I wrote a post very similar to this in November, but I've got to reiterate. I love church because, at church, God works to help me step outside of myself. I am a self-centered person. But at church, I get to see people loving God, loving each other, struggling, overcoming and it helps me to join them. Yesterday, for Mother's Day, our church dedicated babies and gave each of the mothers of those babies red roses. It also had large vases of white roses at the front of the sanctuary. Pastor John explained that Mother's Day is an amazing day for many and a difficult day for just as many. Many women (and the men who love them) have struggled with infertility, lost babies to miscarriage, still birth, the death of a child or even worse, the spiritual death of a child. Pastor John encouraged women to come up after the service and take a rose. For the offertory, they sang the song "Hide Away in the Love of Jesus" (play song below). During this, I watched one man across the sanctuary weep. I prayed for him and thanked God for His church and his great love and mercy in choosing me to be a part of it.
We live in a world of here, but not yet. Our church tries to be a part of these two paradigms. We celebrate Mother's Day, but recognize that not everyone is able to celebrate this. We praise and lament. We worship and confess. We are both Holy and broken. This is one of the reasons that I love church and need it so much.
5 comments:
Thank you for this post.
Good stuff Andy.
Jim
I love and need church too, for all of the reasons you mentioned. The idea of the white roses is a lovely one! Thanks for your post.
I thought of Jesus who wept over Lazarus and then raised him from the dead. He has modeled this paradigm for us.
This mother's day I forgot that it was a hard day for so many and that scares me.
It is good to watch you love your church.
T
This was great. Thanks for directing me to it.
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