Disclaimer: This one's not about David either.
Sunday morning. Dad is at work. David is happy in his swing watching Baby Faith while Mom (me) is getting ready for church. I go out to start the car. It's below freezing, there are snowflakes in the air. I come back in, pack David's bag, grab the little Bible that fits in the bag, change his diaper & get him dressed. I look at the clock. Dad gum... we're going to be late. He's happy with his video, it's freezing outside, maybe we'll just stay home. I pause contemplating my choices. No. Late or not, we're going.
We get to church & I turned in at the wrong place, ending up in a dead end back by the vans. Irritated that they didn't make a way to get out from back there, I just parked there & cut across to the nursery building on foot carrying David. There's not time to let him walk. He's happy to go into his class BUT he saw me walk out the door and I hear him crying as I leave the building. Yet... I feel like I'm at the right place.
The auditorium is crowded, but not as packed as last week. It's very cold & that affects attendance. I found a seat in the section I like. I missed the first song. The worship continued & was very good. One of those "goods" where you feel like you're really in the presence of God. When the preacher gets up, he says something like, "I'm glad to see all of you here on such a cold day. God gave you the drive to get out & get here in this weather and He's got something to say to you today." My ears perked up - he's not one that says that every week.
He starts out in Isaiah 58. You remember the little Bible that fits in the bag? NT only. I'm glad for the words on the projection screen. (Daddy - there's another use for it - for people who don't have their Bible.) This chapter starts out with the people basically saying to God, "We had our day of fasting and You didn't answer us." They act like they're eager to draw near to God on their day of fasting, but they continue on fighting and being selfish. Parallel: We go to church on Sunday, desiring to draw near to God, but how are we living the rest of the week? If my faith doesn't change how I live the other 6 days, it's dead. They fasted but still did what they wanted to - I exercise but still eat cake. What good is it?
Bear with me, because I don't always catch how things transition from one to the next point. A couple of weeks ago, I got one of those email questionnaires you send to your friends. One of the questions was your greatest fear. My first thought is my house burning. The pastor said his greatest fear was getting to heaven and hearing God say, "You knew George for 15 years. Why didn't you tell him about me?"
Then he tied it into relationships - Matthew 22:37-39. What if the greatest indication of your spirituality wasn't what you do at church, but how you treat people, starting at home? What if your greatest act of worship this week wasn't coming to church, but your marriage? How would you do? We've given an hour this morning to cultivate our relationship with God by coming to church, what would happen if I spent an hour this week cultivating my marriage? Next time you're in an argument with your spouse, stop and ask whose interest you're more concerned with right then. Jesus was always more concerned with others - just look at what He did for us.
Then as I'm pulling out of the parking lot, I hear a new song on the radio that really hits home and ties everything together: Todd Agnew, My Jesus. Click on that and listen to the following words (I wrote down as I listened, so there may be some mistakes). If you are moved by this as I was, go buy the CD!
"Which Jesus do you follow? Which Jesus do you serve? If Ephesians says to imitate Christ, why do you look so much like the world? 'Cause my Jesus bled and died; He spent His time with thieves and liars. He loved poor and accosted the arrogant, so which one do you want to be?"
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, but do we pray to be blessed with the wealth of this land? Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness, but do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand? 'Cause my Jesus bled and died for my sins; He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars. He loved the poor and accosted the rich, so which one do you want to be?"
"Who is this that you follow? This picture of the American dream? If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side or fall down and worship at His holy feet?"
"Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion is how you see Him as He dies for your sins. But the Word says He was battered and scarred; did you miss that part? Sometimes I doubt we'd recognize Him. 'Cause my Jesus bled and died; He spent His time with thieves and the least of these . He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable, so which one do you want to be?"
"'Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church. The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet. But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud, and I think He'd prefer Beal(?) Street to the stained glass crowd. And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud, 'I wanna be like my Jesus! I wanna be like my Jesus. I wanna be like my Jesus, oh yeah. I wanna be like my Jesus, ohohoh....' "
"Not a poster child for American prosperity, but like my Jesus. You see I'm tired for living for success and popularity, I wanna be like my Jesus. But I'm not sure what that means, to be like you, Jesus. 'Cause You said to live like You, to love like You, but then You died for me. Can I be like you, Jesus? I wanna be like you, Jesus. I wanna be like my Jesus."
