Wednesday, June 28, 2023

“Let’s keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10: 23 -25, The Message Bible)

                It was very tempting to skip church this past Sunday morning. We had a late night the night before. I was tired. We worship on-line at Yorkminster Park in Toronto, so who would miss us if we “weren’t there,” so to speak? It was nice just to settle into my blue, comfy chair with a second cup of coffee and instead of logging on to worship, log on to my computer games. God wouldn’t mind if I took a Sunday off, would he?  Maybe, I’ll catch up with him next week.

                Worshipping on-line is very convenient. You can stay in your PJs. You can drink coffee. You don’t have to socialize with anyone. You can mute the offering time. (Not that I would ever do such a thing.) You can go to the bathroom in mid-sermon (Now that, I’ve done.) One is not obliged to sing the hymns or participate in any way, if one doesn’t want to. Sounds ideal to a recluse like myself. How much easier can it be?

                And best of all, one can skip it altogether. Who’s going to notice?

                I thought about it last Sunday; really, I did.

    Then as 11:00 a.m. rolled around, I logged in and worshipped with our far-away church family. As always, it was a wonderful worship experience, rich and fulfilling. If I had skipped it, I would have missed a great sermon from the Rev. Paula Willis, our associate minister. The Rev. Dr. Peter Holmes’ pastoral prayer was right-on. The music, especially the Toccata postlude was great.

                It wasn’t just guilt that made me log in. It was the need to engage in meaningful worship, the need to set aside some proscribed, sacred time to feed the soul, the need to connect, even vicariously, to my community of believers. I would have been the less for it if I hadn’t.

                Even before Covid, the idea of going to church was, and still is, a seemingly archaic notion for a huge segment of the population. Covid made it worse, especially for small, aging congregations. But by and large, the average Jane or John Doe see little, if any, need to go to church and worship. It is an obsolete habit for most. Some folk may never see inside a church unless it is for a wedding or a funeral. The Church has tried to modernize itself with trendier music, less formality, more interaction, but frankly a lot of folk barely see the need for God, let alone the Church. The drop-out rate by Christians themselves is sadly also a trend.

                Just a few of us stubborn, old folks still left…

                The letter to the Hebrews can be both critically challenging and also inspiring and encouraging. Its main focus throughout is to “keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in.” (Hebrews 12: 2, TMB) The writer encourages his readers to persist and persevere in  living out their faith in light of this relationship with Christ. This is what our text above is about. Don’t give up on the things - the actions, the ideas, the behaviour, the love – that make up our Christian being.

                It is not always easy to maintain our faith at high levels. There are distractions, temptations, disappointments, failures and the like which eat away at our resolve and entice us to give up. This writer rejects the weakness of the soul and spirit and encourages us to do better.

                “Remember those early days after you first saw the light? Those were the hard times! Kicked around in public, targets of every kind of abuse—some days it was you, other days your friends. If some friends went to prison, you stuck by them. If some enemies broke in and seized your goods, you let them go with a smile, knowing they couldn’t touch your real treasure. Nothing they did bothered you, nothing set you back. So don’t throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It’s still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion.” (Hebrews 10: 32 -39, TMB)

                Going to church should be more than a begrudged duty. It alone does not automatically make us into a better Christians. But worship is a crucial step in the holistic process of what it means to build up our faith beside others in the believers’ community.

                “Worship God if you want the best; worship opens doors to all his goodness.” (Psalm 34:9, TMB)

Dale