“But He said to him, “A man was giving a big dinner, and he invited many; and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to tell those who had been invited, ‘Come, because everything is ready now.’ And yet they all alike began to make excuses. The first one said to him, ‘I purchased a field and I need to go out to look at it; please consider me excused.’ And another one said, ‘I bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out; please consider me excused.’ And another one said, ‘I took a woman as my wife, and for that reason I cannot come.”(Luke 14:16-20 NASB)
Right from the jump, as they say, let me tell you that this brief meditation has nothing to do with taking a theological position that mirrors the beliefs of the church, and it has nothing to do with agreeing with any church’s views and expressed opinions regarding world affairs or the state of the political division in any country.
This meditation’s main purpose is to simply move you to make it to church today, physically or virtually if really necessary, escaping every tendency to make an excuse. You see, I want to motivate you to cancel out any of those made-up, multiple excuses one can find to evade meeting the Lord’s expectations for His saints on this day, Sunday. Sorry, but I have to say it! There is no way I can get around mentioning the fact that we are expected not to forsake the assembly of the saints. As a side note, don’t you find it somewhat humorous when you think about all the “excuses” people come up with on Sunday morning, but they expire by Sunday afternoon or evening.
Let me highlight one the founding members of our church, a true sister whose example is worth today’s focus. I could share all the secret, behind the scenes, non-publicized ways she ministers to church members and others, but I ‘m not doing today. This morning, I want to zero in on something else that stands out about our sister. Not able to attend in person for a valid reason, she consistently makes it a point to attend service virtually, every week. No understandable excuse is offered. No excuse is manufactured. No obstacle prevents her from tuning in. Every week she can be found siding with the church as they realize that we should worship the Lord gladly, give Him the praise that is due happily, and be edified by God’s sent word steadily.
Turning our attention to “no obstacles” prevent her from tuning in, I can finally get to what I really wanted to write about in terms of “siding with the church.” A couple of weeks ago, our virtual broadcast went haywire. Well, not that bad. But the picture that is usually in a portrait format was in a landscape format. Think of your TV set turned sideways. and you will get the picture. Yes, while the audio was good, the video for some unknown reason came across askew. What did this faithful sister do? She positioned herself on the couch and turned, you got it, turned sideways. Without any long thoughtful deliberation, she, for all practical purposes, sided with the church. You might smile or even laugh. But what we should take away from her example is that whatever tries to prevent you from benefitting from worship, work to make the adjustment that you need to make to side with the church; side with the church’s view that Sunday worship is not only special, but it should especially not be missed. Enjoy service! Don’t miss the meal from heaven! No excuses now! Be blessed!
“Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him.” (I Chronicles 16:11 NLT)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King