AWOL

This past Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Carolina Panther and advanced to the NFC Championship Game next Sunday.  If they beat Seattle, they will be going to the Super Bowl again.  There are a lot of 49er fans in the Bay area and in our church.  Unfortunately, the game started at 10:30 on Sunday morning, at the same time as Sunday School ended and morning worship began.  I wonder how many Christians in the Bay area skipped church so they could cheer for the Niners?  I wonder how many members and attenders of Hillcrest Baptist Church skipped Sunday School and/or morning worship so they could cheer for the Niners?  Actually, I don't really want to know who in our church did that because I would rather remain ignorant about that.

At the same time as the first and second quarter of the playoff game was taking place, Hillcrest was receiving her challenge for the year of 2014.  Every year, God puts a burden on my heart to share with the church as a focal point for that year.  Last year, our challenge was "Discern" and this year's challenge was quite different.  So those who missed church missed the opportunity to hear about the challenge.  Certainly, they can go on-line and listen to the sermon (The link is:  http://sermon.net/hillcrestrichmond/sermonid/1200167184).  They can also come the next few weeks as we continue to hear messages about this challenge.  They can talk with other church members to find out about this challenge and get insights on the sermon.  There are a multitude of options to gain the information that they missed.  However, what can never be recaptured is the movement of the Holy Spirit as God spoke into the lives of those at church to step up and make a commitment to take this challenge.

Now, I know that not everyone who missed church on Sunday missed because they were watching a football game.  Some people missed because they were sick, caring for loved ones, out of town, dealing with emergencies and some were ministering in our extended session.  There may be no members and guests of Hillcrest who missed church to watch the football game.  The purpose of this blog is not to point out the reasons people miss church, but to remind us of how critical it is to participate each Sunday.  We never know what God is going to do on a given Sunday.  the one Sunday we miss, may be the one Sunday that God had the perfect message for us, in song or in the sermon or through a brother/sister in Christ.

Hebrews 10:23-25 tells us, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for He who promised is faithful.  And let us consider how we can spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching". 

Even in the early church, people were already developing the habit of missing church.  The writer of Hebrews reminds the church that when they miss a Sunday, they miss an opportunity that will never arise again:  The opportunity to spur someone toward love and good deeds.  This past Sunday, if you missed church, you missed that opportunity to encounter someone who was struggling in his/her faith.  That person needed to be encouraged by you because as we encourage others, we are encouraged. 

Now, I know that some of you may be thinking, "Pastor is going off on this because he wants everyone at church to hear him.  Besides, he HAS to be at church since he is the pastor."  That is a fair criticism, but be careful that you are using that as an excuse.  Before I was a pastor, I worked at Hawaii Baptist Academy as the campus minister.  That meant I had weekends free, so I didn't HAVE to go to church.  I was a member of the First Baptist Church of Pearl City and never missed a Sunday.  That meant I would miss the second half of the early NFL game and the first half of the late NFL game, along with missing the entire ESPN Sunday night game for night church.  This was when I was a sportsaholic and not into recovery.  I also had a built in excuse for missing church because seven times a year I led camps with close to 100 students.  Those camps went from Thursday through Saturday, so I could have justified sleeping in on those Sundays after camp..but I didn't.   The reason I didn't want to miss church is because I didn't want to miss out on what God might do.  I didn't want to miss what was happening in the lives of my Sunday School class.  I didn't want to miss out of the relationships I had in the church, which I only got to be involved with once or twice a week.  I looked forward to hearing God speak through the pastor or through a friend.  I also enjoyed the encouragement I received from these wonderful saints.  Now that I am a pastor, the only time I can choose to miss church is on vacation...but I don't.  I love going to other churches when we are on vacation.  It's wonderful to show up at a church and not have to do any of the planning, but just focus on worship.  The reason I share this is because I want you to know that I would be committed to participating in church whether I was a pastor or not.

In the military, there is a term which may describe what many Christians are like on Sunday morning:  AWOL.  This stands for Absent Without Leave.  In other words, the soldiers did not have permission to be away from his unit and now the military police will be looking for him.  When we are AWOL from church, God does sent His holy MPs to hunt us down and bring us back.  He allows us to make these choices, but continues to call us back.  Some Christians are Absent Without Excuse.  They try to justify missing out on the body of Christ but they really know these are just flimsy excuses.  The rest of the world is watching us and they equate going to church with being a Christian.  So when we show up at their NFL gatherings or family get-togethers or work during church hours, they think we don't value church nor our relationship with Jesus.  This gives them one more obstacle to overcome before they take a step of faith in giving their lives to Jesus.  If you are going to miss one Sunday, let your Sunday School class know you will be gone and how they can pray for you.  Get into the habit of being accountable and make church participating a high priority.  Don't go AWOL on church because each time you miss, it gets easier to miss.  Before long, you haven't been to church in five years and have distanced yourself from the church and Jesus.  Make serving in your church a true expression of your faith in Christ and look for ways you can encourage others when you are at church.