Sunday Service 5/21/06

The services felt intimate today. What many people commented on after both services was the choir performance of a medley Matt put together of Oh Lord, You're Beautiful, Steal Away and I Have Decided To Follow Jesus.

Five of us and Matt sang. Sara, Peter and Matt were soloists on Steal Away. Greg, Liz and I also sang. Matt played the piano and established this musical journey of seeking and faith. All the songs had simple words and tunes, we were a small group, but it seems something powerful is bound to happen when the Creator choir sings and it was felt during this performance.

Pastor Fred's sermon was about the part of the gospel reading where Jesus called the disciples friends. He illustrated with three stories about friendship. Then he cited an example from his boyhood where he was selected as the last team member when two boys were choosing teams. He taked about how he understood he was not an athlete but that it hurt in his heart. In the end he was comforted to think Jesus had chosen him before he was born, and was his friend. That friendship would never be taken away.

This connected with the "Jesus is for losers" t-shirt thought in the keynote address for me yesterday in some elementary way when looking at it from the negative side. Essentially this points to something contrary to an innate sense of value deep in us. Thinking of Jesus with us should comfort us. There is no egotistical stroke, however, when it is something perceived as completely commonplace. Jesus loves everyone so, like common things in our world, it receives no value in our hearts unless it comes through effort or a different kind of understanding. That kind of understanding or making that kind of effort is rare.

Today Pastor Fred, in the adult education between services, was going to ask us why we go to church. What need does it fulfill? He was looking for something deeper than why we attend Creator. For me, unfortunately, it is so easy to slip into what it is doing for me. When I was talking with Mary about this later, she responded with a quote from the Taxi sitcom.

It is Reverend Jim's words in Lotka's marriage in answer to the question "Why marry at this time?". The answer Jim gives is "We marry because, after all the other alternatives have been explored, we still want to, need to and must." This for me is on the right track.

Establishing a right relationship with God is the work of a lifetime. In life we establish habits and routines in the way we live. It is easy to accept the world at face value, learn "common sense" and, at least for the people I am around, live a comfortable life. Being Christian challenges this. Going to church is not about me, my needs or my desires. It provides a perspective that is outside of daily life and my wants. This is why what Mary quoted from Taxi speaks to my heart.

This was not the thrust of Pastor Fred's question, however. He wants us to have something to say when inviting friends to church. This is not a simple discussion you open up with a friend. There would need to be conversation about where they are in their relationship to God.

Time for meditation and prayer on that topic.