August 6, 2001

JOY IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD

"I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord!'" (Psalm 122:1)

This Psalm was written in celebration of the great Temple in Jerusalem, Israel's holy city. Anyone familiar with the Old Testament has a sense of the joy a spiritually-minded Israelite would feel on entering that magnificent structure where, according to his faith, the very presence of the Creator God resided.

A modest frame-and-stucco building in Altadena, California, where a small congregation of Baptists meet to worship every Sunday morning, is a far cry from the Temple in Jerusalem. Yet, we feel some of the same joy when someone says, "Let us go into the house of the Lord!" For many of us, it was in this building where we accepted the Lord, where we have had many subsequent encounters with him through worship, and where we have learned about him through Biblical teaching. We also associate this place of worship with the love of our family of faith, with people who will always be there for us, and with an opportunity to serve God in meaningful ways. Some former members of the church, long gone to their heavenly home, come to our memory and bless us all over again while we worship and serve here.

I've often wondered what it must be like to drift away from the church that is your spiritual home. It may start with hurt feelings over a real or imagined snub, or just with a little laziness for a couple of Sunday mornings. All of a sudden, you're out of the church habit and into a new style of life. The sky doesn't fall, so you just drift along in the new pattern.

I can imagine that such a person feels a sense of loss and a longing for what the church once provided. Every once in a while, especially on a Sunday morning, a nostalgic memory must arise:
         "I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the Lord!'"
The tug is still there.

If this is your story, please don't brush the thought away too quickly. It's not too late to renew that joy, to restore your relationship with the church and its people. In fact, I can tell you about individuals who found an even richer experience than they had known before, when they made a decision to return to a pattern of regular church attendance and involvement. Older and wiser, they were better able to appreciate the opportunities to experience God's grace in the fellowship of believers.

I'm always glad when they say to me, "Let us go into the house of the Lord!" The only thing that would make it even better would be to have you there with me.

–Pastor George Van Alstine