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Danville Enlightener VOL. VIII, No. 43
What are We Saying?Several years ago my friend and colleague Randall McPherson told me about a man who was called upon to give a five minute speech extemporaneously. He did not know his subject matter until he begins to speak. He was given a copper penny and told to give a speech about the penny. He began by telling about the penny being discovered in an archeological dig hundreds of years in the future. He said the discovery of this one cent piece would reveal a lot about us as a people. Among other things, he said the coin would tell that we had a monetary system where we bought and sold; exchanged money for goods and/or services. It would tell that we honored great men by having their inscription on our coins; Abraham Lincoln. Further, it would tell that we were a religious people since it had the motto “In God we trust” on the coin. I suppose that everything we leave behind will tell something about us. Perhaps more than we intend. Wandering through the empty church building, as I do occasionally, I am discovering things that seem rather revealing. I’m not sure what they are saying but I think they are trying to say something about us as a people when we come to worship God. At the end of each adult Bible study class new worksheets (lessons) are distributed to those in the class. But if you walk through the auditorium the next morning you will find some on the pews, others are lying in the floor and a few are in the song book racks. These have been developed by teachers with the sole purpose of helping students improve their knowledge of the word of God (Matt 28:20). Most of the learning done in collective Bible studies comes from preparation before coming to class; reading the texts and answering the questions. It is indeed true that we will get out of a class what we put into it and discarding the lessons impede our efforts. Often I might observe spilled cereal on the seats or on the floor. As a father and grandfather I am well aware that on occasion parents might need to bring food for infants, but toddlers, preschoolers and elementary children? OK, maybe it is sometimes necessary but shouldn’t we be more careful about spillage? It is true this is not our homes but it our place of worship. It is where we come to honor God, encourage each other and welcome our visiting friends – we might want to do what we can to pick up a little after ourselves. It is not at all unusual to find toy cars, dolls, dinosaurs, etc that have been left in the auditorium. It is hard to keep an extremely active child still for an entire period of worship, but there are things that we might do that do not involve toys. Over the years, I have observed some children around the age of eight or nine crawling on the floor during preaching playing with toy cars. There comes a time when children should be encouraged to take notes instead of playing with toys. This is not said as a “one size fits all kids” approach. Children mature and settle down at different ages but all parents should recognize there does come a time when toys and other distractions from home are to be left at home. All probably have more than one Bible so to mention that Bibles are frequently left in the seats may not mean anything. But there are many Bibles left at the building. If you are like me you probably have a favorite Bible that is used more than any other; if it is misplaced I look until I am able to find it. All of us should have a daily regimented system of serious Bible study. We should be diligent in trying to increase our knowledge of Scripture because with that increased knowledge of the Bible we are developing greater faith (Rom 10:17). Yep, you read that right, fingernails. Not the artificial stick-on type but those that have been clipped. Maybe if we are so uninterested in the proceedings that we feel a need to groom ourselves we ought to make some internal changes. I will be the first to admit that often the sermons could be more interesting, but we are discussing the word of God. If we just focused on reading the verses mentioned we might not have time to clip nails. I mention the sermon, because I cannot fathom that anyone could or would clip nails while “remembering the death of our Lord” during the Lord’s Supper. Nor can I imagine that during prayer we would chance a clip-clip-clip. Also, it is kind of hard to manage a nail clipper while holding a song book. One of the most humiliating days of my life was when my Latin teacher intercepted a note I was sending to a friend during class. She read the note and then asked the class to discuss it. I nearly died from the shame and embarrassment of it all. That broke me! I promised myself that I would never pass another note (at least in her class). I am not too sure that the authors of some notes found at the building would want their contents publicly discussed. You know: who said what about whom, blah, blah, blah. But even if the contents were never made public here, each word and each motive is known unto God. Let us not forget that we are here to talk to God and listen to what He has to say to us – not pass notes to friends. It is doubtful that whatever needs saying couldn’t wait until after services. One thing is certain, those who decide to “text message” during worship do not leave tracks here, but the irreverence smells just as bad. Taking a stroll through the building after an assembly one finds some interesting artifacts. Again, I am not too sure what they tell, but they are sure saying something, and God is listening.
-- jrb
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Have you ever noticed that when supposedly smart people say something really dumb their remarks are never acknowledged as unintelligent? Local TV news often fills this bill, especially the teasers given to keep you tuned in to their broadcast. A local weather forecaster says (with a straight face): “Just how cold is it going to get? And will we see any snow over the weekend? Tune in at eleven and find out.” Oh my! Let’s get the kids up and gather around the tube we are about |