Woohoo! We're going...to church?!

I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD." Psalm 122:1

My oldest son said the strangest thing the other day. Three weeks ago, when our Lenten services really got going, my oldest son looks at me and says: “What are we doing tonight?”

“We’re going to church. It’s lent,” I said.

“Lent? What are we doing there?”

“We’re going for soup and bread and...”

“Oh yeah!” he said, pumping his arm. “I love soup nights!”

Of if we could all get that much joy and excitement when faced with the prospect of going to church!

This verse from the psalm of David can touch people in different ways.

For some I think they might agree. “Yes!” they would say. “Sunday is the best day of the year and I love going to church!”

Other people would laugh hysterically at these words because they’re just NOT true. Church for them isn’t about joy but about obligation. They are obligated to go, either by their own inner sense of guilt or by their parents or by a commitment they made. Either way, rejoicing is NOT in their vocabulary in describing church. It’s something you HAVE to do...unless there’s something else going on in which case you’re free to do what you like! God will understand.

But David’s onto something here. Rejoicing in the presence of God and at the prospect of worship. Obligations don’t help us rejoice. If I’m obligated to do something, chances are I’m not going to enjoy doing it. If I’m obligated to do the dishes or do the laundry or change the cat litter, I’m not going to enjoy it. I might do it...or I might put it off for another day or week. “I’ll get to it when I can,” I’ll say.

But if I enjoy something than I’m looking forward to it. I’m planning around it. I’m making sure that all my obligations are taken care of so that I can enjoy it! I’m rearranging my schedule so I can do it. I’m spending my money to make it possible. I’m doing everything in my power so that, when the time comes, I’ll be ready to enjoy myself.

What if we looked forward to church the same way? What if we planned our week around worshiping God, instead of what happens more often, worshiping ourselves. What if we organized our lives around going to church on Sunday, making sure that all our obligations were taken care of. Making sure even those outside of church knew how important it was to us and that there was NO WAY we were missing it! What if we truly stepped into King David’s shoes here and rejoiced when we went into the house of the Lord.

I’ll tell you what would happen. A revolution! A reformation of the church from the inside out. Instead of dreary Christians, you would see Christians with smiles on their faces. Instead of the infighting that so often happens, you would see a real love of the neighbor take hold and a joy for life. You would find you’d have MORE time to do what you wanted, rather than less. You’d find friends to help you in times of need and you’d find the heart of God residing right here in the church itself.

We have that power. We have the power to make church fun or not. We have the power to change our own attitude and perception of things and start looking forward to spending time with God and with others, instead of dreading it. We have the power to rejoice before God. Because...as hard as it is to hear...that’s what God is doing already! Rejoicing over us! Let’s join the dance, jump in our cars this weekend, and join the fellowship of believers as we dance, and sing and pray and dance around the altar of God whose grace and love call us to rejoice! Amen!