Is there a day given to us that we should look forward to and milk every drop of it's beautiful purpose? Yes!
We have a whole day once a week and Lord willing, unless you can change the calendar it is approaching again. Think about this...is Sunday about me or is it about the Lord? When the Lord renewed my mind towards the correct answer I could only move forward until I wanted to milk every single drop out of gratitude on the Lord's Day. How did that happen?
First, I had to be taught the truth found in His Word. In our American culture today we need to remember that there is no such thing in God's eternal Kingdom as a hashtag Sunday Funday, or a lazy self-serving day, or a High School Senior Sunday photo share (when did that start? I am getting old), or even man-made holidays like Mother's Day that has it's beginnings from a lady in a church, or other traditions that are more important then His day. In the end we are not going to be too satisfied for very long with all of that and you could sadly miss out like I did on the benefits of what this day is really about. I had to ask myself, "What is the purpose of Sunday?" Is it a day off of work? The end of the weekend? A time for doing what I want to do? Oh the riches of God's mercy in my life who pulled me out of a self-made and self-centered downward spiral.
For many years, honestly, Sunday was one of the most miserable days of the week for me. Outside of God's purposes it is just another day to us. And that is coming from a "Grand PK" if that is a thing, for my grandfather was a minister and later my dad. It was tiring, awkward, I usually didn't feel up for it, and I would wake up each Sunday consumed with my self-inflicted miserable situations, and I had to put on my Sunday best and try to be on time so I could practice those awkward social skills so people wouldn't see my shame and misery and I would ask myself, "What am I doing here?" I tried making friends and getting involved with special music, choir, youth group, etc., but that didn't help because sadly that was still all about me. It still meant I had to go back to school the next day or go to work. I was complaining way too much to others about my life. There is little room for praising a Holy God when you are so focused on yourself. It was a day I would try to sleep too much at one point from working three different jobs in a week and I would roll into church half-hearted. In my teen years it was foolishly so I could see my friends and talk about myself too much. It was a day I would stupidly exhaust myself with too much social activity at times trying to meet guys because I was going through that boy crazy stage that looked like a happy solution but really that is a gnat's eyelash from creating a relationship idol for self...ouch. In the end I would not be happy or be motivated for the week to come. Words like joy, peace, patience, goodness, love, were not part of my life and I was reminded each time I came to church. What was I missing?
So I tried to keep up with the ungodly "fun" life along with the external Christian life to no avail. That was fed by the entertainment world. I put more hours into movies and TV and books and magazines (today it is the internet instead) then I was willing to admit. When your social life is lonely you can fill it with a lot of worldly garbage. Today people invest entire days to this. You can see the effects in their lives because it is really hard to communicate in a healthy way. The reason these things are so appealing is because it looks like unity and love and friendship on the screen or in a writing but it is not real. It gives you a false sense of belonging. People actually get attached to a character or an actor's role so much that they talk about them more than reality. That is a strange attachment that affects us and we can become more and more isolated in our strange unsocial world. This is not unity. It is a substitute for the unity we were designed to have with one another in Christ through His Spirit. This life was so bad for me at one point that I was done with any real fun things in life and even with a lot of people in general but that is right where the Lord wanted me. God did not leave me in this state. He pulled me from the pit of despair and set my feet upon the rock as the Psalmist writes. I was His child and when a child of God is moved to cry out to the Lord He rescues them. His promises are yes and Amen. God's truth won...There was
clearly someone Holy in my life who called me to Himself that I was now
desiring more and more to trust and obey... there was no more getting
around that one....It was time to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Him. The joy of the Lord was now my strength.
We who are in Christ are His workmanship alone and are made to worship Him. That is a delight. We have the blessing of real fellowship with one another. We all as one body under the headship of Christ are taught how to live godly lives and are fed by the truths in God's Word alone. If you are living for yourself or in a prison life of fear of man and pleasing others like I was or you are being taught something other than what is found in God's Word, friend, you are in a state of bondage and in need of repentance. I had to repent and to seek the pure truth of who the Lord really is in my life and what Sunday was all about because I realized it was a real relationship with a real Triune God and as a result there was so much more to Christian living. I needed to be in the Church so I could worship with His people. I needed accountability in my life and the sound preaching of the Word. It is through His Spirit that I finally had that joy, peace, patience, goodness, love...
