I did it! I found the right church. Notice I did not say it’s the perfect church. If it were, I would have wrecked it the minute I walked in the door. But it’s right for me.
First, there’s the music. Sorry for all you lovely ones who think I’m so spiritual I only go for good theology. I don’t. It’s important that I agree with the teacher, of course. That doesn’t say either of us are right; it’s just that we both think we are…
No, the music is what draws me and keeps me and causes me to worship. It’s been that way since I was a child in the Methodist Church in Ashton, Idaho. My parents had been raised Lutheran and both had been turned away from that early on. I actually would go to the Lutheran Church some Sundays just to see what I was missing, and because they didn’t have central heating, but a stove up in the front corner where you got so hot you felt the teachings on hell fire were true and you definitely did not want to go there. On the other hand, you could have chillblains in your feet and hands if you sat at the back of the congregation. It was hard to concentrate on anything the pastor said when your teeth were chattering and you kept jiggling to keep from freezing.
So I went Methodist. They had central heating and they had great singing. I don’t remember a single sermon, not one! But the words in those great hymns spoke in a way no human being ever could.
This church I went to today is in Escondido. About 15 minutes or so away on Sundays freeways. The sermon was on Doubting Thomas, with whom I have identified with more in my life that I want to admit. Thomas’s middle name was Didymus. That means Twin. And as a teacher told me once, ‘if you want to know who his twin was, just look in the mirror!’ Most of us have moments of scepticism in our walk with God; the longer our walk, the shorter the moments. And as the pastor pointed out, Jesus never lost patience with those who were willing they needed Him.
The recessional hymn was “He Lives.” Those words go back to the day I first came to know Him and I repeat them here for me, not for you. But you are welcome to listen in..
I serve a risen Savior, he’s in the world today I know that He is living, whatever men may say. I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer, and just the time I need Him, He’s always near.
He lives! He live! Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with me along life’s narrow way.
He Lives! He Lives! Salvation to impart. You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart!
And if you catch yourself singing that in the next few days, I understand. I am, too.
