Hello,
What if there was
a parade and no one came?
The Greensburg
Holiday parade was this past Saturday.
Not many people came. The weather
was atrocious. It was 74 and sunny on
Friday, 60 and beautiful on Saturday morning, and then at 10:00 on Saturday
morning a front came through.
Temperatures dropped into the mid 30’s.
Rain and snow. Thrashing winds
destroyed umbrellas. Parade time was
noon, and as noon approached the curbsides were pretty bare. It was miserable.
I think that most
of those who froze parade-side were related to someone in the parade. Band parents.
Political friends. Dance troop
moms and dads (although I saw numerous little girls in their dance outfits heading
back home before the parade began.)
Brave scouting families. Normally
the streets are lined 2 or three deep with kids ready to pounce on candy being
jettisoned their way. But not this past
Saturday. Parents must have decided the
weather was a gift from God to keep their kids home and thereby off an unusual
dose of sugar.
It wasn’t that no
one came, but compared to usual, it was hardly anyone. All of which got me to pondering, “Who are
parades for? The watchers? Or the paraders?”
Of course the
answer is both. But what if you only had
one. What if you had a parade and no one
came? Or what if everyone came, and
there wasn’t a parade? Putting it this
way, I have decided that a parade is a parade without the crowd, but without
the parade it isn’t a parade.
So, what if there
was a parade and no one came?
There would still
be a parade. The bands would play. The flag corps would march. The dancers would dance. The politicians would politic. The septic company trucks would rumble by and
the fire engines would light up the road.
Even if no one came to watch, there would still be a parade.
But what if you
had a Sunday morning worship service and no one came to worship?
Maybe you had
never thought about worship this way before.
Most of us ask the question of worship’s value saying, “What will going
to church today do for me?” In light of
this year’s Greensburg Holiday parade, maybe a more essential question might
be, “What will going for church today do for the world?”
As with a parade
and its paraders, worship provides the place for worshippers to blow their
horns of grace, dance their way to the communion table, carry the flag of their
faith in honor, and for people of divine hope to create a holy disturbance in a
sleepy, gloomy world. Parades and
worship slice through despairing times with a rhythm of joy. Parades and worship celebrate gifts and
talents when the world is focused on its troubles. Parades and worship awaken purpose and
meaning when life if dull. Parades and
worship celebrate victories that have turned the world up-side-down. The world needs parades. The world needs the church to worship.
Come on and join
the parade….the parade of hope, peace, joy, forgiveness, and love…this Sunday
morning at worship. The world needs worship’s
parade….the world needs you to be there!
Have a great week,
God’s grace and peace,
Pastor Jerry Nuernberger
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