Greetings Fellow Travelers! Here is another installment of this unusual experience called “Sabbatical”!
Similar to my first reflection, my experience in worship has again given me much to ponder. Perhaps it is because I am in such a different role as pastor as compared to worship participant, or maybe I simply feel guilty for not preparing more for Sunday mornings nowadays. Aside from my own mental gymnastics I am relishing opportunities to explore and discover.
My latest worship experience was in a non-liturgical church that divided the hour between singing and preaching. Mixed in between were announcements and a welcome for first-time guests who received cookies! It was a definite contrast to our SMLC worship and provided a lot to consider. In your travels this summer I encourage you all to seek an opportunity to worship in a different setting and style. It is always healthy to occasionally break out of the bubbles in which we dwell.
One feature of the church I attended were huge windows looking up at a high mountain slope. They were also large enough to view a building which was under construction and one solitary worker going about his job that Sunday morning. Watching that worker during the sermon was my little “sermon-within-the-sermon” you might say. On Sunday mornings it is quite easy to envision the Gospel of Christ being only for those in the room, in the church, and forget God’s grace and mutuality is just as much about that construction worker on Sunday morning. The big challenge of our day is to realize the deep inner-connectedness we share with all others. The more we can be guided by that, the more opportunity Christ’s love has to change the world.
Enjoying the cookies!
Pastor Ron