Midweek meditation from Pastor Dave July 10, 2024

I can’t remember who it was that told the story of when their family moved to a new neighborhood. It was one of the neighborhoods that the Ice Cream truck frequented. You know the kind of truck I’m talking about. It’s usually an older truck with panels of stickers along the sides displaying all kinds of creamsicles and popsicles and other delectable treats that are available. It ambles along through the neighborhoods in the summertime, piping out some slightly off-key version of “It’s a Small World” or some such song. When I was growing up, as soon as I would hear it coming, I would run inside to get a quarter or fifty cents from my mom and then rush back out to see if they had my favorite, which was the Mickey Mouse ice cream bar.

Anyway, one day the little boy in the family heard the music and asked his dad what it was. Not quite sure why he responded the way he did, the dad replied, “Son, that’s a music truck.” The son thought that was awesome and that they must live in a great neighborhood where a truck drove around and played songs that children like him liked.

Every day the “music truck” would roll through their neighborhood piping its peppy songs across the lanes. One day it stopped right in front of the little boy’s house. There were a bunch of kids gathered around it, so the little boy went outside to investigate. It turns out the kids were buying all kinds of snow cones and ice cream cones. He ran back inside to report to his dad, “Dad, you won’t believe it! The music truck has ice cream!” The dad feigned surprise. “Really?” The son said, “Yeah, Dad, and I think it’s had ice cream all along, and we missed it!” (Journal for Preachers, Lent 2012, p. 5)

It’s the Nanci Crewe summer music series in our sanctuary services this month, and it will culminate in the Jubilee combined worship service on Sunday, July 28 at 10 am. I think there’s always magnificent music in our worship services every Sunday morning, in both the Crest and the sanctuary. But the music is the vehicle – the truck, if you will – for the ice cream, which is the gospel message. And the music truck has had the ice cream all along. So let’s not miss it!