There is Room for You

Growing up one of my favorite hymns was There’s Room at the Cross for You. Its soft tones and plaintive words just called one into the warm embrace of the Christian family. My childhood days were mostly in the 1950s, an era in which the nuclear family reigned, church attendance was high, and neighbors were important. For all of us being a part of something larger than ourselves was very essential to our wellbeing and contentment.

Fifty plus years have rolled by and times have changed. Three out of five children will grow up in a blended family, almost fifty percent of children will experience the divorce of their parents, and church attendance is plummeting. We live in homes that drive us into isolationism as we hunker down in them and do not know our neighbor across the way. Saddest of all, is that we are losing the ability to truly connect and build relationships one-on-one, because we are too busy being falsely connected with persons electronically. In doing so we have built false gods of ourselves and, imagine everyone wants to know what we had for breakfast or did last night.

The early Christians would scarcely know us as Christians today. They hungered for community for a number of reasons and those reasons often provided the impetus for their growth. Scholars researching the top reasons for persons coming into the church in the 1st & 2nd centuries AD, have uncovered some interesting things. People were enthralled by the messages of love, redemption, forgiveness and acceptance by God as His child. No other group was preaching that story.

People flocked to learn about this Jesus as such knowledge was in stark and powerful contrast with the shallow spirituality around them. Knowing Jesus invited one into a lifelong path of study, growth, and spiritual maturity. Also, the church provided a family of the spirit, a hospital for sinners and a place to be reconstructed not destructed. The old became new and living was directed towards the fullness of life in Christ.

The 1st century faith was characterized by joy through worship as the believers came together to love, worship and adore this living Jesus who was among them in Spirit and in sacrament. I suppose they felt it was the least they could do?

In all honesty it is time we ask ourselves some serious questions if we are to be effective Christians. Should we, perhaps, be more intentional about our lives in the community of the Church? Are we passing on the faith of Jesus to our children? Do children see in parents and grandparents, persons of mature faith and sincere Christian living, or do they see a “take it or leave it” attitude?

I come to church because I need it. I need the mystery and awe of the service. I desire the company of my brothers and sisters in Christ and miss seeing them if absent. Most of all, I come to church because I am a sinner in need of a Savior; that Savior is Jesus Christ.

See you in church on Sunday,