Clouds without water

These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; - Jude 1v12

Of my 53 years on earth, I have spent about 35 of them living in the American south. When we moved to Ireland in 1995 someone told us, ‘You will miss the southern summers after a while.’ I was sure they were wrong. So far I am right.

I have to admit there can be some kind of ‘magic’ about an Alabama summer. The evenings when you see the lightning bugs and hear the crickets and see the heat lightning on the horizon can be special. I love the smell of a magnolia tree. I love an Alabama thunderstorm. I like the feel of a blast of air conditioning coming in from the heat. I like a baseball game at Joe Davis stadium on a summer night. I like a huge glass of sweet tea at a cookout. I love the feeling of anticipation in August as we gear up for another season of Alabama football. There are some nice things that stir up feelings of nostalgia in my heart and mind..

But, I don’t like than constant stream of sweat running down to the small of my back. I don’t like the sweat that forms all over just before the air conditioning kicks in. I don’t like burning myself with my seat belt. I don’t like the sauna like blast that comes when you venture out. I don’t like a car so hot that it has only started to cool off by the time you get to Walmart then you step out into the heat and when you come back the car is a blast furnace again. I don’t like the long dry spells when you would give anything for a rain shower for just a little relief but the only clouds that form are those wasteful, waterless, deceitful clouds that are caused by the 110% humidity but don’t have a chance of even giving a drop of rain and you keep sweltering and withering with no relief and no refreshment.

It’s that last point that we address today. ‘Clouds without water’ is how Jude puts it. With false teachers come false promises of something new and refreshing. ‘You don’t like your church or your gospel? Try this new and exciting version! We promise you stress free Christianity! Church without all those crazy hang-ups, that’s our offer!’

They may look nice, like those dark clouds on a hot summer day. They look great, but offer only disappointment. There is no refreshing water and no life-giving water.

Don’t be caught off guard by the dry, deceitful, deceptive clouds. Only clouds which really hold the water of life have any chance of refreshment.