"Go Be the Church"
The pastor of my church ends every Sunday with the phrase, "Go be the church!". He is retiring in April, and we have a search committee in place to find a new pastor. I hope that I remember many of his messages and lessons because he has been a very significant "shepherd" to this flock.....but most of all, I want to remember the phrase "go be the church!".
This morning, Roger and I were both awake at about 7am and our house was cold.....and the temp outside was -17. We made a choice to skip church today and stay inside and let everyone sleep as long as possible. Sneezes and stuffy noses and exhaustion have been pervasive in our home these past few days.
I had invited a college kid over for lunch. He's a local college football player that we have kept tabs on for 3 years, and invited him to eat with us today so I wanted to pick up the house and make a nice meal. I had agreed to watch my friend's 3 kiddos while she worked this afternoon.....and it was just so, so cold.
Roger agreed that skipping church would be fine today. We started a fire in our wood-burning stove at 7am and made coffee......then breakfast.....then more coffee.....then we picked up the house a bit. Josiah rolled out of bed first....then Precious an hour later. I had texted the older kids and told them we were skipping church so sleep as long as possible. I woke them up at 11:40 before Kenny came for dinner.....and when Roger arrived with him, everyone was seated at the table which was set, and we dove into pork loin, baked beans, roasted potatoes, fruit and green salad.....and milk....and orange juice. After dinner we watched football and got lazy and Kenny went back to college....and the 3 extra kiddos came.....and all the littles played hard and the big kids dialed down.
At face value, I guess we failed to "go be the church" because we didn't have a sermon, or worship music, or prayer time.....that would have been a great plan.....but I wanted the teen-agers to sleep and try to find health and rest. So maybe, just maybe......
Go be the church means......multiply the loaves and fishes to feed the masses, go out into the sea to sleep (or snuggle in with a 2 year old and sleep) read the same book 6 times to your youngest child because he loves it so much.....make the hubs cut more wood and heat the house all day long..... and end the day with this prayer:
Dear Jesus....today we did not wake everyone up to force them into nicer clothes and sit in a row in church, only to have half of us leave to go potty and get a drink and not sit longer.....and then go to Sunday School and then home to eat and disappear for the afternoon. Today....we woke up slower, and sought comfort and goodness and rest. Since I didn't lead the family to scripture, could you please whisper it over them all while they sleep tonight? Give them your sermon, Jesus, as they snuggle in and prepare for another busy week. I didn't lead them in songs of worship, but you can....Jesus. Send your angels to sing over them all tonight as they sleep....and write songs on their hearts that only they and you will know. Worship can happen in quieter things......
Next week we will be in our church building again. We will, Lord willing. We will be dressed and we will sing and follow the sermon in our bibles and try to keep the little kids quiet.....but for today....I am trusting that You, Jesus, will agree.....that we can "go be the church" anywhere....even at home.
This morning, Roger and I were both awake at about 7am and our house was cold.....and the temp outside was -17. We made a choice to skip church today and stay inside and let everyone sleep as long as possible. Sneezes and stuffy noses and exhaustion have been pervasive in our home these past few days.
I had invited a college kid over for lunch. He's a local college football player that we have kept tabs on for 3 years, and invited him to eat with us today so I wanted to pick up the house and make a nice meal. I had agreed to watch my friend's 3 kiddos while she worked this afternoon.....and it was just so, so cold.
Roger agreed that skipping church would be fine today. We started a fire in our wood-burning stove at 7am and made coffee......then breakfast.....then more coffee.....then we picked up the house a bit. Josiah rolled out of bed first....then Precious an hour later. I had texted the older kids and told them we were skipping church so sleep as long as possible. I woke them up at 11:40 before Kenny came for dinner.....and when Roger arrived with him, everyone was seated at the table which was set, and we dove into pork loin, baked beans, roasted potatoes, fruit and green salad.....and milk....and orange juice. After dinner we watched football and got lazy and Kenny went back to college....and the 3 extra kiddos came.....and all the littles played hard and the big kids dialed down.
At face value, I guess we failed to "go be the church" because we didn't have a sermon, or worship music, or prayer time.....that would have been a great plan.....but I wanted the teen-agers to sleep and try to find health and rest. So maybe, just maybe......
Go be the church means......multiply the loaves and fishes to feed the masses, go out into the sea to sleep (or snuggle in with a 2 year old and sleep) read the same book 6 times to your youngest child because he loves it so much.....make the hubs cut more wood and heat the house all day long..... and end the day with this prayer:
Dear Jesus....today we did not wake everyone up to force them into nicer clothes and sit in a row in church, only to have half of us leave to go potty and get a drink and not sit longer.....and then go to Sunday School and then home to eat and disappear for the afternoon. Today....we woke up slower, and sought comfort and goodness and rest. Since I didn't lead the family to scripture, could you please whisper it over them all while they sleep tonight? Give them your sermon, Jesus, as they snuggle in and prepare for another busy week. I didn't lead them in songs of worship, but you can....Jesus. Send your angels to sing over them all tonight as they sleep....and write songs on their hearts that only they and you will know. Worship can happen in quieter things......
Next week we will be in our church building again. We will, Lord willing. We will be dressed and we will sing and follow the sermon in our bibles and try to keep the little kids quiet.....but for today....I am trusting that You, Jesus, will agree.....that we can "go be the church" anywhere....even at home.
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