Jump Start # 991
Psalms 122:1 “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”
Worship is awesome! Do you feel that way? Sometimes we forget. Sometimes the weather, getting everybody ready can drain the enthusiasm out of us. Worship can seem more like a duty than a privilege. That happens, but we take a step back and remember all that God has done for us and all that God is, and suddenly, the spirit and the joy of worship returns.
I want to share something that happened to me several years ago. I was with another congregation then, and this kid who was in his early years of high school would help serve the Lord’s Supper and collect the contribution. That scene has taken place thousands of time for me. But this young man did something that was remarkable. He did it more than once. As I put in my check for the contribution and handed him the collection plate, he whispered, ‘Thank you.’ Thank you. No one has ever said that to me before when the collection was offered. He didn’t say it very loud, and I never knew if he said it each time someone handed him the offering or if it was just to me. That stuck with me. That impressed me. I’m not sure if he understood the depth of his thank you or not, but I did. Thank you for helping this church. Thank you for standing behind what is being done. Thank you for helping to keep the doors open. Thank you for helping spread the news about Jesus and His kingdom. Thank you.
Now that little “thank you,” said to me ten years ago tells me something else. There are little things we say and do to each other that we may think is no big deal, but they are. Someone files that away in their heart and they never forget it. I’ve had people come to me and thank me for something I said years ago in a sermon, and I don’t even remember saying that. It stuck with them. We all do things like that. A smile. A hug. A comment in class. A certain song led. A statement during the Lord’s Supper. A thank you. A passage that you had forgotten. These things do things to us. The person who said them often thinks little of it. But to the person it touched, it is amazing the good that was done. Here I am, living in another state now, ten years removed from that simple “thank you,” and I still remember it. Some of the best things that happen at church do not come from the pulpit nor the preacher, but from a sweet widow, or a teenage boy, or a big burly member, or a group of young girls that surrounded me last night as we were discussing snow boots. We had a little fashion show going and the conversation was very lively, but what I delighted in was those young hearts and bright eyes eagerly telling this old guy the way it is with snow boots. I learned that boots are not just boots.
Our passage today reminds us of the joy of going to the Lord’s house. It was a place for worship. But more than that it was a place to connect with other believers. That connection is important. It reminds us that we are not alone. It reminds us that others love the Lord and want to praise Him. It reminds us that we are we belong to a huge community of those who want to go to Heaven. That’s amazing.
Life has a way of knocking us flat. It’s easy to get discouraged. Family stuff, health problems, even shopping during the holidays, which ought to be fun, can be a nightmare. Our tanks get empty. The pressures at work seem to grow. We get in a rut and we put the spiritual on the back burner. Our relationship with God slips. We seem tired all the time. Sound familiar? Have you been there? Are you there now? Getting down the to church house can seem like just another thing we have to do. Add it to the list. Once church is over, we can check that off and get on to the next item on the list. But something happens while we are in worship. For a few minutes we forget about the world and work and shopping and lists and self. We sing beautiful songs that even in the dead of winter can bring the sense of sunshine in our souls. A brother prays and his prayer reminds us of our church family who is hurting. A sermon touches us. We remember how blessed we are. We remember that we are going to Heaven. For a few moments, going to church has become an oasis. Our hearts seem to calm down. We step off the merry-go-round of the rat race that we’ve been on. Impressing others doesn’t seem so impressive now. The good qualities such as thankfulness, generosity, blessing others rise to the surface. Our mood and spirit changes. We don’t feel so tired. A smile returns. It has been good for us to be there. Worship has affected us. It has put God back in the center of things. It has gotten our priorities rearranged. We leave walking a bit taller and brighter on the inside. God is good. Worship is right. I was glad that I went.
Worship isn’t magic. These things do not happen just because you walk into a church building. I’ve seen the opposite happen. I’ve seen people leave in a hurry, feeling that they wasted time. I’ve see people leave with the same expression on their faces that they came in with. I’ve seen people that you wonder what good worship did to them. The key is not just walking into a church building, but opening the door of your heart and allowing yourself to be taught, reminded, shown the glory and goodness of God. That’s the key. Those that come for a show, leave with little changed. Those that sit there and watch like they watch TV, nothing much will happen. Those that come to worship, what a wonderful and powerful time they have. They love it. It affects them. They don’t want it to end.
That’s where I am now. I wish every day was Sunday. I wish people could only work two days a week and we went to church services 5 days a week. Sometimes it’s the obvious things that happen, like a great sermon from my preacher Zack. Other times, it’s a whispered ‘thank you,’ that a high school kid told me years ago.
Do you have a wonderful worship memory? Maybe there was a time when the whole family sat together. Maybe it was like for us a few years ago, when all three of my boys and myself all participated in public worship. That brought a tear to my eyes. Maybe it’s a time when you see an old friend. Maybe it was the time that something connected in your soul and you changed your life. Maybe it was the time you decided to follow Christ. We all have memories from worship. Those are special. What are yours? Share it with some one and talk about it.
God is so good.
Roger