June 2009
Convenience Store Religion
From my perspective June is one of the most special months of the year. We celebrate Membership Anniversary Sunday, Father’s Day, and the last Sunday morning service of the school year. All of this comes on the heels of Pentecost and Memorial Sunday. Wow! What a great time of the year to celebrate special moments in our lives, worship the loving and ever present God in all our days and be with one another in church. Church is really special and Sunday mornings come alive.
Along comes July and people, especially in our area, which is affluent and has lots of opportunities to do other things on Sunday and suddenly head for the doors. It’s an unfortunate reality of church in the Washington D.C. area. We have money to spend, places to go, other people to be with and lots of “fun” waiting for us. Places in the mountains, places at the beach, camping, picnicking, boating, vacations, touring favorite places all beckon and church attendance suddenly drops way down. I’ve seen it my whole life. It makes me sad and disappointed.
There are so many sirens beckoning us that like Ulysses of old have to chain ourselves to the mast in order to keep from being drawn ashore. Instead of being chained to the mast we should chain ourselves to the Master. I speak of this with a sense of reality knowing that there will be Sundays when many of us are gone. I go on vacation; it would be unfair of me to suggest others don’t. That’s not what I’m talking about. What I am talking about is not taking the whole summer off. What I am talking about is remembering that the need to be in worship, together with our fellow disciples, worshipping God and growing in God’s grace is just as important in the summer as it is during the rest of the year. What I’m talking about is keeping church a priority in our lives, year round. No free passes here for taking the summer off.
While we’re at it, maybe some of us need reminding of the importance of church in our life at all times of the year. Maybe you are among those who stopped coming to church as one thing after another claimed your heart on Sunday morning. Maybe you are among those who find excuses for why you aren’t in church on a regular basis. Maybe you are among those who have forgotten how important and how special being in church with fellow disciples is. If so, I hope you will pray about, think about it, and pray some more. I hope you will come back and be a part of the gathered fellowship. I hope you will rejoin us and experience again how much fun it is and how much it adds to your life to be among the church on Sunday morning. I hope you know how much you are missed and how much you have to offer us and we have to offer you. I hope you will come this Sunday. Church on Sunday is one of the first priorities of our lives – or it should be.
D. Robert Chance