I had to learn every Sunday is the Lord's Day when He calls us to gather to worship Him. In reality, I was using the day for worshiping me. Ugh! Really? Okay that is a tough humbling pill to swallow but it sure went down. What was I doing on the Lord's Day in gratitude that was in obedience to His Word? This began to matter more and more and more.
It is His day and not ours. All over the world His people are gathering for worship from every tongue, tribe, and nation. We worship with those who have gone before us. This means that worship is active today in heaven. That is a beautiful thing to me when I miss those who have gone to be with the Lord. This was an eye-opening, heart filled, amazing, eternal perspective that drew me right out of that lazy painful shameful useless self-focused self-made world and opened my eyes and heart to the unchangeable truths found in His Word. There was no denying it. We who are in Christ look for the day of His return when we will worship together for eternity. Think about that... We gather as HIS people young and old, rich and poor, men and woman, to be under the preached Word, to sing praises to God, to confess our sins, and to seek His forgiveness.
We are to be active on the Lord's Day. It is a day of finding delight in acts of mercy and service to those in need. My final jobs at the Church on the Lord's Day is to make sure the coffee pots are off, to empty the nursery pail, and wipe the two toilets if the little guys miss. We have some pretty humble accommodations and such things are necessary with the number of people we serve. Why would I delight in that? It is not about us, it is about the Lord, His glory, and His people. It is a foretaste of what is yet to come for His people. The Lord knows our deeds.
Six days you shall labor and do all your work but the seventh day belongs to the Lord. This is a command for our good and for His glory. Sunday is a day for His work in and through us. Honestly, the more this pressed on me the more I desired to truly worship and serve. By God's grace I repented of that ugly self-centered life and His sanctifying work was something I had to understand and know that it will continue the rest of my days here. This was so freeing and motivating. Life became full of joy in Him even in the midst trials.
God is the one who made us, who calls us His own, who loves us, who is unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Our name is written on His hands? Even my name? Yes for our identity is in Christ. We are clothed in His righteousness. We, the Church, are His bride. The gratitude toward God for these truths was overwhelming. That little flame of focus on these truths and others began to grow and grow under the preached Word. That desire to worship Him became stronger and stronger until...here it is...I wanted to milk every drop of blessed delight that is truly found in the whole Lord's day.
I had to learn how to worship properly according to His Word, reverently for His glory, and in thankfulness to Him for what He has done in Christ. Even in those darkest days His sovereign hand was always there. He is our patient, loving, heavenly Father. He is all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-powerful. That is a comfort to me. He does not turn away those who truly repent. He delights in our worship.
The whole focus of the Lord's Day changed. The Lord's day was now something to anticipate. It is a foretaste of our life to come. Even in the most deepest, darkest, wretched place in our lives there is always hope for those who call on Him. Look to the scriptures and see the accounts of WHO Jesus saved. It is eye-opening and hopeful for sinners like you and me and to think we are in the body of Christ with them...praise God. The simple truth of the gospel is Jesus came to save wretched, undeserving sinners like you and me. God is so merciful and good!
Today here in Tulsa, we find that delight in worship even in our humble li'l storefront. Some day I hope to sit down and write our story here. It may be pretty humble conditions facility-wise but oh the fellowship and worship in Christ here can be so sweet. It is the body of believers under the headship of Christ that make the church and not the building. Maybe some day we will have another facility. Till then we have figured out how to make this work for everyone to the best of our ability. There are church buildings all over this area and some are so big and beautiful but sadly they are filled with those who barely hear any pure preaching from the Word of God. That is so sad. Real unity that builds the church does not come from programs or special groups together. It is only His Spirit that unites all of our hearts here and it is the faithful preaching of the Word that feeds us for another week until He comes again. The Word, Sacraments, and Prayer...that's it - that's all we need for the benefit of the whole church body and that is what grows us in His grace. Eyes on Christ, sweet friends and let's all be in the Word! Looking forward to the Lord's Day with you all where ever you gather together!
