I recall one little old lady at a congregation where I served who was very sweet but had a physical problem which caused her to fall asleep whenever she sat down for any length of time. She was very embarrassed about it, and she did everything possible to stay awake. She did not enjoy coffee but she would drink it on Sunday mornings and do everything she could think of to prevent herself from sleeping. But every time she would fall asleep anyway, and she would always apologize to me afterward and tell me that she believed that the sermon had been a good one, judging from the responses she heard from other people. One day she told me, "I am going to be here every Sunday, because it is important for the young people to see that if I can come, they can come. I want to be here as an example to them. And I hope I don't fall asleep." Most of us might be tempted to laugh at the "example" she set, but in her resolve she showed a deeper understanding of the problem. She was getting very little out of worship for herself but the knowledge that she was obeying the Lord and encouraging her brothers and sisters. She received little for herself, but she gave all that was in her power to give. God blessed her and used her in mighty ways to bless the whole congregation.
The one who avoids church because he does not "get much out of it" has a fundamentally selfish and unChristian attitude. We do not worship merely to fulfill our own needs; we are there for the sake of others and to give thanks and praise to God. He deserves our presence and our hearts, whether or not He is pleased to give us anything, for He certainly is not obliged to do so. Our friends and brothers in Christ need our support in worship whether or not they are able to support us in turn. We give without expecting to receive, but the wonderful truth is that we always receive more than we give, whether we realize it or not.
~Steve Wilkins, Face to Face, Meditations on Friendship and Hospitality
Making Your Home an Oasis
3 years ago
We similarly had a dear saint who often feel asleep during worship or prayer meetings (usually because she work such long hard hours). We she passed away our pastor mentioned this in his message. Not to joke about her sleeping but to bring to attention the fact that she chose to attend the meetings and fellowship with the people of God than to stay home and sleep. This has been a good reminder for me today when I have been tired and unwell and did not make the effort :-(
ReplyDeleteExcuse typos please,.....
ReplyDeleteThe thing taught is that church is for fellowship and it has not been pointed out in this way before, makes one think. Thank you for sharing. Have a lovely week. Sincerely, Mommy of two growing blessings & so much more!
ReplyDeleteThis is sweet Trisha. Reminds me of a dear man who worked graveyard and was determined to come to church even though he slept through the sermon. I loved that he preferred to sleep alongside the saints on Sunday morning instead visiting Bedside Baptist with Pastor Sheets.
ReplyDeleteI really needed to read this; God has been speaking to my heart lately on the matter of worship, and the fact that our worship can be an encouragement and an act of giving to others as well as the Lord was a good reminder. Thankyou for sharing, Mrs Poff. :)
ReplyDeleteFirst i just wanted to say that i really enjoy your blog! This is the first time I've commented :)
ReplyDeleteSecondly-I agree in part, but there is another side for those who "do not get much out of church" and that is those who are part of a church where they feel they shouldn't be. I don't mean this as an excuse from a sinner :=) but we had an experience where we had bee going to a large church congregation just because it was were my husband grew up and we felt after a while it was actually doing us more harm than good because as Christians we were "falling asleep" in a spiritual sense! We ended up going somewhere else but it did take us a while to realize what the problem was and it was definitely not an easy decision (it took us over a year to leave) so i think that when people "don't get much out of church" they have to consider if it is their own flesh which is at fault (which i think you actually meant by this post) or if it is a spiritual problem with the church and its teachings.
Have a lovely day!
Adele