Every Thanksgiving is the same for me. I have to think about what I am going to make, how I'm going to make it, and how will I coordinate everything so that it all comes out at the same time. I come up with some plan to make it all work, and I launch myself into the execution of what I thought was a brilliant plan.
I think you know how the story unfolds. Nothing ever goes according to plan...well, at least in my world. I could not get the turkey done on time. Someone comes up with a new idea of how to make gravy. All the kids decide at once, without any planning or conversation, but through telepathy or something, to destroy our happy habitation through the seemingly systematic spread of every object they can find all over our floor. The story can go on and on. Yeah, it is a little stressful, but only because I want things to go according to my plan.
We finally get everyone seated for prayer, the meal, and the ensuing conversations about a variety of topics. When the meal ends, the family settles in to digest what I hope is a meal that is free of salmonella, and my wife and I start clean up. Eventually the family leaves, I pray with my kids, put them to bed, and I reflect on all that took place that day. I wish I could share with you all the sweet emotions I have when I see my family gathered together. I get pretty emotional over this because I don't get to see my family too often due to how busy our schedules are. So these moments we have together are precious beyond words. I look forward to seeing every one of them, and my heart would be broken if one of them decided not to come for whatever reason. I love my family, and I am thankful for them.
I think that church can be much of the same thing as thanksgiving. There is a lot of preparation that takes place. It can be stressful at times because of personalities and things that do not always go according to plan. But it is all so worth it. It is worth it because of the price that God paid to bring a people to himself. Acts 20:28 tells us that God shed his own blood to set a people free from slavery, bondage, and condemnation. These people are precious to God, and they are loved in ways that we will never be able to fully understand.
Church is precious because of the price that was paid for each person that has gathered together. I get flooded with emotion when I hear people singing in unison about what God has done to redeem and bring them to himself. As I hear these people sing, I realize that this is no ordinary gathering...something special has happened in the life of every person coming, and it is nothing short of a miracle that they have turned from worshipping idols, to worshipping the living God.
Church is the gathering of a family for thanksgiving. God serves us through his Word, Worship, and the shared gifting of his people. This is not just some event...it is a FAMILY GATHERING. Read the New Testament, and you will find that the most common language used of God's people is of family. We are brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, etc towards each other because of what God the Father has done.
Sunday for me is a time of great joy as we gather together to celebrate this reality. But it is also a time of sadness because for some people this gathering of God's family is so easily traded for lesser things. I am not trying to be a legalist in commanding people to be at church...the heart behind wanting people at church is because I truly believe they are missing out on something that is amazing, and we are missing out on what God is doing in their lives.
I am thankful that we get to gather together for thanksgiving every week as a family of faith. My heart truly is moved by the presence of my brothers and sisters. I pray that God would grow my heart, and the hearts of the people of the church to see sunday as something more than just a weekly event in which they spectate.I pray that people would practically devote themselves to being a part of the building up of what God considers to be extremely precious, the people, the church, which he purchased with his own blood.
Unlike my attempts to serve cooked turkey, what God serves is always on time, always good, and always satisfying. I can see why people would want to miss my dinners...but I cannot understand why we would want to miss what God serves up to us weekly. Don't neglect the gathering of the family ( Hebrews 10)...you miss out, and we miss out on having you here.
Loving the fam...Sabo.
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