For us, three circumstances make this Sunday morning worship strange and unusual. The first strange thing: Sunday is the day that begins their work week. Saturday is that country's religious day. For them, Sunday is the same thing Monday is to us. It's not a weekend day; it's the day to go back to work. Normal everyday life and normal work are occurring just like it would on Tuesday or Thursday. In fact, only Christians worship today; everyone else worshiped yesterday.
The second strange thing: there is no church building. These Christians do not own any property. Early Christians owned no buildings dedicated to Christian worship. If one of the Christian members owned a home with enough space in it for Christians to gather, this group will likely be meeting in that home. If the number of Christians were too many to meet in one home, they likely are meeting in several homes. If there isn't a home available, they just meet somewhere that they will not be disturbed.
The third strange thing: since today is a work day, all of them have to go to work. So they meet very early in the morning before work. This morning we are meeting with them before sunrise--that is the only time everyone is free to come. Everyone is dressed in his or her work clothes because they will walk from worship to their job. This helps us understand what Paul meant when he told the Christians in Corinth that when they assembled to take the Lord's Supper that they should wait on each other (1 Corinthians 11:33).
When we meet with this group, two things really impress us. (1) Everybody there wants to be there. (2) Worship is obviously important to each one of them.
From the collective information that we have about Christians at that time, as this group worships they take the Lord's Supper, they sing about Jesus Christ, and they charge each other with their moral responsibilities as Christians. "Don't cheat anyone. Don't steal anything. Don't engage in sexual sin. Don't deceive anybody. Be trustworthy." This sounds like the instructions written in the epistles. This was the kind of moral instruction that was given to a person wanting baptism, and it was the kind of moral commitment Christians were urged to remember.
This world pounds on each of us every day. Evil is constantly looking for ways to invade our lives, to create guilt, and to cause us pain and suffering. Everything in our lives is under attack. If it is just "me" against the world, "me" will lose.
We do not worship an arrogant God who has to have His ego stroked. Worship is for our personal benefit. It is to strengthen and renew us. When we personally do not worship when we come together, we are the loser, not God.
We just celebrated the 4th of July. This is a national holiday dedicated to grateful remembrance of the birth of this nation and to reflecting on all the blessings we have because this country exists. But for many Americans, the 4th of July has nothing to do with remembering or reflecting. Instead, the 4th of July is a free day, a fun day, a family day, a food day, and a fireworks day. None of those things are bad, but they all miss the point.
It is so easy for the same thing to happen with worship. We can attend and never worship. We can come for many reasons that completely miss the point. Worship, and when you worship, please, don't miss the point. Please, don't miss the blessings.
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