Hello,
I don’t like “C and E” Christians.
What is a “C and E” Christian?
They are the ones who only show up to worship on Christmas and
Easter. They are the ones who take
the seats of the regular worshippers.
They are the ones who expect the same pastoral care, the same treatment
for weddings and funerals, the same place in the church’s prayers as all of
those who come to church every Sunday and bring their weekly offering
envelopes. They are the ones who,
if you ask them, say they are Christians but everyone knows that their words
don’t match their Sunday morning priorities.
I don’t like “C and E” Christians…in fact….I love “C and E” Christians.
I love “C and E” Christians.
I love them because God loves them, just as God loves me. I love them because when I look in the
mirror the fickleness of my faith sticks out like an ugly scar. I love them because the place that my
faith takes in my life is sometimes hard to find as I confront the temptations
of life. I love them because in
spite of the fact that they know that they are the object of some people’s
down-looking nose gaze, their faith still brings them to the table of the
Lord. I love them, because at the
heart of things, I am one of them….just in other ways.
So, I am thankful that they take their place in worship on Christmas and
Easter. I am thankful that the
Lord has a place for them at his table.
I am thankful that by their presence the saving grace of God has a
Spirit empowered chance to heal the hurts that they carry, unlock the guilt
that imprisons them, and knock down the walls that separate them from their
neighbor. I am thankful that they
have forgiven me for my Pharisaic self-righteousness and for my sinful eyes
that stray to take a closer look at their pocket-books than their hearts.
Sure, I have hopes that I will experience the blessing of their presence
at worship more than twice a year…..not because their presence helps us meet
our expenses, nor because I can stand in the thin and frail victory of filling
a sanctuary when so many are shutting their doors….no, I have hopes that I will
see them regularly with me in worship because they are family. They are my brothers and sisters,
beloved by our Heavenly Father, and when they take their seat at the Lord’s
table, I am certain that that warms God’s heart, because I know that it warms
mine.
I
do not for one second believe that God keeps a Sunday morning attendance chart
by which God allocates his love for me (or anyone else), but I hold onto the
hope that God’s love for me is so great that he will always welcome me (and
everyone else) with uncompromised grace when I step into his house and kneel at
his table. I don’t go to church
every Sunday to try and gain God’s favor, I go to church every Sunday so that I
might be shaped and molded by the divine love of the one who has claimed me
(and everyone else) as his favorite and the apple of his eye.
I will be in church on Sunday, Easter, and I hope that you will be,
too. I will be there in hopes that
God’s grace will change my life and give me life….grace to give me daily hope,
heartfelt peace, sight beyond my nose, strength beyond my own, and the urge in
my step to answer his invitation to come to his house and table every Sunday.
Have a great Holy Week!
God’s grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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