Sunday.....Christianity.....What Does It Really Mean To Us?

The Israelites had their Sabbath to gather and praise God and hear the words of the prophets as they struggled to exist in a pagan world. Slaves in America would work from sunrise to sundown for their masters and come together on the Lord's Day to worship the God who would some day bring them across the Jordan River. The Puritans knew that this was a day for worship to their God as they struggled with the world, the flesh and the devil. It is a day that God has given to us, and for us. It's a necessity and a blessing. It's meant to be an infusion of strength through worshipping God who is more than worthy, through hearing His Word proclaimed to us, and through sacrament and fellowship with others who have this hope. I would ask you to consider what may be happening in your church and does happen in most churches in America. Typically, we enter on Sunday and go off into Sunday School classes. We greet each other as we enter the sanctuary and the pew until the microphone calls for our attention. We may sing praise songs or more traditional hymns and we may hear a solo from an individual or the choir. A prayer is offered by the pastor and a Scriptural reading and we settle back for a sermon that may be topical, usually with humorous anecdotes. We hear Scriptural instruction on Biblical characters or on how to live the Christian life. We sing another hymn or two and are dismissed wherewith we talk, laugh and chat in the foyer and parking lot. We can miss church for various reasons and not give it a second thought; maybe it was grandma's birthday and we could use a little jump on the clock to get to her house or possibly Steeler tickets were given to us. I'm not trying to construct the perfect service for there probably is none, although if Christ's redemptive work on the cross is not preached we have gathered and not been fed, rather I simply want to bring up the current mindset of Sunday church-going for contemplation. There are people in this world who have to sneak off to another Christian's house to hear words read from pieces of paper torn from a bible and treasured. There are people who gather and are breathless as Christ's name is mentioned and there are those in prison cells who look at the marks etched on their walls to remember that this is the day that elsewhere God is visiting His people with the preached Word and sacrament. Possibly, (probably?) you don't agree with my sentiments but maybe you will at least think about it the next time you enter the sanctuary and see the cross (if there still is one) hanging behind the pulpit or altar. Maybe you will take note if Christ, His life, death and resurrection were preached and maybe, even more importantly, you will look into yourself to see if the world had even taken its toll on you in the previous six days, that you longed for this day's nourishment?