For adult
education class for the Sundays of Lent we will be discussing the radicalness
of church attendance. Sound interesting? It should. As Christians, we are not
citizens of this world; we are resident aliens. As resident aliens, much like
the Israelites who were enslaved by the Babylonians, we must discover ways of
maintaining our identity as a people of God. One of the most radical ways we
have of doing that is practicing Sabbath, or to put in today’s vernacular,
attend church on Sundays.
This Lenten
season an encouragement I have for you is to practice regular church
attendance. Not one Sunday here and another Sunday there. But attending each Sunday
of the season, even if NASCAR starts at 10 am. It is a practice that helps
remind us that we are not of this world, we are not of this culture, we are not
like others who do not worship God.
The encouragement of
Lent is to “Return to the
LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding
in steadfast love...” (Joel 2:13). How do we do this when we do not hear God’s word spoken and sung? How
do we worship when we are not with the people of God? How do we become the church
God wants us to be if we are not “being the church?”
And more importantly, how
do we hear the words “you are forgiven” if we are not in church? I have yet to
have a fish offer me absolution (the act of being forgiven)' As much as I feel renewed out in the world God created it is not where God calls us to worship.
(For those of you who
cannot be in Church on Sundays because of work schedules or other life
situations that keep you from attending remember we have Wednesday Soup Suppers
and Vespers.)
As we journey these 40 days to Holy Week it is good to take on some form
of challenge that helps us remember who we are and whose we are.
Have a blessed Lent.
