seasons of Easter and Pentecost.)

But for today, Peter is telling folks to not be so surprised — that the One who healed the lame man is the same One who we crucified just up the hill at Golgotha.

I imagine there was a bit of a hush that overcame the crowd at that moment.

A few weeks back, we talked about Midrash — how you take a piece of Scripture and imagine yourself in it, as one of the characters, watching what was happening, experiencing it.

This is a great passage for Midrash, is it not?

What would it have been like to be right there on Solomon’s Porch at the temple when you see Peter and John not only heal a man who couldn’t walk all his life, but then they turn to you and tell you they only were able to heal the man in the name of the man you just murdered.

But then in the next breath, Peter tells the people — and you — that simply by asking God for forgiveness and accepting Jesus Christ into your life, you will be saved — and then, and only then, will you be able to experience the full time of refreshment that only Christ can give.

Now, let’s read that passage again:

Acts 3:17–21:

“And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.

In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer.

Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets.”

Let’s unpack that a little bit.

It’s important to see that grace that Peter is talking about in Verse 17: “You acted in ignorance.”

How awesome that our God is so gracious that He will overlook your sins, blaming them only on your ignorance?

Like a child who does something wrong because he or she doesn’t know any better.

I remember as a child washing my dad’s car inside and out as a surprise for him. I remembered he used newspapers and vinegar on the windshield to make it really shine.

So I grabbed an old newspaper a bottle of olive oil…

What was I thinking? It’s vinegar, not olive oil. But in my 8-year-old brain, I grabbed what I thought was the right thing.

Oh, my, you should have seen my dad… I’ll always remember that disbelief. Do you have any idea how hard it is to remove olive oil from your windows? ALL OF THEM. INSIDE AND OUT!

But in a minute, he saw that I was trying to do a good thing. And he gave me a hug and thanked me for cleaning the car. And I remember that, too.

That we didn’t know Christ, we didn’t believe in Him… And in our mob mentality and our thirst for blood, we choose to send to the cross an innocent man, a man who healed and loved.

And we are offered forgiveness for that.

That’s grace.

God wants to give us that kind of refreshment..

In Verse 18, we see that the sins of the world — our sins — and not just the sins of the people then, but of our sins today and tomorrow — were and are paid for through Jesus’s blood.

The prophets spoke and wrote of this.

So that God could refresh us.

Verses 19 and 20 then tell us all we need to do to experience that peace through His grace. He’s waiting for us.

To give us times of refreshment.

And Verse 21, tells us the most important piece of all of it: That Jesus will come at the “time of universal restoration.”

And that time of refreshment? It will be eternal — when our time is done here on earth, or when Jesus comes in victory.

It’s eternal refreshment.

Three steps to refreshment

Now, whether you’re sitting on a beach in South Florida, toes in the sand and that colorful drink with the little umbrella in it, or you’re sitting on the frozen vinyl seats of your Chevrolet waiting for the inadequate heater to kick in, shivering on your way to Walmart, know this:

God has given you the true Son — S-O-N — to be your warmth, to be your light and to be your refreshment.

So it’s easy to say that we can look to Christ — the Son — for refreshment.

And we can. We must.

We can open our Bibles, we can come to church, and we can pray for refreshment.

But just like our analogy of our Pismo Beach vacation, we have to take some steps to get there, right?

We have to save up for the trip.

We have to book a flight, hotel, maybe a rental car.

And we have to dig our our Bermudas, beach towels and that Hawaiian shirt your kids always make fun of.

Pismo Beach exists, but just thinking about it doesn’t cut it; we have to take some actions to actually get there.

God’s refreshment is free, but you can’t simply passively expect it to fall upon you.

His grace is free, for sure. But you have to seek Him.

Where can we find it?

Here. In worship. In Christian community.

Paul writing in Romans 15.32, tells us “…I may come to you with joy by the will of God and may be refreshed together with you.”

It is together, in fellowship, that we find true refreshing. Here in church, in Sunday school, sitting around a table with one another, thanking God for His love and Grace.

God is with us here.

2. We can also find refreshment in our giving.

Paul, again, in 1 Corinthians 16.15–18 tells us of giving our first fruits — our tithes — and that tells us that anything we lack, He, through others, provide. “For they refreshed my spirit and yours.”

3. Refreshing comes in forgiveness.

Paul is great at finding ways of refreshment — His job was to spread the Word to the Gentiles, the non-believers.

They needed rest. They needed a Savior.

And so Paul tells the story of Onesimus, a slave who ran off and needs to go back, and how we are to forgive one another to experience refreshment.

In Philemon 1.17–20, Paul writes about Onesimus:

“If then you count me as a partner, receive him as you would me. But if he has wronged you or owes anything, put that on my account. … Yes, brother, let me have joy from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in the Lord.”

Conclusion

If you want refreshment, true times of refreshment, it’s going to come from more than just a vacation in the sun.

It’s going to be in the presence of the Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The one whoo “makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.” Psalm 23.2

That’s Jesus’s promise.

Despite all your baggage, your ignorance, your sin.

He offers you the refreshment and the love and care that only the Good Shepherd can give.

And that’s the true refreshment He has for you, beginning today, right here, right now.

There’s a great song, written by Marty Nystron back in 1994. The lyrics are simple, and in them, Marty writes:

“Times of refreshing

Here in Your presence

No greater blessing

Than being with You

My soul is restored

My mind is renewed

There’s no greater joy, Lord

Than being with You.”