Turn Off the Lights

Sunday nights are bitter sweet. As a pastor and now as a church member, Sunday evenings symbolize two things.  The first and most joyous is that God has allowed me to enjoy corporate worship and rest.  Corporate worship is a gift from God. In Scripture there is focus upon focus of the Assembly gathering to give praise. On Sundays, we meet together, we eat together, we sing together, we listen together, we laugh together, we cry together, and then we leave together.

This lead to the bitter of the sweet. On Sunday nights, the lights are turned off, the air conditioner finally grows silent and the air ceases to stir.  The sanctuary creaks in the emptiness.  Rows of pew, which were once bustling with anticipation, now sit empty and silent.  There may be one last ray of sunlight that exposes the tiny dust particles floating about the empty space, and that is when the deep reality hits the gut. . . Monday is coming.  Not a day of corporate worship, but a day of corporate work.  Not a day to gather with the faithful, but a day to be among the faithless.

Now you may say, but that is when we are to take the Gospel to the lost world!  At that, I would say, you are right, and I would further say we should do it with all our might and joy.  But let'
s just admit that the one who truly loves Christ and His Church finds Sunday nights to be bitter sweet.

Have a great week in the Lord. Praise God!