Life in 2013 has been quiet thus far. I made two batches of potatoes for dinner tonight {one with chives, the other with cheese} and have settled in for some much needed coffee after a late night watching the ball drop and trying to encourage my son to stay in bed. I adore coffee and it’s magical energy producing powers which enable me to function. I’m grateful to those who grow the beans which keep me going.
This last week was wonderful. We spent time together as a family, I’m finally feeling better after a nasty bout with a chest infection and I didn’t go to church. Where did I go instead you might ask? I went to the Lions game. My Mom and Dad got all of us tickets and I made the trek down to Ford Field.
It was awesome. I love football and the game was so much more fun to watch in person. We settled in early and I enjoyed some delicious food while watching the practice on the field. As I sat there with my Sloppy Jane in one hand, and a giant drink in the other I turned to my brother and said ‘this is some good church, isn’t it?’. He laughed and shook his head but seriously there were some things I noticed at the stadium that really struck me as a church goer and a minister.
First, the football crowd has a much better community spirit than most of the churches I have been to. The people who were season ticket holders knew each other well. They were hugging and calling out New Years greetings to one another as they found their seats. They also extended that friendliness to us. People were turning around during the game and chatting with one another. The man sitting right in front of us was asking my husband questions and needling my brother {who’s a Bears fan} and there was no hesitation. The warmth and friendliness of the people was rather shocking and quite pleasant. As I sat there I wondered why those of us in the church aren’t more like this. Why we don’t turn around and chat with one another more? Why we don’t extend honest, open affection to those who are visitors? It’s something we should really be working on.
Second, there was excitement in that room. I know we were there to watch a game so that’s expected but I found myself wondering where the excitement went for worship. I often {though not always} find that as I lead worship I am much more excited about it than those who are attending the service. It seems at times as if we’ve sunk into a routine and have lost the thrill for what is is we do. We forget that worship is a celebration and a time to really connect with God. There should be moments of quiet and reflection but also there should be joy and dancing. I think we should look for ways to make church interesting and enjoyable for people.
Last but definitely not least was the fact that people gathered together for a common purpose and really connected because of it. This was a community of people who even while watching their team go down in defeat after one of the worst seasons imaginable didn’t let that get them down. They were looking towards the future and as we left I said and heard others say, there’s always next year. Hope is something we all need and it seems to me that those of us in the church who in fact have reason to hope have lost our faith. We are struggling and have forgotten about the one who saves and redeems. We’ve lost sight that there is a future possible if we just work towards it. Too many of us are wallowing in our own worries to look into the future and plan for a different season, a different way of doing things. There was hope in that stadium even while the season ended. As a church we need to find hope once more.
It is my hope this year that we move in a positive direction. That we start to live out our faith in community and hope. That we develop an excitement and enthusiasm for the gospel once more. That we begin to believe that a future is possible. If Lions fans believe that a future is possible surely we as believers in the hope and truth Jesus offers can start to see that as a possibility too. It’s time for us to move on out of this negative season in the church and begin preparing for the next stage, the next step. We need to move forwards into tomorrow.
