Heartburn, Hot Wheels and Sunday Morning Worship

Wednesday, February 27, 2013 Posted by Katie

You may be surprised to learn that when I leave Sunday worship these days, more often than not, I am tired and frustrated. (That is if I actually make it to church and I am not at home nursing the latest victim of pink eye, ear infection or flu).

While I used to spend most Sunday worship services uplifted and nourished, nowadays, it seems as if I spend the entire 60 minutes dragging little feet out from underneath the pew, explaining for the 77^th time why we cannot go out to the playground yet, and assuring a certain shorty in urgent, whispered, “I’m-not-playin” tones, that he needs to stop crashing the cars. (I seriously RUE the day I ever decided it was a good idea to allow my son to bring toys into the worship space. Rue. The. Day.) To top it all off, because I step out to attend children’s church with my kid, I can count on one hand the number of live sermons I’ve actually heard since last Fall.

I miss hanging with Jesus on Sundays. It’s the truth.

You know what else is truth?

Worship is about focusing so much on Jesus that your heart will burn within you as you begin to recognize Truth. That’s worship. (Luke 24:32)

I worship every chance I get…in my car, in the moments before I sleep, and even on walks when my unexpectedly pensive four-year-old suddenly asks about heaven and the idea that someday one of us might arrive before the other. I focus on Jesus and I pray for the words of Truth to offer an assurance that will be worthy of his heart.

I worship often. But often, it just doesn't happen at church.

In answer to the Daily Fast Fuel question of the week, “When you leave worship, what do you take with you?” I say this: “When I focus on Jesus, and begin to recognize Truth, I take with me the message that God is alive and well and deeply entrenched in the business of rebuilding, restoring, and refreshing.”

It is this message that drives me to worship with every available moment of my life until the shorty entrusted to my care, himself, focuses so much on Jesus that his heart burns within him and he begins to recognize Truth. And THEN, my friends, we will worship together…every chance we get.

Maybe even on Sundays.

And then we’ll work on his brother. (Luke 24:34)

Amen.