One week from today, our
son Wes returns home to Newtown after finishing his summer internship in Pittsburgh.
I’m not only excited to have our son home again; I’m excited that our entire family
will be under one roof. For most of the summer, while Wes was in Pittsburgh, our
daughter Adrienne has been home with us. In a few weeks, Adrienne will trade
places with Wes: She will head to Pittsburgh for her sophomore year of college and Wes will live here in Newtown while attending
graduate school. But for those precious few weeks in August before Adrienne leaves for
Pittsburgh, we will all be together again.
Without a doubt, my
favorite part of our family life is dinner-time. We almost always make the
effort to eat dinner together as a family. We sit down at the dining room table
– seated in the same places every time for reasons no one can explain. Then we say
grace, usually holding hands as we pray, “God is great, God is good. Let us
thank Him for our food …” We dig in to the food set before us on the table,
but there are usually some interesting topics of discussion on the table, too. As we talk about what each of us has been doing that day, we may end up hearing
about a new idea Dorry has for her congregation, or debating the merits of the
latest lawsuit I am defending, or discussing the best way to handle a
disagreement among friends, or commiserating about a tough day at school.
For me, our family
dinners have become a special time, a time not only for refueling but also for reconnecting.
It’s a sacred time, this ordinary meal. And while our family dinners are a
valuable experience no matter how many of us are seated at the table to enjoy
them, it is obvious when one of us isn’t home. Someone is missing. Someone hasn’t
recounted the triumphs or struggles of their day. Someone wasn’t there to lend
their unique and valuable voice to the conversation.
My dad once compared the
church to a family meal. He said, “The church is not a restaurant, where you’re
not missed if you don’t show up for dinner. The church is a family, where there’s
an empty place at the table if you’re not there.”
“The Epistle to the
Hebrews makes it clear that the purpose of meeting together as Christians is
not to earn a star for perfect attendance. It’s not to show up on Sunday and sit
in a pew and passively soak it up like a sponge, saying ‘I sure hope I get
something out of church this morning.’
The purpose of meeting
together, according to the writer of Hebrews, is two-fold: (1) to stir one
another up to love and good works, and (2) to encourage one another. We come to
church to build people up, to love them into being more loving, to listen to
their pain and to offer Christ’s healing touch. This means that our presence
must be a positive, participating presence. The Christian presence is a loving,
sharing, accepting, giving, non-judgmental presence. All of this grows out of
why we are together in the first place. ‘Christian presence’ is directing the
full force of our presence on the matter at hand. It is truly ‘being there’ in
a focused, attentive, caring manner. Our ministry of ‘presence’ in this high
and holy sense is vital to the growth of the church.
Obviously then, when we
neglect to meet with the body, when we withdraw our presence, the body is
missing one of its vital parts. Our absence hurts. Most of us don’t realize how
much our irregular attendance habits affect the church. We think it doesn’t
matter because the only person we’re hurting is ourselves. Not so! Someone is
not being encouraged; someone is not being stirred up to love and good works
because we are not there. The body misses us when we’re not present. For we are
not just a collection of unrelated individuals. We are, in the words of
Ephesians, 'members of one another.' Ephesians 4:25 (RSV)”
"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another[.]" - Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIV)
From: "The Stewardship of Presence"
Scripture: Hebrews 10:19-25
Preached at Paoli UM Church, Paoli, PA
No comments:
Post a Comment