Next month will mark the 50th anniversary of my service as a pastor. In some ways, it does not seem like it has been 50 years; however, when I look at how the world and I have changed it almost seems like it has been much longer.
One of the people that was a member of the first congregation that I served as a pastor was a man that was affectionately called “Uncle Charlie.” During the week, I would often see him wearing his bib overalls in his comings and goings through the community and to the church. On Sundays, he would wear his seersucker suit, white shirt, and bow tie to church. What I remember most about Uncle Charlie is not the old Chevrolet he drove or the fact that he still liked to grind his coffee beans in his coffee grinder every morning before he made his coffee. What stood out for me about Uncle Charlie is what else he wore to church. On the lapel of his suit he wore a long line of perfect attendance pins for Sunday School. I do not remember the specifics, but I know it was certain that Uncle Charlie had over 10 years of perfect attendance in Sunday School. He wore them as a badge of honor just as does any member of our nation’s military wears their pins and ribbons.
I wonder what was wrong with Uncle Charlie that he was always in Sunday School and worship every Sunday? Did he not get sick, or simply want to stay home in his pajamas and watch worship on a local television station (there was not cable television in those days)? Did Charlie never go away for the weekend to the beach or the mountains or some other vacation destination?
What was wrong with Uncle Charlie that he was always in worship and Sunday School every Sunday for years and years? Perhaps it was not so much that something was wrong with Uncle Charlie as that something was right with Uncle Charlie, and what was right is that his actions and attendance said that gathering regularly at church was an important part of his life and a needed part of the life for a follower of Christ Jesus.
How about you? Is worship and gathering for Bible study with fellow Christians to learn about the Bible (e.g. Sunday School) an important part of your life? It is not enough to say so; it is most important to let your actions and example show the same. Sunday is coming again in a matter of days. Perhaps I will see you there. Have a joy-filled day.- Pastor Randy Wall
PRAYER -- O God, I thank for the Church of Jesus Christ, and
for Christ Jesus, the foundation of the church. Help me, God, to show the importance of
worship not just in my words but regularly in my actions. Amen.
