The view from the pulpit is often interesting. People are so used to watching unresponsive TV and computer screens that they forget preachers can see them! After a while, the unexpected becomes commonplace, and they are able to keep composure though “the walls come tumbling down.”
When Christians gather for worship on the Lord’s Day, something special happens. Their common bond is strengthened as, in concert, they pour out their hearts’ gratitude to their Savior. It is a time of worship (Acts 20:17; 1 Corinthians 16:1, 2), rejoicing (Psalm 118:24), examination (2 Corinthians 13:5), and fellowship (Acts 2:42-47). It is the week’s beginning and the week’s highlight— nothing else done in the next hundred and fifty or sixty hours equals it. We understand why Paul once delayed a journey for seven days so he could worship the Lord on the Lord’s day with the Lord’s people (cf. Acts 20:6-7).
People of all ages are usually present: babies, children, teens, young adults, families, singles, empty-nest couples, senior saints, and widows/widowers. Each comes to express a common love for an uncommon God; each feels a universal thirst for eternal Truth.’ While worship is formal and congregational, it is neither cold nor impersonal (in “spirit,” John 4:24). Personalities are involved, and that can make it interesting. This past Lord’s Day, we had an uncommon service.
You should have seen what happened…
A BABY CRIED. Occasionally, someone frowns when a child cries during services, but most of us smile. Good mothers (fathers) recognize the need to take a child out to avoid disturbing others, but we don’t want them to feel self-conscious. We are glad it happens! What if no baby had cried on Sunday? It would have meant there were no babies there, for all babies cry. No church wants to be that quiet —a tomb is quieter than a nursery, but who wants to worship in a cemetery?! A church without children is a church with its best days behind it instead of ahead. If no babies had cried on Sunday, it might also have indicated that parents saw no need to train the next generation in the Lord’s ways (Ephesians 6:4). Good parents want their children to learn about God from their first Sunday on planet earth (cf. Matthew 18:1-3; 19:13, 14). They do not want them to even be able to remember the first time they came to worship. We know they’ll eventually learn to be quiet, but for now we’re glad to hear them.
A SISTER LEFT EARLY FOR WORK. In a perfect world, all businesses would close so that every person could exalt the name of God in worship each Lord’s Day (Psalm 34:3). It will be that way in heaven, but it is not that way on earth. Christians are sometimes forced to make decisions. This sister had to be at work before the service ended…what to do? She could have skipped and told others that she “had to work.” She could have slept in, had plenty of time to get ready, left in time to avoid traffic, and gotten a bite to eat before her shift. But she chose to get up early, be in Bible class, sing God some songs, open her heart to Him in prayer, thank Him for Christ’s sacrifice during communion, give Him part of last week’s check, and listen to His Word. She sat toward the back so as not to disturb others when she exited a few minutes before the sermon ended. Therefore, not everyone saw her “sermon on priorities” (Matthew 6:33; Colossians 3:1, 2), but it did not go unnoticed in heaven.
PAGES RUSTLED. As the herald “preached the word” (2 Timothy 4:2), hearers “searched the scriptures to see whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). Far from offending him, it was music to his ears. Jesus found “the place where it was written” (Luke 4: 17), and so should we. Some may joke that their favorite words in a sermon are “in conclusion,” but most Christians are thirsty for the Word (1 Peter 2:2) and “hungering after righteousness” (Matthew 5:8). They bring their Bibles, read their Bibles, mark their Bibles, memorize their Bibles, and live by their Bibles.
A SISTER NODDED. No one except the evangelist probably noticed, but a faithful sister nodded in agreement with a sermon point. She would not speak out to say “amen” like her husband (1 Corinthians 14:34; 1 Timothy 1), but she encouraged the preacher just as much without saying a word. “Nods” also help others in the audience to know that the sermon is expressing both the preacher’s convictions and those of other Christians.
A CHILD TOOK NOTES. Any parent knows that “out of the mouths of babes” come profound statements. Often “a little child has led” God’s people (cf. Isaiah 11:6). Most churches can point to some young people whose example is worth imitating by those much older (1 Timothy 4:12). Last Sunday a child was interested enough to take notes (cf. 1 Timothy 3:15). There is nothing so unusual about that—when a visual aid is used (old time sheet charts or modern power point presentations), little eyes are always paying attention, and little hands are often copying those words down. They may not yet fully comprehend these concepts, but the seed is planted, the foundation is laid, and the base color is on the canvas. One day, fruit will ripen, the structure will stand, and the painting will be perfected. And, these very notes may become fresh classes and sermons for another generation of children. Some in pulpits now still occasionally use notes written with childish letters on yellowing paper. These have been “born again” into lessons for those who were not even born when the notes were first taken. The Truth never ages; it only needs recycling.
A CHRISTIAN WORSHIPPED FOR THE FIRST TIME. Baptized on Tuesday, a young man offered God acceptable worship for the first time on Sunday. God cleansed him from sin, set him in the church, and watched with interest as he bowed his soul in adoration (Acts 22:16; 1 Corinthians 12:28; John 4:24). If the Lord delays His return, and his days are prolonged, that is probably only I out of 10,000 times he will offer public worship to his Creator (John 4:24; Hebrews 10:25), but it will likely never mean more to God or him than this first service. It was a beautiful first step on a long journey, the opening note in a grand symphony.
THOSE FROM “EIGHT TO EIGHTY” COMMITTED TO READ THE BIBLE. About this time each year, we encourage each member to commit to read the whole Bible in 365 days. On Sunday, more than a hundred agreed to do so. The youngest is just under eight years old and will read the Bible for the first time. Perhaps this is the first of fifty or more times this mind will have the cleansing Water of Life purify its recesses. The oldest is past eighty and may be reading it for the last time. Of course, we hope that each on the list will live to read it many more times, but for each there will come a “last time” (Hebrews 9:27; James 4:14). This aging saint may be reading the Bible for the one hundredth time. Its words are familiar. Its cover is worn, its pages creased. It has fed, warmed, guided, encouraged, emboldened, and edified through all the steeps, roughs, mountains, and valleys of life. Yet the Bread of Life has never grown stale,
TEARS FLOWED. Christian love often finds itself expressed in both laughter and tears, as it did with Jesus and the early Christians (Luke 19:41; Acts 20:37). God’s Word touched good and honest hearts, and souls responded Sunday to the Lord’s invitation. Joyful tears flowed over “one sinner that repenteth” (cf. James 5: 16, 19, 20).
That’s what happened Sunday! Insignificant? You be the judge.
