PJ’s Page!
In a recent editorial in The Lutheran Pastor Peter Marty writes of what Sunday mornings are like in his home. He tells of how he sets three alarm clocks, so he, as pastor, will not be late for church. Of the way the very act of going to church is often inconvenient for his family. And then he writes of the ways it can be inconvenient for others as well.
As I was reading the article I was astonished! I thought I was the only pastor whose nightmares featured, not being late for a college class and then realizing it was exam day, but being late for worship and realizing I don’t have a sermon! I also set multiple alarm clocks. Poor Bruce, sometimes I forget to turn them off after I’m up, well before dawn.
I also recall what it was like trying to get the children to church at various stages of my life and theirs. When the boys were young, I finally realized that it was best to dress myself last, rather than dress them last. That way I was less likely to show up at church with spit up on my shoulder or frosting from their cinnamon rolls on my back. When Taylor came along, and the boys were older, I was the choir director in our church. And the boys were usually acolytes. So, off we’d go…me to choir rehearsal, the boys to get ready to acolyte (Sunday School was AFTER worship in our congregation) and Taylor quickly into the nursery. I was usually exhausted before I ever got to church. Some days, we would leave the house as I barked at everyone that we were GOING TO GET IN THE CAR AND GO TO CHURCH! NOW!
When I went to seminary, it was just a little bit harder. Taylor was in first grade when I started seminary and for the first two years I was assigned to a very large congregation for a contextual site. We had three worship services on Sunday morning, back to back. We literally shook hands with the worshipers leaving worship from one service while the next set of worshipers entered by another set of doors. So, to have my kids in Sunday School and our family in worship always happened (even without my, um, encouragement) but I felt very peripheral to it all.
I don’t know what it’s like at your house on Sunday mornings. At ours even now, it’s different. Taylor worships at Maple Leaf Lutheran Church because she nannies for their pastor’s toddler daughter during worship. Bruce very patiently turns off those three alarm clocks and comes to LMLC long after I’ve arrived.
But, here’s the important thing and it applies to each and every one of us. Regardless of what it took for you to get to worship…it matters that you are there. Regardless of what breakfast remnants you are wearing or whether your kids have their shirttails tucked in or if there was a bit of “encouragement” on the way, it matters that you are there. It matters to the community of faith as we come together as the body of Christ. It matters to the people who know you and look forward to seeing you and it matters to the people you are just meeting. It matters to me, your pastor, because each one of you are important to me. It will matter to your children. Oh, they might become young adults and decide that church is not their thing, but someday, somewhere along the way…it will matter to them, as well. It matters, as Pastor Marty wrote, because “Worship is for those who know their need for God. We bring our brokenness, not just our togetherness.”
And one other thing…your presence in worship matters to you and to me. As believers who also doubt (just like the earliest apostles) our spirits are refreshed through worship, through fellowship, through study and through the very act of deciding that, even though sleeping in on a rainy Seattle Sunday seems like a good idea, participating in the life of our community of faith is an even better one.
Now, PUT THAT COOKIE DOWN, GO PUT YOUR SHIRT ON, AND GET IN THE CAR…WE’RE GOING TO CHURCH!
Praying with and for you,
Pastor Julie+