Commitment Shown Through Attendance

            Just recently, I read a very interesting article in World magazine. Indeed, it seems like there are a number of us who are “on the same page” in regard to the subject at hand. The following is an excerpt from the work entitled, “Lament for a bride”:

On Sunday morning I practice with the praise team and then sit in the front waiting for my husband, the pastor, and our three children. I listen. I listen to hear the ethos of the  morning group…In more recent years I sit and listen, hopeful and longing for the sound of those entering. Where is everyone? Is it a holiday weekend? Is there an early football game or another soccer tournament? Did the Smiths go to their vacation home again or are they skiing this weekend? We don’t know and in some ways it doesn’t matter—for even our involved families often don’t make Sunday a priority of Sunday morning worship. I dream of people suddenly and eagerly streaming in the building with excitement to meet their Lord and maker. But they don’t come and it breaks my heart (Sutherland, 2013).

            How I can relate to her sentiments! I often look over the auditorium on Sundays and struggle with despair over the blocks of empty seating in front of me as I stand on the podium. I remember the days when we were running well over 200 in morning worship with folks feeling an excitement of the possibility of actually filling the sanctuary to the brim! What happened?

            Sutherland points to the problem squarely in the above excerpt. She notes it the use of one word, “priority”. God’s people have become complacent in their priorities. Other things have become more important than God in their lives. As the old saying goes, “Actions speak louder than words”. A person can say when questioned about his/her faith, “I believe in Jesus. He is my Lord and my Savior.” Yet, if the same person repeatedly and unashamedly finds other things to do on the one day set aside by God to worship Him, to show Him our allegiance and loyalty, then the words of that person are, in effect, meaningless. James revealed the same perspective in his diatribe on the relationship between faith and works (rf. Jas. 2:14-17). In the Lord’s own words of to His people,

Sanctify My Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God. But the children rebelled against Me; they did  not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to observe My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; they profaned My Sabbaths. So, I resolved to pour out My anger on them (Ezek. 20:20-21 New American Standard Version)…

Even though the Sabbath of the Old Testament changed to the Lord’s Day, Sunday, by virtue of the Resurrection of Jesus as of the New Testament, the principle of recognizing the Lord’s Day as holy and worshipful remains the same. We are to join together as believers on that day (rf. Hebrews 10:25) to lift up the Name of Jesus in praise, honor and adoration for who He is and what He has accomplished on our behalf, using the day for rest and for acts of service in His Name. It is also the day in which we have the honor and privilege to give back to Him that which is His to begin with—namely, the tithe of our income, a tenth of the amount in our paychecks. This action is an overt recognition that all of our possessions as well as our lives are His. If we are able to give above the tithe, this sacrificial giving is our opportunity to show Him just how much we appreciate the blessings He has given us.

So, with all of this stated, it may be that you have read this and realized that your priorities are out of sorts since your church attendance has been far less than consistent and much less than desired by God’s pleasure. You may also know that your giving hasn’t measured up to the tithing standard of God’s Word. What should you do at this point? Give up altogether? Surely not!

The God that we serve is a loving and gracious God to those who are sincere in sharing their hearts and shortcomings with Him. If you wish to rectify your present deficiencies, be honest with the Lord about the past sins and mistakes, the faulty priorities and such. Then, ask Him for the strength and grace to take the necessary measures to correct these errors in your life. You will find the answers to these prayers and the ability to return to the place of obedience and blessing once again.

Then as God’s people respond to His call to return, His churches will fill once more. His sanctuaries will ring out with His praises and His people will be strengthened anew with the power of His Spirit and His Word. May the day of such a renewal be close at hand for us all.

Sutherland, Christy. (2013, March 23). Lament for a bride. World, 28(6), 62.

Grace Unto Righteousness: The Meaning of Easter

            As we contemplate the wonder of the Easter season and all that Jesus has accomplished on our behalf in His sacrifice for us, the topic of grace can never be far from our minds. Indeed, we would be remiss to think that Jesus died on the cross for us because He looked through time and saw that we were such good folk, worthy of the profuse dispersion of His life’s blood.

Yet, one would think by our actions and attitudes that this is exactly our perspective. Many today would say, “Surely grace means that Jesus died so that I could go on doing the things I want to do in this life. It is, after all, my life to live. He created me to live it. His death only enables me not to suffer after this life is over, providing me an ever better place to retire to at the end of my days. Indeed, Jesus is even more generous to me in some respects than the government. He provides me “abundant life” in that I am free by His grace to live as I desire, while insuring me “eternal life” when my final breath escapes my lips so I can truly experience heaven forever. Mine is the ultimate “win-win” situation.”

The above paragraph does not exhibit my beliefs at all, but, rather, is quite reflective of a vast group within our churches today as based on a growing belief in the redefinition of God’s grace. For them, grace is God sending Jesus to die on the cross thus enabling them leave to continue in the sins that they so love and with which they are so comfortable. It is a message that resonates with many today because, not only do they not want to be accountable for their own actions, but, in our politically correct culture, they also do not want to be offended for actions they do not feel are wrong. We are surrounded by a society devoid of the standard of absolute values of good and evil. This societal cancer has grossly infected the church in America to the extent that masses can lift up their hands and sing praise songs while at the same time lusting over sexual images on their computers, participating in adulterous relationships, drinking themselves into dysfunctional oblivion, etc. without feeling a modicum of guilt. Why, you say? They believe themselves covered by the grace of God! How mistaken!

The grace of God, according to Scripture, does not give us license to sin once we have professed our faith in Christ nor does it provide covering for us to continue in sin. The Apostle Paul harshly condemns such false assertions in Romans 6:1-2: “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” The grace of God is literally His favor toward us not based on anything that we have done to deserve it. He gives it to us simply because He wants to do so. Our response should be one of pure gratitude and obedience. We should see the treasure of what He has given to us and desire to be devoted to Him in humility, love and loyalty. We should want to serve Him wholeheartedly because of the great cost, His Son, that has gone into the placement of this grace upon us. Thus, the result of grace in the life of a true Christian should be a life inclined toward the pursuit of holiness. This is the essence of what the Apostle Paul shares in Ephesians 2:8-10: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship,  created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

So, as we recall the glory of Easter, may we do so in the light of the true meaning of God’s grace. May we appreciate the sacrifice that God made on our behalf that we might “have life and have it abundantly” (rf. John 10:10). Then, as we praise the Lord, we can do it with a right spirit, knowing that our hearts and thoughts are, in fact, Biblical and pleasing to God.