January 2010 Pastor's Ponderings
“This is a great church,” she said to me as we helped clear tables.
It had been a wonderful Sunday morning. It was the Sunday before Christmas and, thanks to so many people doing their part, we were doing some things differently. The worship service centered on a play that proclaimed the life-changing good news of Jesus and the Sunday school classes sponsored a brunch. The church was filled with people, worship, laughter, and the enticing aromas of food. When we departed, people went home fed by our hope in Christ, love for one another, and a wonderful meal.
Wondering what she was thinking I asked in reply, “What makes it great?”
“Everyone works together,” she responded.
As I looked around the room tables were being cleared, the kitchen was being cleaned, floors were being swept, folding chairs were being put away, and the good chairs were being set up. Young and old, male and female, people of different colors and races were all working together. People were searching for things to do rather than excuses to leave. Young strong backs were carrying the heavy loads and others tidied the decorations. The experienced were teaching the inexperienced and there was something for everybody to contribute. Like she noticed, everyone was working together.
Our shared chores did not begin once the meal was over. Everyone worked together in everything that happened that morning. The play had a huge cast. Others prepared props and managed sound and lights. Some brought food to share for the brunch. Musicians prepared and played music. We were a family.
It was one of those times when God refreshed in my heart an important truth – how we treat each other and work together cannot be separated from what we say and believe about God. The time the actors spent learning their lines, the food prepared, the fellowship around the tables, and even sweeping the floors were worship offered to God and a message of God’s love for all to see.
Just before we sat down to eat, Cindy Huggins asked me to say something about the relationship between the meal we were about to share and the agape (love) feasts the Sunday school classes were studying. Agape love is wholehearted self-giving love. That Sunday morning truly was filled with agape love – God’s great love as portrayed in the play and incarnate in Christ Jesus, the efforts of so many to share the good news, hugs given, love expressed, a meal shared, and working together to clean up.
My friend was right, this is a great congregation. Your love for God, each other, and those in need is clearly visible. Not just in what you say in worship but through the actions that reveal God’s love and your hearts.
Your brother in Christ,
Paul
