Refill
This may start off sounding like a commercial, and maybe it is. I’ve enjoyed going to Refill, a local establishment in Staunton that sells products in bulk without the plastic containers. The idea is that you go in with your clean container and fill it with things like laundry detergent. The laundry detergent I buy at Refill works well and because it’s concentrated it lasts a long time. The other product I enjoy is a body wash that literally smells like cake batter. And for me, there’s nothing like showering in the morning to the fresh scent of licking the cake batter beaters!
Sometimes we think of church in a similar way. We go each week to get refilled. We go to be refilled with a spirit of hope, with a spirit of love, with a spirit of God. But to be honest, sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn’t. Many times, I leave worship feeling like I’ve been refilled, and other weeks I still feel kind of empty. Was it the preacher’s fault? Was it because the hymns weren’t my favorite? Was it because I simply wanted to be elsewhere? Whatever the reason, sometimes the refilling of worship just doesn’t happen.
I remember reading a great book called “Loving Jesus” by Mark Alan Powell. I’ll never forget this quote: Where do we get the idea that what happens in church is about us? It is the Lord’s Day. We go to worship the Lord. This hour on Sunday morning is for adoring God, for praising Jesus Christ, for giving thanks to our Lord who is so good to us. That is why we are here. That is what we have come to do. If you get blessed, if you get something out of it, that’s a bonus, a by-product. It’s nice when that happens. We hope it happens a lot – but it’s not why we’re here. This is the Lord’s Day, and we have come to worship the Lord.
Sometimes we leave worship feeling refilled and sometimes we leave worship still on empty. But we gather on Sunday morning over and over again because this is a time to worship God. Sometimes we’ll get something out of it and other times we won’t. I’ve learned over the years that refilling my spirit can happen at church and sometimes it happens in unexpected places and times. So, I’ve learned to embrace the reality that worship on Sunday morning is for God. How the Holy Spirit decides to refill me, I’ll leave that in the capable and holy hands of the Almighty.
Grace +Peace, Pastor Derek
Recent Comments