Have you ever experienced the frustration of trying to share with someone, who missed worship, how powerful the services were that day? It happened to me the very afternoon after our youth led us into God's presence with their amazing presentation of
Malice in the Palace. What a gifted and talented group of young believers we have in our community of faith!
So I had to pick. Do I describe the 8:30 or 11 o'clock service? Each was similarly moving. As I stood trying to "word paint" and recreate the musical for my friend, I found my voice rising with excitement as I made the emotional shifts from one character to another. "Sometimes, the lion must show his teeth, to prove he is not the rabbit" I said, radiating king-ness through my inflection. In another vignette, I slurred my Turkish accent pretending to speak to Zaresh-"I'm sorry, my precious kumquat. I just can't help it". It was painfully apparent that I was much more impressed with my acting skills than my friend was. Try as I may, and my effort was not lacking, it was readily apparent and totally impossible for me to recreate the transformational worship of the day. "Oh well", I thought. "Guess you just had to be there."
There is an old saying that is apropos for missing worship. Guess you just had to be there. Thomas, in John's gospel, was painfully aware of the impact missing worship can have when Jesus shows up. The disciples were locked away secretly and safely on that first resurrection Sunday. All of a sudden Jesus stood among them. "Peace to you", Jesus said. "But Thomas, sometimes called the Twin, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came". The other disciples-who were in worship-saw him. There they stood trying to recreate the moment for Thomas. Voices cracking with enthusiasm. Eyes dilated with excitement. It wasn't for their for lack of effort that Thomas "just wasn't feelin' it". They just couldn't recreate the moment. Thomas wasn't there and Jesus showed up. And he missed it. Guess you just had to be there.
Thomas wanted to be there. He had every intention of being there. Only things got complicated the night before Sabbath. Some friends invited him to the beach. Another friend reminded him of their mid-morning brunch reservations-he had totally forgotten to write it down. As if that wasn't enough, that same evening, some friends phoned to announce their surprise visit. All of a sudden, there was a tremendous sense of anxiety. Tomorrow is Sabbath. I don't want to disappoint my friends. The weather says it will be a perfect day for the beach. I've been waiting for weeks to go that new restaurant. So many options on the Sabbath. What's a person to do? Thomas made his choice. Jesus showed up. He missed the occasion.
Summer time is extremely busy particularly on an island. The voices of the outdoors scream at us insisting on our attention, our time and our presence. Sports, beach, social activities all attempt to distract or seduce us away. Away from what? Away from our Sabbath-our Sunday-our worship. I completely understand that life happens. Sometimes, it's unavoidable and we just miss worship. Sometimes, we just need a break. One of my seminary professors at Duke said one day in class, "if for no other reason, you should skip a class, just to skip a class". Though I'm still not exactly sure what he meant, I did skip a class just to skip a class.
But here's my point. When God gathers us together on Sundays, knit together in the love of the Holy Spirit, that day, could be the day that Jesus shows up. The Holy Spirit is always present. But that Sunday-may just be the Sunday-Jesus, in the person of the Holy Spirit shows up for you. And in that showing up your life is forever changed. The hard part of "hearing about it" is living with the wish that you would have been there to experience it. The activities of summer are all around us. It's my prayer that we work hard and figure out how to incorporate daily and weekly worship into the fabric of our lives. Sunday worship isn't the only place to worship. But we know that God has blessed worship as a consistent environment to move among God's gathered people. I'd hate for any of us to hear about Jesus showing up-when that day the particular showing up was for you-or me!
Thomas wasn't there when Jesus showed up. But he didn't have to wait long to experience Jesus' transformational presence. Eight days later, Jesus' disciples were again in the room. They were in worship. Only this time, Thomas was with them. Jesus came through locked doors and stood among them saying "peace to you!" Then. Then John says he focused his attention on Thomas and provided the opportunity to have his doubts dispelled. All because he was in worship. Guess you just had to be there.
Join me in prayer and reminding one another Sunday worship are important days when Jesus focuses his attention on you!
Praying over the course of our summer activities-that you'll be there;
I remain,
Pastor Sam
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Notice: We will be recognizing graduates during our 11am worship service this Sunday.
